Mabokrim Halmeoni Tteokbokki (Sindang-dong Tteokbokki Town)

Sindang-dong's tteokbokki town is a short alley of a dozen or so restaurants serving jeukseok tteokbokki, the version cooked at your table in a wide shallow pan. Mabokrim, at the mouth of the alley, is the name most people know: the founder is credited with selling tteokbokki here from the 1950s, and the street is now listed as Seoul Future Heritage. You order a set by headcount, and a pan arrives loaded with rice cakes, fish cakes, ramyeon and chewy jjolmyeon noodles, and dumplings in a sweet-spicy gochujang broth that thickens as it bubbles. Add boiled eggs or cheese rice cakes, and many tables finish by having rice fried in the leftover sauce. The dining room is large and plain, and turnover is fast, so even with a queue the wait is usually manageable. The alley sits a few minutes from Sindang Station, which makes it easy to pair with the bars and cafes of Sindang Central Market or a speakeasy like Jushindang afterwards.