The back story
Seoul at the table: Mingles, the stars and the noodle houses
One three-star, ten two-stars, thirty-one one-stars and fifty-one Bib Gourmands: Seoul’s table runs from Mingles in Cheongdam to buckwheat noodles in Jongno and gomtang by the river.
In the 2026 MICHELIN Guide Seoul, Mingles in Cheongdam holds Three Stars, the guide’s highest distinction. Ten restaurants hold Two Stars, among them La Yeon at The Shilla, Jungsik, Kwonsooksoo, Mosu and Soigné, and thirty-one hold One Star. Beside them are fifty-one Bib Gourmands, MICHELIN’s mark for good quality, good value cooking, and their list reads like a lesson in Korean food: naengmyeon, the cold buckwheat noodles of Woo Lae Oak and Pildong Myeonok; gomtang and seolleongtang, the long-simmered beef soups; mandu dumplings in Insadong; gejang, raw crab marinated in soy.
The three stars
Mingles, on the second floor of 19 Dosan-daero 67-gil in Cheongdam, is the only restaurant in Seoul with Three MICHELIN Stars in the 2026 guide. Its cooking is Korean.
Two stars
La Yeon (The Shilla Seoul), Jungsik, Kwonsooksoo, Mosu, Soigné, alla prima, Evett, Restaurant Allen, Mitou and Sosuheon hold Two MICHELIN Stars in 2026. Most are south of the river in Gangnam; La Yeon and Sosuheon are in Jung-gu, Mosu in Hannam.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © by LWY at flickr · CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsBook the starred tables well ahead; the noodle houses take no bookings, so go early.
The Bib Gourmand noodle houses
Among the fifty-one Bib Gourmands: Woo Lae Oak and Pildong Myeonok for naengmyeon; Mijin for buckwheat noodles by Jonggak; Mapo Ok for seolleongtang; Yukjeon Hoekwan for bulgogi; Gaeseong Mandu Koong in Insadong for dumplings; Gebangsikdang for gejang.
How Seoul eats
Meals arrive with banchan, small side dishes that are refilled on request; rice and soup are eaten with a spoon, the rest with chopsticks. Many of the noodle houses and soup restaurants do one thing and do it all day.
Our advice: plan one starred dinner, then spend your lunches in the Bib Gourmand houses: that is where Seoul eats.
Why it's on our list
- The three stars
- Two stars
- The Bib Gourmand noodle houses
- How Seoul eats
Location
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More in depth
The back storyKorean CuisineKimchi and the banchan that come with every meal, bibimbap, cold naengmyeon, long-simmered gomtang, barbecue at the table and dumplings by the steamer: the dishes of Korea, and where to taste them in Seoul.
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