Gwangjang Market Food Alley 2026: Cash or Card? Prices and How Payment Actually Works

Bottom line: If you plan to eat at Gwangjang Market's food alley, bring cash or a Korean bank-transfer app (Toss, Kakao Bank, etc.). Many stalls don't take cards at all, and even those with a card machine often say "we can't take cards, please bank-transfer instead." A set of two bindaetteok (mung bean pancakes) usually runs no more than 15,000 won, so if a vendor quotes far above that, it's worth moving to another stall.

If you didn't know: A September 2024 report found that 3 of 5 stalls reporters visited refused card payment outright. A foreign tourist with no cash and no Korean bank-transfer app simply can't buy that item. In November 2025, reports again described two snack stalls refusing cards and asking for bank transfers instead; the same month brought a separate complaint about a 4,000-won tteokbokki order that came with only six pieces of rice cake. Overcharging complaints are not rare either: bottled water (500ml) sold for 2,000 won, an 8,000-won sundae (blood sausage) with unrequested extra meat followed by a demand for 2,000 won more, and a roughly 15,000-won "assorted jeon" platter that drew its own controversy — around a dozen such cases have been reported. Arrive with no cash and no way to transfer, and the number of things you can actually order on the spot shrinks fast.

At a glance: The market itself runs 9 a.m.-6 p.m. (closed Sundays); the food alley runs 9 a.m.-11 p.m. year-round. Address: 88 Changgyeonggung-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Inquiries: 02-2267-0291 (Gwangjang Market Merchants Association, kwangjangmarket.co.kr). A set of two bindaetteok typically costs 15,000 won or less.

Step inside and the smells hit first — mung bean batter sizzling golden on a hot griddle, oil popping, vendors calling out over each other along every stall. The food alley runs nonstop from morning until 11 p.m., and it's precisely that long stretch, packed into narrow aisles, where payment mix-ups tend to happen.

In the September 2024 report, one vendor said flatly, "Cards don't work here, you'll have to bank-transfer," and the merchants' association explained that card machines had only been installed earlier that month, so many vendors were still unfamiliar with them. A similar situation was reported again more than a year later, in November 2025, which suggests it's safer to assume payment setups still vary stall by stall rather than expect every vendor to take cards by now. Foreign-issued cards often don't work at all here, so without a Korean bank-transfer app, there isn't much of a backup plan if a card gets refused.

Complaints about pricing keep surfacing too. A report by The Fact documented roughly a dozen suspected overcharging cases — bottled water sold for 2,000 won, an 8,000-won sundae order where extra meat was added without being asked for and then billed an extra 2,000 won, and controversy over a 15,000-won assorted jeon platter. Some stalls don't display prices clearly, so it helps to ask the price out loud before ordering and to confirm up front whether payment has to be cash or bank transfer.

Journey stage: ④ During the trip · Verified 2026-10-11 · Source: Seoul Metropolitan Government Media Hub, Seoul Shinmun, The Fact