Seoul: Anthony Bourdain Pork Bbq & Pub Night

We had a great BBQ experience with Jeff. We learned proper Soju etiquette and had wonderful pork BBQ at an old-school place as we followed in Anthony Bourdain's footsteps. Jeff was a great host and went above and beyond by helping us out with other suggestions for our trip.

Great evening with Jeff. He was an excellent guide. Very good company and interesting conversation. We learnt a lot about Seoul and South Korea. Jeff’s English is excellent. He speaks like a native- or an American! The pork BBQ was delicious. We wouldn’t have known what to do without Jeff.

I booked the Korean BBQ session because as a solo traveler it offered me an insight into a more local view on food and culture. I was fortunate to be paired with Jeff and also due to numbers had a one to one experience. Jeff couldn’t have been more accommodating or informative. His inate ability to empathise and understand what I was interested in and curious about made the whole evening effortless and enjoyable. You get out what you put in so if you are curious about learning more about this city then consider this tour especially if you are a solo visitor.

We highly recommend this 3 hour tour and our guide Jeff! He gave us a very funny, engaging, and warm introduction to Korean customs and cuisine, and kept the fun and energy going the whole night (We highly recommend the Korean fried chicken + beer add-on). The BBQ was from a great location we would never have found on our own, and clearly popular with locals. Great conversation and value for the money. Jeff is also your guy if you need any Korean movie, K-Pop, or K-Beauty recommendations 👏 Finally, Jeff went above and beyond to help us find our way to the meeting point through WhatsApp, checking in on us and making sure we knew how to find the place, and later helped us get to our subway on the way home.

The best experience we had in Seoul, and it was worth every single moment! Joe, the founder, guided us personally and was super welcoming and friendly. He's the same person who took Anthony Bourdain to this BBQ spot, and his stories about Korean food and culture made the night even more special. The Mapo-style pork BBQ was amazing, the pancake market was a lovely surprise, and the hidden traditional pub with makgeolli was the perfect way to end the evening. Great food, great company and a true local night out, far from the tourist traps. We loved it and highly recommend it!

Great tour with Joe went to places that you would never otherwise find. Strongly recommended- you won’t regret going on this tour.

We really enjoyed our Korean food tour. Jeff was a great guide. He was passionate about food, explaining cultural significance, proper etiquette and answering our questions as he showed us how to cook the bbq ingredients. We also went to a chicken and beer restaurant where we enjoyed the food and atmosphere. He was super energetic, funny and personable. He spoke perfect English. I recommend this tour and Jeff as a food guide.

Super fun experience. Learned so much about city, culture, and food.

We enjoyed a great evening Ron, starting with Korean pork barbecue and moving on to fried chicken and beer. The food was delicious and Ron was very good company answering all our questions about Korean food and culture.

Fantastic personal tour with our guide, Young. She was fun and showed us how to navigate Korean BBQ like a local. She also shared many traditions and cultural customs. This experience made us confident exploring more on our own. The metro meeting location was convenient and easy to get to on the metro. Recommend you come hungry.

If you want to truly experience Korean life as a local, this is the tour for you! We tried some of the best and unique Korean foods while sharing so many laughs and stories. Joe was so personable and fun and really helped make this experience to be the highlight of our trip! Highly recommend!!

One of the best food tours I’ve ever been on! I’m a tour guide myself and Joe was a joy to hangout with. Friendly, knowledgeable, passionate, easy going, and fun!! Would recommend to anyone visiting for even just one day!!

What a night, what an experience. I arrived at the meeting point slightly flustered as I'd never used a subway before. Within a few seconds of meeting Jeff I knew I was in great hands, and then to find our first stop is where a chef I have admired for ever - Anthony Bourdain had actually eaten at the same restaurant. Jeff explained everything he was doing when preparing the Korean bbq and the reasons and history behind the process. Absolutely devine, the food exceptional and Jeff very kindly sent me a list of a few foods I should try while im still here. 100% recommend Jeff and this tour, 10/10 rating from me, a solo traveller....cheers Lyn

We booked this trip for our first night in Seoul when we got in at 10am. I was feeling pretty rough from jet lag and we were a bit late but the night was fantastic and I’m extremely glad we booked. Jeff was friendly and knowledgeable not only about the food but also the culture and history (do you know why the chopsticks are flat? Do the tour and find out!). The kbbq was amazing Korean barbecue and the fried chicken and beer was perfection; we really enjoyed the atmosphere in both places and Jeff’s company, it is a strong recommend to anyone visiting who wants to go to some authentic restaurants and learn more about the cuisine and food/drink culture. Jeff was the perfect host and also an amazing local - we struggled getting our travel cards and he very patiently helped us at the end of the tour getting them which was a bit of a saga and he didn’t need to help, but absolute legend worked it out for us!

Great experience, tour guide Jeff was funny and informative. 10/10 would recommend and attend again and again. Thanks Jeff for an amazing time!

Jeff gave us such a great tour and experience - the food, the guidance, the cultural immersion. An absolute must!

This tour was the highlight of my entire trip to Seoul. Jeff was incredible at bringing the full sense of Korean culture and social dynamics into the experience. It wasn’t just about the food;it was about the people and the history. Highly recommend!

This was the absolute highlight of my Seoul trip! Jeff provided us with an in depth experience and understanding of Korean culture and food all while being fun and engaging. His passion for the Korean people and his openness to everyone in the group made for an intimate yet fun filled evening. Highly recommend!

This experience was an incredible way to get a glimpse into not only Korean BBQ etiquette but intricacies of Korean culture in general in just a couple of hours. My mom and I both had fun, and learned so much, all thanks to our wonderful guide Jeff! He clearly had a wealth of knowledge and lived experience as well as infectious enthusiasm for food and culture. We will certainly be recommending this to our friends and family back home.

The food was amazing and we loved the stories our guide shared. Overall a great experience that showed us some of the best food in the country.

We had a great time experiencing local restaurants in Seoul. Finding food as a tourist often means going to the ones that can advertise more. But Joe was able to take us to some local places that we never would have stepped into - giving us an authentic experience. This came with his vast knowledge of food and history of Korea. Joe is a warm and welcoming host as we laughed, talked, ate and drank our way through 3 local stops. We had a great time and would definitely recommend it!

There are two Korean BBQ tours. We took the one without the pub crawl. You will visit restaurants full of locals. They will be crowded and noisy. The food will be authentic. Our host, Young, was knowledgable and pleasant. Conversation never lagged! She also very helpfully followed up with an email that include restaurant and coffee house recommendations. Two thumbs up!

Jeff is a really interesting fun guy to spend time with. Korean BBQ was delicious and thanks to Jeff we are now experts in Soju drinking etiquette! We enjoyed chatting with Jeff and learned a lot from him about South Korean culture. Was not a cheap day but was a lot of fun.

Jeff met me and my family and was incredibly friendly meeting us as we introduced ourselves. He opted to take us to a BBQ spot that he knew personally and talked about the ettiquette of eating as a family; he was incredibly funny with talking to each of us while he assisted in managing our meal. Afterward, he took us to a chicken & beer spot that had craft beer after we told him that we enjoy craft beer, which was very nice of him to adapt for us. We also drank somaek together as a final point before concluding our time together. The tour was approximately 3 hours in length, but he was not afraid to spend more time with us to have us get home safe. Jeff is a great tour guide, highly recommend him to all who are interested

FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE! Best tour I have ever taken! Joe takes you to 3 amazing local Korean dining experiences - each different and each amazing. Places I would never be able to find on my own and would be somewhat intimidated venturing onto on my own. We met Joe as our tour guide and feel like we left the evening with a friend! Highly highly recommend!

MUST DO!!!! 100/100, Jeff was beyond incredible and the food was fantastic! It was the highlight of our trip to Korea.

Have an empty stomach because you will be offered so much delicious food. Joe was very interesting and easy to talk to. He gave us great insights about Korean food and culture.

What a nice surprise to spend dinner with Jeff at an authentic Korean BBQ restaurant very close to the meeting spot. We were lucky to have him all to ourselves. It was my partner and my daughter and Jeff. He gave us so much wonderful history and cultural knowledge of Seoul. The food was wonderful and we REALLY enjoyed the Soju and Makgeolli. After a long day it was nice to relax in one spot and enjoy dinner and laughter.

Our food tour with Jeff was so much fun and filling. We learned Korean food culture and how to enjoy Soju. It felt like we knew Jeff for a long time as we didn’t feel he was our tour guide. He converses English so well and we understood everything from him. Food was fantastic and drinks were flowing nonstop. We had a great time doing this and would definitely come back and join him again in the future. This is a memory we would never forget.

This tour was super disappointing. Beyond identifying various seafoods (which you could easily do yourself with a web search or just with your own eyes), Joe imparted very little knowledge. He would talk about how he prefers to prepare different kinds of seafood but gave little to no context for how locals actually eat various things. Joe says he has 20+ years living in Korea and has worked with big names like Bourdain and Zimmern so we expected more. My husband and I kept prodding with questions which he answered in the most superficial way and kept telling us he was just hanging out and so tired from the previous tour he had lead the day before. He was also easily distracted and unfocused, sharing random observations having little to do with the fish market or Korea more generally. We heard too much about his ex girlfriend(s) and ex wife. He also took a video of us eating without first asking. We paid $640 for a 3 hour private tour that we could’ve done ourselves with a little help from Google Translate. Oh, I forgot to mention that he showed up a couple minutes late with no apology. You can do much better on your own or with a different tour operator. When I got home, I immediately cancelled the second tour that we had booked with his company. I couldn’t believe he texted me at 10:30 pm to tell me that he saw that I cancelled. He didn’t ask for feedback or why I might’ve cancelled. I experienced this as both unprofessional and borderline harassment.

We were only in Seoul for four days, and this tour was easily one of the highlights of our trip. The food was amazing - even better than we expected - and the real standout was being immersed in Seoul’s restaurant culture. Each place had its own atmosphere and character, and it was an experience we never would have had on our own. Our guide was a passionate foodie (though with a chef vibe - iykyk), which really added to the experience. Overall, it was a fantastic tour and one we’d highly recommend.

Wow, what an amazing experience. Jeff, our guide, took us to the most local BBQ place for a truly authentic Korean BBQ dinner with plenty of soju and good laughs. We then went to a small hidden beer and fried chicken spot that only locals would know about. This is a definite must do tour when visiting South Korea!

Loved it! Tour guide Ron was very friendly and we went to some awesome places. Really enjoyed learning about Korean BBQ customs and the dishes were absolutely delicious. Would definitely go again.

We had the most amazing experience on this food tour with Jeff! He taught us a lot about the Korean culture when it came to food and we took in as much as we could. He made us feel so comfortable and at ease, conversation was great. I cannot recommend this enough!!! It was our first time visiting Korea and it was a night to remember!!! We’re already planning our next trip out and we hope to book another food tour with Jeff! We hope to impress with our newly learned Korean language skills lol. In all seriousness, Jeff was patient, kind and understanding and also made sure we made it home safely. These are the tour guides you want to have! 10/10!!!

A fun and informative evening hosted by the enthusiastic and helpful Jeff. A great insight and introduction to Korean food culture.

What a great experience--Jeff was a fantastic guide and the food and drinks were excellent. I also really appreciate how Jeff and the company went above and beyond to help me out when I got lost. That took the evening from stressful to delightful in a flash, and it was a highlight of my visit to Seoul. Highly recommend the tour, the company, and Jeff!

Ron met us as arranged and was friendly. There was just us and another guy so very personal service. We had PLENTY of food and drink thank you 🙏 We went to three different food places. Ron sorted it all out with our personal choices. We really enjoyed our evening and the experience. Being a small group made it great to chat easily. Ron was really good fun and thank you for introducing the Korean food to us.

We really enjoyed our tour with Ron! It was a small group and we had a very delicious local BBQ and then moved on to some Korean fried chicken! Both excellent spots, with lots of food, drinks (beer and soju that kept being topped up) and fab company!

We were part of a group of just six guests, with two English-speaking guides who complemented each other wonderfully. Easy, flat walking between venues. You are guaranteed not to be hungry or thirsty by the end! The conversation was wide-ranging and the guides keen to answer our questions on all things Korean. A great experience, highly recommended.

We had a great time with Joe! Food was delicious and the conversation was even better. It was good to spend time with an expat and learn more about Korea from his perspective.

Great introduction to Korean social customs, beverages, and cuisine. Jeff, our guide, spoke perfect English and was warm and accommodating. We did this as a group of 4 including our twenty-something children. Highly recommended if you are interested in learning about Korean drinking culture and having a lot of fun in the process.

We had such a good time! A highlight of our trip! Our tour guide Jeff was brilliant- informative, friendly, and fun. My mother and I went on this tour as part of our first visit to Korea, and on our first full day- it was a great way to kick start our learning about both the food and culture. We got on great with everyone else on the tour, the food was delicious, and had an absolute blast!

Jeff was a great guide, he taught me lots about Korean eating and drinking culture that I used for the rest of my trip. Lots of delicious foods, soju and laughs - would definitely recommend to a friend.

We were lucky enough to have Ron all to ourselves for a Korean BBQ tour while on our honeymoon, and it turned out to be one of the absolute highlights of our trip. Ron was an exceptional guide - personable, warm, and genuinely passionate about Korean food, history, and culture. He had that rare personal touch that made the evening feel more like hanging out with a knowledgeable local friend than being on a formal tour. The BBQ spot he took us to was fantastic and clearly chosen with care, and he made sure everything suited our tastes and preferences. We also really appreciated the cultural insights he shared along the way not just about food, but about Seoul’s history, neighborhoods, and way of life. To top it off, Ron recommended a brilliant cocktail bar to finish the night, which was the perfect way to wind down and toast our honeymoon. We couldn’t have asked for a better evening. Highly, highly recommend booking a tour with Ron if you want something that feels personal, authentic, and a little bit special.

Very nice tour, with a fun group of people. Ron did a great job as the guide. Very interesting, and worthwhile tour for Korean food and drink. Highly recommended.

Authentic Korean Barbecue experience We did a three stop tour Korean Barbecue Fried chicken and Beer Salbing (shaved ice dessert)

Jeff was an incredible host, very knowledgeable, funny and made us feel very comfortable around him allowing us to fully feel like we were experiencing a Korean dinner experience. Amazing food and company and would recommend to any food lovers and those wanting to understand more the culture behind it

Joe was a fun guide and flexible with the experience and where we went…amazing! We went to the planned tour stops and even an extra at my request

From the beginning to the end the food was great and so was the company. I’ve traveled a ton and Jeff hands down was the most entertaining host I’ve ever had.