Sindang-dong Tteokbokki Town신당동 떡볶이타운

About

Sindang-dong Tteokbokki Town is an alley lined on both sides with tteokbokki restaurants. The alley took shape in the late 1970s and entered its heyday in the 1980s. What appeared in the 1980s was a DJ booth in every tteokbokki restaurant. The stylish DJs, who played music along with listeners' stories, became a symbol of the Sindang-dong tteokbokki alley. This was also the golden age of high school baseball, and whenever Deoksu Commercial High School faced Seollin Commercial High School at nearby Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium, the alley overflowed with students after the game. Those students, now middle-aged, still come back to this alley. They have been regulars for more than 20 years, and as a traditional alley, it has been designated a Seoul Future Heritage. In fact, the history of the tteokbokki alley goes back well beyond the 1970s, to the 1950s. The alley is home to Grandma Ma Bok-rim's restaurant, and according to her, she began selling tteokbokki in 1953. At first, tteokbokki was made with just gochujang (red chili paste). Over the decades, Sindang-dong tteokbokki grew from a casual snack into a dish hearty enough to be a full meal. Today, eggs, glass noodles, fish cakes, jjolmyeon noodles, and ramyeon noodles are standard additions, and squid, shrimp, and even cheese go in as well, winning over new tastes.