Korean Rest Stops Snacks (휴게소)

Mingi Woo

Korean Rest Stops Snacks (휴게소)

While you are exploring/traveling long distances in Korea, the one place you cannot forget to visit during your trip is the rest stops(휴게소) or rest area. The rest stops in Korea provide a unique travel experience on their own. In this post, I will tell you a little bit about Korean rest stops and their delicious snacks.

What is a Rest Stop (휴게소)

Rest stops are an essential part of the Korean expressways since they provide rest for drivers and passengers to prevent dozing off the at wheel. Additionally, they provide facilities such as toilets and convenience stores, etc. Rest stops are conveniently placed in between highways to respond to all situations that arise while driving.

Tops 3 Snacks from Rest Stops

There are many options that you can get from rest stops since there are restaurants usually at each stop. However, these 3 snacks are a must-have when you visit there.

1. Hodo Kwaja or Walnut Cake (호두과자)

Walnut Cake despite its name has more bread than a cake. Essentially, a walnut cake is a walnut-shaped baked pastry with red bean filling. The outer bread coating is made of crushed walnuts and wheat flour giving it the name Walnut Cake. I personally like to eat my Walnut Cakes with milk. Overall, Walnut Cakes are a Korean delicacy and are frequently bought as a souvenir after a long road trip.

• Tong Gamja or Whole Potato (통 감자)

Tong Gamja directly translates to the whole potato, and they are a Korean rest-stop delicacy. The potatoes are first boiled in salted water then they are shallow-fired with butter and sugar. This gives it’s the potato a sweet and buttery taste. Some people like to add more sugar on top of their potatoes to make them even sweeter.

• So-tteok-so-tteok (소떡소떡)

So-tteok-so-tteok is an acronym for sausage tteok sausage tteok. Tteok means rice cake in Korean. The component of the food is the name of the food itself. To elaborate they are skewered fried rice cakes and Vienna sausages brushed with sweet & spicy gochujang-based sauce. They are popular street food and often found in rest stops as well.

There is a total of 296 rest stops in Korea so make sure to make frequent stops each time you see a 휴게소. Each 휴게소 has its own unique characteristics and specialties so do not miss out.