TIL how Koreans actually find restaurants — and built a tool that does it in English
Been traveling in Korea for a while and kept wondering why the food I found on Google Maps was... fine, but never that good.
Turns out Koreans don't use Google Maps or Yelp at all. They use Naver Blog — a platform full of brutally honest, photo-heavy food reviews written by real people. A place with 50 posts saying "came back three times" is the real deal. A place with 3 stars on Google might be packed with locals every night.
The problem is it's all in Korean and buried under sponsored posts.
So I spent a few months figuring out how to filter the sponsored content, cross-reference multiple blog posts, and surface only the places locals actually keep going back to.
Ended up turning it into a free tool: local-insider.vercel.app
Just type something like:
- "late-night ramen near Hongdae"
- "good Korean BBQ near Seoul Station"
- "cheap solo meal in Myeongdong"
It searches live Korean blog data, filters out chains and ads, and gives you Google Maps + Kakao Maps links.
Also does menu photo translation — point your camera at any Korean menu and it tells you what everything is, portion sizes, price in KRW and USD.
No sign-up, completely free. Planning to expand to attractions, workshops, and shopping too.
Happy to answer questions about how the filtering works if anyone's curious.