Myeongdong Fresh Juice: ₩7,000 a Cup, Squeezed to Order at a Street Stall
The street juice stall in Myeongdong sells exactly two things: orange and grapefruit, both ₩7,000 a cup. You order, they cut the fruit in half right there and run it through the press, so the cup is in your hand within a minute. Cash, credit cards, and bank transfers all work, and there's a NAMANE·Alipay+ QR payment sign posted on the stall.
What's on the menu at the Myeongdong fresh juice stall?
Two items. Orange juice and grapefruit juice. Not much to agonize over, which honestly makes things easier.
Two pink vertical signs stand on the counter, and they double as the menu. The one on the left reads 생과일주스 오렌지 / Fresh Juice Orange, the one on the right 자몽쥬스 / Grapefruit Juice. The grapefruit sign also carries 葡萄柚汁 in Chinese and グレープフルーツジュース in Japanese.
Which means you can tell the two apart without reading a word of Korean. The fruit illustration and the English line are enough. Pointing at the sign counts as a complete order here.
One more detail worth noticing. In summer, the vendors mist the displayed oranges and grapefruits with filtered water every so often to keep the moisture from evaporating. That white spray bottle in the lower left of the photo above is what they use.
How much does fresh juice cost in Myeongdong?
The price is posted in two separate places. One is the pink sign you just saw. The other is a red-bordered board hanging on the right side of the counter.
The red board is headed 품목별 가격표, meaning a price list by item, with the orange and grapefruit prices written underneath by hand. Here's the part that matters: the unit "1잔" — one cup — is written in parentheses right next to each price.
| Item | Price | Unit posted |
|---|---|---|
| Orange juice (Fresh Juice Orange) | ₩7,000 | 1 cup |
| Grapefruit juice (Grapefruit Juice) | ₩7,000 | 1 cup |
So ₩7,000 gets you one cup. Not one piece of fruit, not a two-cup bundle. Both items cost the same, so your choice doesn't change the math.
On the left post there's also a vertical sign reading 명동 거리가게, or Myeongdong Street Stall. Nothing to ask about, nothing to haggle over — you hand over the number that's already posted. That's the first thing at this stall that earns trust.
How long do you wait after ordering?
Under a minute. Nobody is pouring pre-squeezed juice from a jug. They take the order first, then cut the fruit in half and press it.
Two vendors are on duty at all times, specifically so drinks come out fast. One cuts, one pours, so even with a few people ahead of you the line doesn't back up.
As the photo above shows, two presses sit side by side. One handles only oranges, the other only grapefruit. The machines are kept completely separate, so flavors and aromas never cross. What you taste is the fruit and nothing else.
What struck me most is the counter itself. The spent rinds are left stacked right where they land, so walking past the stall you catch orange and grapefruit in the air. You can see with your own eyes that it was squeezed a minute ago.
Can you pay by card?
Yes. Cash, credit cards, and bank transfers all work.
On top of that, a NAMANE·Alipay+ QR payment sign (both are QR-code payment services) is mounted above the counter. It's the blue panel with the QR code in the photo.
No need to worry about breaking a large bill either. It's ₩7,000 for one cup, so handing over a card is the simplest route.
Where do you drink it?
While walking. It's a drink, not a meal, so there's no reason to sit down anywhere.
The juice goes into a single-use plastic cup with ice. The size checks out at 20 oz. It's the right size to hold in one hand while you make your way through Myeongdong.
A straw comes with it. You never have to put your lips on the rim, so lipstick stays put. Most stalls around here think through small details like this for foreign visitors.
Orange or grapefruit — which should you get?
Same price, so it comes down to preference. The two fruits do behave differently, though.
Orange is high in vitamin C and in flavonoids, an antioxidant. That supports immunity and helps keep skin elastic.
Grapefruit is low in calories and high in water and dietary fiber. Maybe that's why it's especially popular with women rather than men.
Because the presses are separate, neither one picks up the other's aroma. For putting some energy back into legs that have been walking all day, both do the job.
Frequently asked questions
How much is one cup of fresh juice in Myeongdong?
Orange juice and grapefruit juice are both ₩7,000 per cup. The price board on the counter, headed 품목별 가격표, lists the unit "1잔" — one cup — next to each price, so you can confirm on the spot that ₩7,000 buys a single cup.
Does the Myeongdong fresh juice stall take cards?
Cash, credit cards, and bank transfers all work. There's also a separate NAMANE·Alipay+ QR payment sign mounted above the counter. Since one cup is ₩7,000, paying by card is usually the easiest way to handle it.
How long is the wait after I order?
Under a minute. They cut the fruit in half and press it only after taking your order, and two vendors are on duty at all times, so the line doesn't back up even when a few people are ahead of you.
Can I walk around with the juice?
Yes. It comes in a 20 oz single-use plastic cup with ice, and a straw is included. It's a drink rather than a meal, so you can hold it in one hand and keep exploring Myeongdong.
Myeongdong street food: what to eat next?
Fresh juice has one of the simplest price structures among Myeongdong's street stalls. Remember ₩7,000 and you're done.
Prices elsewhere in Myeongdong are posted differently from stall to stall, though. Some list a price per piece, others per weight. If you want to know how to read those boards, the other posts in the StreetFood category pick up from here.
