Short answer: The five Korean foods not to miss are kimchi, bibimbap (best in Jeonju), Korean barbecue grilled at your table, tteokbokki and other street food at a night market, and Korean fried chicken with a cold beer. Add a seafood feast at Busan’s Jagalchi Market and black pork on Jeju Island if your route allows.
Korean food is built on rice, vegetables, fermented sauces and a table full of shared side dishes. Two Korean food traditions are on UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: kimjang, the autumn making and sharing of kimchi (inscribed in 2013), and jang making, the fermented soybean sauces and pastes such as doenjang (soybean paste), ganjang (soy sauce) and gochujang (chili paste) that flavor almost everything (inscribed in 2024). The country is mountainous and surrounded by sea on three sides, so mountain vegetables and seafood are everywhere, and each region has its specialties: Jeonju for bibimbap, Busan for seafood, Jeju for black pork and Gangneung for soft tofu. For the rest of your trip, start with our South Korea travel guide.
Korean classics
1. Kimchi
Kimchi is fermented vegetables, most often napa cabbage, seasoned with chili, garlic, ginger and salted seafood. UNESCO describes kimjang as the late-autumn practice in which communities make and share large amounts of kimchi so every household gets through the winter. There are hundreds of kinds, from radish cubes (kkakdugi) to mild “white kimchi” without chili. It comes free with almost every meal, and refills are free too. Note that most kimchi contains fish sauce or salted shrimp.
2. Bibimbap
“Mixed rice”: a bowl of rice topped with seasoned vegetables, meat, an egg and a spoonful of gochujang, stirred together just before eating. Jeonju, a UNESCO City of Gastronomy since 2012, is its home; Jeonju bibimbap uses rice cooked in beef broth and raw beef (yukhoe), served in a brass or hot stone bowl. Dolsot bibimbap, in a sizzling stone bowl, gives the rice a crispy crust. Ask for it without meat or egg if you are vegetarian.
3. Korean barbecue (samgyeopsal and galbi)
At a Korean barbecue restaurant you grill the meat yourself at a gas or charcoal grill set into the table. Samgyeopsal is thick-cut pork belly, and galbi is marinated short ribs. Wrap each bite in a lettuce or perilla leaf with garlic, a dab of ssamjang (spicy dipping paste) and kimchi. Most places require an order of at least two portions, so it is best with company.
4. Bulgogi
Thin slices of beef marinated in soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and pear, then grilled or cooked in a shallow pan with vegetables. It is sweet, savory and not spicy, which makes it a good first Korean meal and a favorite with children.
5. Jjigae stews and soft tofu (sundubu)
Bubbling stews served in a stone pot with rice are everyday Korean food. Kimchi jjigae (kimchi and pork stew) and doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) are the classics. Sundubu jjigae is made with silky soft tofu and is often spicy; in Gangneung’s Chodang neighborhood, tofu is made with seawater and served plain or in stews. Ask for “an maepge” (not spicy) if you want it milder.
6. Naengmyeon (cold noodles)
Chewy buckwheat noodles in an icy, tangy beef broth (mul naengmyeon) or with a spicy sauce (bibim naengmyeon), a summer favorite. Staff will often cut the long noodles with scissors for you. Add a little vinegar and mustard at the table, as locals do.
7. Samgyetang
A whole young chicken stuffed with sticky rice, ginseng, garlic and jujubes, simmered in a milky broth. Koreans eat it on the hottest days of summer, following the old idea of “fighting heat with heat.” Season it with salt and pepper at the table.
Street food and market snacks
8. Tteokbokki
Chewy rice cakes simmered in a sweet and spicy red gochujang sauce, often with fish cakes and a boiled egg. It is the most popular street snack in Korea, sold from market stalls and food carts. It is spicy for most visitors; a “rose” (cream) version is milder.
9. Gimbap
Rice and fillings such as pickled radish, spinach, egg, carrot and ham, rolled in seaweed and sliced. It is a cheap, portable lunch sold in every convenience store and snack shop. Mayak gimbap, the small “addictive” rolls of Seoul’s Gwangjang Market, come with a mustard dipping sauce. Vegetable gimbap (yachae gimbap) is the vegetarian choice.
10. Bindaetteok (mung bean pancake)
Thick, crispy pancakes of ground mung beans with bean sprouts and kimchi, fried in oil on huge griddles. They are the signature dish of Gwangjang Market in Seoul, founded in 1905. Their cousin, pajeon (scallion pancake), is the classic rainy-day dish with makgeolli. Share one; they are large.
11. Hotteok
A sweet pancake filled with brown sugar syrup, cinnamon and nuts, fried until crisp and best eaten hot (carefully, the syrup is scalding). In Busan, ssiat hotteok is cut open and stuffed with seeds, a specialty of the street food stalls around BIFF Square. It is a winter favorite.
12. Korean fried chicken (chimaek and dakgangjeong)
Korean fried chicken is double-fried for an extra-crispy crust and served plain, with a sweet-spicy glaze (yangnyeom) or with soy and garlic. Eating it with beer is so popular it has a name, chimaek (chicken plus maekju, beer). Dakgangjeong, small pieces in a sticky sweet-spicy glaze, is the market version, famous at Sinpo Market in Incheon and Gangneung’s Central Market.
Regional specialties
13. Jeju black pork (heukdwaeji)
Jeju Island’s signature dish is pork from its native black pigs, grilled at the table and dipped in a salty anchovy sauce (meljeot). Look for it in Jeju City and Seogwipo, and finish with gogi-guksu, Jeju’s pork noodle soup. Other Jeju specialties are hairtail fish (galchi), abalone porridge and hallabong citrus.
14. Hoe and seafood at Jagalchi
Busan is a seafood city, and Jagalchi, on the waterfront in Nampo, is Korea’s biggest fish market. The routine: choose fish, octopus or shellfish on the ground floor, then have it prepared upstairs as hoe (sliced raw fish), grilled or in a spicy stew (maeuntang). Agree on the price and preparation before the fish is cut.
15. Jajangmyeon
Noodles in a thick black bean sauce with pork and onion, the most popular Korean-Chinese dish, often ordered with jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) and tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork). Incheon’s Chinatown is the place to try it. It is filling, cheap and mild.
To drink, try makgeolli, a milky, lightly sparkling rice wine whose brewing tradition was designated a National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Korea in 2021, soju, the clear spirit that goes with barbecue, and, in summer, bingsu, shaved ice with sweet toppings.
Where to eat: Seoul and beyond
Seoul: Gwangjang Market is the city’s great food market, with bindaetteok, mayak gimbap, knife-cut noodles and yukhoe. Its food street opens from 9:00 to 23:00, and is open all year even though the rest of the market closes on Sundays. Barbecue restaurants, fried chicken pubs and night markets fill every neighborhood. See our Seoul travel guide.
Busan: Jagalchi fish market, BIFF Square’s street food, Gukje Market, and seafood restaurants along Gwangalli and Haeundae beaches. See our Busan travel guide.
Jeonju: bibimbap in its hometown, street food in the Hanok Village, makgeolli houses where the side dishes keep coming, kongnamul-gukbap (bean sprout soup) for breakfast and the Nambu Market night market on weekend evenings. See our Jeonju travel guide.
Jeju Island: black pork, seafood and the Dongmun Market in Jeju City and the Maeil Olle Market in Seogwipo for street food and night markets. See our Jeju Island travel guide.
Gangneung: soft tofu in Chodang, coffee on Anmok’s seafront “coffee street” and dakgangjeong at the Central Market. See our Gangneung travel guide.
Incheon: jajangmyeon in Chinatown, dakgangjeong and dumplings at Sinpo Market and seafood on Wolmido. See our Incheon travel guide. In Gyeongju, try ssambap wraps and the local Gyeongju bread.
Our top places to visit in South Korea and our South Korea itinerary help you plan a route with these food stops.
Food etiquette and tipping
Korean meals are shared: side dishes (banchan) go in the middle of the table, and refills are free. Use the spoon for rice and soup and chopsticks for side dishes, and never stand chopsticks upright in your rice, which recalls offerings to the dead. Wait for the eldest person to start eating. When drinking, pour for others rather than yourself, and receive a glass with two hands from someone older. Many restaurants have a call button on the table; press it to order. You often pay at the counter on the way out. Our phrase cards include “jal meokgesseumnida” (said before eating, roughly “I will eat well”).
Many Korean restaurants specialize in one dish, such as barbecue, chicken or noodle soup, so pick the restaurant by what you want to eat. Menus with photos are common, and more and more places use touch-screen ordering kiosks, often with an English option. Water is usually free and self-serve, and spoons and chopsticks are often kept in a drawer at the side of the table. Some barbecue restaurants and stew places do not serve solo diners at peak times, but the number of single-portion restaurants is growing.
Tipping is not customary in South Korea. Restaurants, taxis and hotels do not expect it, and the price on the menu is the price you pay. Our tip calculator works in won if you want to round up elsewhere on your trip.
Eating on a budget
Korean food is excellent value: a meal at an inexpensive Seoul restaurant costs about ₩12,000, and side dishes come free. Markets, set lunches and convenience stores, which sell gimbap, ramyeon and ready meals around the clock, keep costs low. Our guide to how much a trip to South Korea costs has full daily budgets.
Food tours of Seoul’s markets and night food walks are an easy introduction; browse them in our tour finder. Seasonal favorites, from autumn kimjang to summer naengmyeon and bingsu, are covered in our best time to visit South Korea guide.
Plan your trip: our free trip planner can build a day-by-day plan for South Korea with food stops in Seoul, Busan, Jeonju and Jeju. Then use the Money exchange tool to turn won into your own currency.
Frequently asked questions
What is the national dish of South Korea?
Kimchi is the food most Koreans would name, served with almost every meal. Bibimbap and bulgogi are the best-known dishes abroad.
Is Korean food spicy?
Often, but not always. Kimchi, tteokbokki, jjigae stews and anything red with gochujang have real heat. Bulgogi, galbi, samgyetang, gimbap, mul naengmyeon and jajangmyeon are mild. Ask for “an maepge” (not spicy) or “deol maepge” (less spicy).
What do people eat for breakfast in South Korea?
Traditionally the same as any other meal: rice, soup and side dishes. Hearty soups such as kongnamul-gukbap in Jeonju or haejang-guk (“hangover soup”) are popular, and many people now eat toast and coffee or grab gimbap on the way to work.
Is South Korea good for vegetarians?
It takes some care. Many broths are made with anchovy or beef, and most kimchi contains fish sauce. Safe choices include vegetable bibimbap without egg, vegetable gimbap, pajeon and Buddhist temple food, which is plant-based and served at temple restaurants and temple stays. Learn to say “gogi bbaego juseyo” (please leave out the meat).
What is banchan?
Banchan are the small side dishes, such as kimchi, seasoned vegetables, tofu and fish cakes, that come with a Korean meal. They are included in the price and refilled for free; just ask.