Eating and drinking in South Korea

Korean cuisine deserves greater international attention. A thrillingly spicy mishmash of simple but invariably healthy ingredients, it’s prepared with consummate attention, then doled out in hearty portions at more restaurants than you could possibly count – even if every single person in the country suddenly decided to go out for dinner simultaneously, there would probably still be some free tables. Most are open from early morning until late at night, and a full 24 hours a day in many cases. You can usually find a restaurant to suit your budget, and there will always be an affordable option close by, a fact attested to by the great number of foreigners that live here quite happily for weeks, months or even years on end without doing a single bit of cooking for themselves.

Though Korean cuisine is one of the most distinctive around, few Westerners arrive with knowledge of anything other than gimchi (김치; fermented vegetables) and dog meat. To say that the former is ubiquitous is a severe understatement, as it’s served as a side dish with pretty much everything you order, but rest assured that the latter will not be part of your diet unless you go to a dedicated restaurant. One common problem for visitors is the spice level of the food, an issue that has given Korea one of the world’s highest rates of stomach cancer. It’s not so much the spiciness of the individual dishes that causes problems (British travellers trained on curry, for example, rarely have any problems adjusting to Korean spice) but the fact that there’s little respite from it – red pepper paste (고추장; gochujang) is a component of almost every meal. Another common complaint by foreign visitors is the lack of attention paid to vegetarians, as such folk are extremely rare in Korea. Despite the high vegetable content of many meals, almost all have at least a little meat, and very few are cooked in meat-free environments. Most resort to asking for bibimbap without the meat, eating ramyeon (라면; instant noodles), or poking the bits of ham out of gimbap with a chopstick.

When eating with locals, it’s polite to observe Korean culinary etiquette. Many meals are eaten with flattened stainless-steel chopsticks; those unable to use them may have to rely on a combination of fork and spoon, as knives are rarely used.

Korean eating establishments are hard to pigeonhole. The lines between bar, restaurant, snack-shop and even home are often blurry to say the least, and some places cover all bases: in provincial towns, you may well see children tucked up for the night under empty tables. The more traditional eateries will see diners sitting on floor-cushions, their legs folded under low tables in a modified lotus position that can play merry hell on Western knees and ankles. Many dishes are for sharing, a fantastic arrangement that fosters togetherness and increases mealtime variety, though this has adverse implications for single travellers – Koreans don’t like to eat alone, and are likely to fret about those who do. One other point worth mentioning is the incredible number of foodstuffs that are claimed to be “good for sexual stamina”; at times it feels as if food is an augmenter of male potency first, and a necessary means of sustenance second. Raw fish and dog meat, in particular, are said to be good for this.

Korean staples

The following are available around the country, and few will cost more than W5000. Many meals involve rice in various forms: one that proves a hit with many foreigners is bibimbap, a mixture of shoots, leaves and vegetables on a bed of rice, flecked with meat, then topped with an egg and spicy gochujang pepper sauce. The dish can cost as little as W3500, though there are sometimes a few varieties to choose from. Other dishes served on a bed of rice include beef (bulgogi deop-bap; 불고기덮밥), highly spicy squid (ojingeo deop-bap; 오징어덮밥) or donkasseu (돈까스), a breaded pork cutlet dish imported from Japan that’s particularly popular with those who want to avoid spice. Also fulfilling this need are rolls of gimbap (김밥): gim means laver seaweed, bap means rice, and the former is rolled around the latter, which itself surrounds strips of egg, ham and pickled radish; the resulting tube is then cut into segments with a sharp knife to make the dish chopstick-friendly. The basic dish is filling and only costs W1000 or so, but for a little more you’ll usually have a variety of fillings to choose from, including tuna (chamchi; 참치), minced beef (sogogi; 소고기), processed cheese (chi-jeu; 치즈) and gimchi.

Noodles are also used as a base in many dishes, and one of the cheapest dishes to eat – a bowl of ramyeon can go for just W2000. This is a block of instant noodles boiled up in a spicy red pepper soup, and usually mixed in with an egg and some onion. For double the price you can have dumplings (mandu; 만두), rice-cake (ddeok; 떡) or processed cheese thrown in. If you're travelling in the sticky Korean summer you'll find it hard to throw back a bowl of hot, spicy soup; a better choice may be naengmyeon (냉면), bowls of grey buckwheat noodles served with a boiled egg and vegetable slices in a cold soup (though still spicy – this is Korea, after all).

Soups are also available without noodles. The names of these dishes usually end with -tang (탕) or -guk (국), though special mention must be made of the spicy jjigae broths (찌개). These are bargain meals that cost W3500 and up, and come with rice and a range of vegetable side dishes; the red pepper broth contains chopped-up vegetables, as well as a choice of tofu (sundubu; 순두부), tuna, soybean paste (doenjang; 된장) or gimchi. Many foreigners find themselves going for the more familiar dumpling (mandu) options; again, these can cost as little as W1000 for a dish, and you can have them with meat (gogi) or gimchi fillings. Most are steamed, though it’s sometimes possible to have them flash-fried.

All of the above can be found at fast-food chains around the country.

Restaurant food

The traditional Korean restaurant is filled with low tables; diners are required to remove their footwear and sit on floor-cushions. There are a number of rules of restaurant etiquette but a substantial amount of custom also surrounds the food itself; while what often appears to be a culinary free-for-all can draw gasps from foreign observers (eat the meal; boil off the soup; throw in some rice to fry up with the scraps; add some noodles), Korea’s great on conformity, and you may well provoke chuckles of derision by performing actions that you deem quite sensible – it’s best just to follow the Korean lead.

Restaurant meals usually consist of communal servings of meat or fish around which are placed a bewildering assortment of side dishes (banchan; 반찬). Often, these are the best part of the meal – a range of fish, meat, vegetables and steamed egg broth, they’re included in the price of the meal, and there may be as many as twenty on the table; when your favourite is finished, waitresses will scoot around with a free refill. Two of the most popular meat dishes are galbi and samgyeopsal, which are almost always cooked by the diners themselves in the centre of the table. Galbi is rib-meat, most often beef (so-galbi; 소갈비) but sometimes pork (dwaeji-galbi; 돼지갈비). Samgyeopsal (삼겹살) is strips of rather fatty pork belly. Prices vary but figure on around W7000 per portion for beef and a little less for pork; a minimum of two diners is usually required. Better for single travellers may be the hanjeongsik (한정식); this is a traditional Korean banquet meal centred on a bowl of rice and a spicy jjigae stew, which are surrounded by side dishes – a full belly of healthy, lovingly prepared food can be yours for just W6000 or so. Ssambap (쌈밥) meals are similarly good-value collections of rice and vegetable side dishes, though here the array is far greater – often filling the whole table – and is supposed to be wrapped up in leaves before it enters the mouth; figure on W8000 per person, and a total failure to clear everything that’s in front of you.

Snack food

Though the most common variety of Korean snack food is gimbap there are many more options available. One is a dish called ddeokbokki (떡볶이), a mix of rice-cake and processed fish boiled up in a highly spicy red-pepper sauce; this typically costs around W2000 per portion, and is doled out in bowls by street vendors and small roadside booths. The same places usually serve twigim (튀김), which are flash-fried pieces of squid, potato, seaweed-covered noodle-roll or stuffed chilli pepper, to name but a few ingredients. The price varies but is usually around W3000 for six pieces – choose from the display, and they’ll be refried in front of you. You can have the resulting dish smothered in ddeokbokki sauce for no extra charge – delicious.

Convenience stores are usually good places to grab some food, as all sell sandwiches, rolls and triangles of gimbap, and instant noodles; boiling water will always be available for the latter, as well as a bench or table to eat it from, an activity that will mark you as an honorary Korean. A less appealing practice, but one that will endear you to Koreans more than anything else can, is the eating of beonddegi (번데기) – boiled silkworm larvae.

You’ll find ice cream in any convenience store, where prices can be as low as W500; if you want to keep your selection as Korean as possible, go for green tea, melon, or red-bean paste flavours. An even more distinctively local variety, available from specialist snack bars, is patbingsu (팥빙수), a strange concoction of fruit, cream, shaved ice and red-bean paste. Also keep an eye out in colder months for a hoddeok (호떡) stand – these press out little fried pancakes of rice-mix filled with brown sugar and cinnamon for just W500 per piece, and are extremely popular with foreigners.

Seafood, markets and mountain food

Some Korean eating places exude an essence little changed for decades. Raw fish stalls around the coast, city-centre marketplaces and mountain restaurants are your best options for that traditional feeling.

Korean seafood is a bit of a maze for most foreigners, and much more expensive than other meals, though it’s worth persevering. Some is served raw, while other dishes are boiled up in a spicy soup. Jagalchi market in Busan deserves a special mention, but in small coastal villages – particularly on the islands of the West and South seas – there’s little other industry to speak of; battered fishing flotillas yo-yo in and out with the tide, and you may be able to buy fish literally straight off the boat. This may seem as fresh as seafood can possibly be, but baby octopus is often served live (sannakji; 산낙지), its severed tentacles still squirming as they head down your throat. Be warned: several people die each year when their prey decides to make a last futile stab at survival with its suckers, so you may wish to wait until it has stopped moving, or at least kill the nerves with a few powerful bites. A far simpler choice is hoe deop-bap (회덮밥), a widely available dish similar to bibimbap, but with sliced raw fish in place of egg and meat. A halfway house in excitement terms is jogae-gui (조개구이), a shellfish barbecue – the unfortunate creatures are grilled in front of you, and W35,000 will buy enough of them to fill two people.

Korean markets offer similar opportunities for culinary exploration. Here you’re also likely to spot seafood on sale, along with fruits, vegetables, grilled or boiled meats and an assortment of snacks. Many options have been detailed under “Snack food” above, but one favourite almost unique to the market is sundae (순대), a kind of sausage made with intestinal lining and noodles. Sokcho on the Gangwon coast is the best place to sample this.

Korea’s wonderful national parks feature some splendid eating opportunities surrounding the main entrances. One of the most popular hiker dishes is sanchae bibimbap (산채 비빔밥), a variety of the Korean staple made with roots, shoots and vegetables from the surrounding countryside – knowing that everything is sourced locally somehow makes the dish taste better. Most popular, though, are pajeon (파전); locals may refer to these as “Korean pizza”, but they’re more similar to a savoury pancake. They usually contain strips of spring onion and seafood (haemul pajeon; 해물), though other varieties are available; it’s usually washed down with a bowl or three of dongdongju, a milky rice wine.

International cuisine

While many visitors fall head over heels for Korean food, it’s not to everybody’s taste, and after a while the near-permanent spicy tang of red-pepper paste can wear down even the most tolerant taste buds. One problem concerns breakfast, which, to most Koreans, is simply another time-window for the intake of gimchi and rice. This is too heavy for many Westerners, but though a fry-up or smörgåsbord will be hard to find outside the major hotels, you may find some solace in the buns, cakes and pastries of major bakery chains such as Tous Les Jours and Paris Baguette, or the mayonnaise-heavy sandwiches of the convenience stores.

International food is getting easier to come by in Korea, though only Seoul can be said to have a truly cosmopolitan range (and a thinly spread one, at that). American-style fast food, however, can be found pretty much everywhere – McDonald’s and Burger King are joined by Lotteria, a local chain, and there are also a great number of fried chicken joints scattered around. Traditional Japanese food has made serious inroads into the Korean scene, and the obligatory red lanterns of izakaya-style bar-restaurants are especially easy to spot in student areas. Italian food has long been popular with Koreans, who have added their own twists to pizzas and pasta – almost every single meal will be served with a small tub of pickled gherkin, an addition that locals assume to be de rigueur in the restaurants of Napoli or Palermo. Chinese restaurants are equally numerous, though unfortunately they’re no more authentic than their counterparts in Western countries, even in the many cases where the restaurateurs themselves are Chinese. One recommendation, however, is beokkeumbap – fried rice mixed with cubes of ham and vegetable, topped with a fried egg and black bean sauce, and served with deliciously spicy seafood broth; the whole thing will cost about W5000, and is, therefore, a great way to fill up on the cheap.

Drink

A sweet potato wine named soju (소주) is the national drink – a cheap, clear Korean version of vodka that you’ll either love or hate (or love, then hate the next morning) – but there’s a pleasing variety of grog to choose from. The country also has a wealth of excellent tea on offer, though coffee is increasingly winning the urban caffeine battles.

Alcoholic drinks

Though the imbibing of soju is de rigueur at restaurants of an evening, most people do their serious drinking in bars and “hofs”. There are a quite incredible number of both in the cities, though the majority can be surprisingly empty, even at weekends – you may wonder how most of them stay in business. Hofs, pronounced more like “hop”, are bright, booth-filled places serving beer (maekju; 맥주) by the bucketload. The main beers are Cass, OB and Hite; prices are more or less the same for each, starting at about W2500 for a 500cc glass. Quite fascinating are the three- or five-litre plastic jugs of draught beer (saeng-maekju; 생맥주), which often come billowing dry ice and illuminated with flashing lights. The downside of such places is that customers are pretty much obliged to eat as well as drink; you’ll be given free snacks, but customers are expected to order something from the menu.

Bars are almost invariably dark, neon-strewn dens; unlike in hofs, customers are not usually expected to eat and tend to take roost in an extensive cocktail menu; beer will still be available, in draught or bottled form. Each city has one or more main “going-out” district, with the most raucous to be found outside the rear entrances of the universities (which maintain a veneer of respectability by keeping their main entrances free of such revelry). Most cities have at least one resident expat bar; these are usually the best places for foreigners to meet fellow waeguk-in or new Korean friends. Often surrounded with tables and chairs for customer use, convenience stores are equally great places to meet new mates, and actually the best hunting grounds for local drinks. They also sell bottles of foreign wine for W7000 and up, though special mention must be made of a local variety named Jinro House Wine: this curiously pink liquid, which may or may not be derived from grapes, costs about W2000 per bottle and can only be described as “comedy wine” as it tends to give people the giggles.

Tea and coffee

Tea is big business in Korea. Unfortunately, most of the drinking takes place at home or work, though Insadong in Seoul has dozens of interesting tearooms, and there are some gems outside national parks and in Jeonju’s hanok district. Green tea is by far the most popular, though if you find your way to a specialist tearoom, do take the opportunity to try something more special.

Korea is now a bona fide coffee nation. Café culture has found its way into the lives of Korean youth, and even in smaller towns you shouldn’t have to look too far to find somewhere to sate your caffeine cravings. In addition to coffee, modern cafés usually serve delicious green tea latte, with some of the more adventurous throwing in ginseng or sweet potato varieties for good measure. Though certainly not for purists, worth mentioning are the cans and cartons of coffee on sale in convenience stores, and the three-in-one instant mixes that pop up all over the place, including most motel rooms.

Dog meat

Korea’s consumption of dog meat (gae-gogi; 개고기) became global knowledge when the country hosted the 1988 Olympics, at which time the government kowtowed to Western mores and attempted to sweep the issue under the carpet.

Today, eating dog meat amounts to a shameful national secret. Foreigners looking for it on the menu or in their hamburgers are likely to be relieved, as it’s almost nowhere to be seen. Should the issue be raised, even with a Korean you know well, they’ll probably laugh and tell you that they don’t eat dog, and that the practice only takes place behind closed doors, if at all.

That said, and though it’s true that few young people consume dog, the soup yeongyangtang, for one, is still popular with older Koreans owing to its purported health-giving properties, and can be hunted down in specialist restaurants.

Any fears of Koreans chowing down on an Alsatian or Border Collie should be quelled; almost all dog meat comes from a scraggly mongrel breed colloquially known as the ddong-gae (똥개), or “shit-dog”, an animal named for its tendency to eat whatever it finds on the floor. Even so, the poor conditions that the animals are often kept in, and the continuing – and occasionally verified – stories of dogs being clubbed to death to tenderize the meat, are good reasons to avoid this kind of meal. For those who wish to know, it’s a slightly stringy meat somewhere between duck and beef in texture, and is generally agreed to taste better than it smells.

Get drunk the local way

Though Koreans largely favour beer and imported drinks, the country has more than a few superb local hooches, many of which go down very well indeed with foreigners.

Baekseju

(백세주) A nutty, whisky-coloured concoction, about the same strength as wine. Its name means “one-hundred-year alcohol”, on account of healthy ingredients including ginseng and medicinal herbs. Surely the tastiest path towards becoming a centenarian, baekseju is available at convenience stores and many barbecue houses.

Bokbunjaju

(복분자주) Made with black raspberries, this sweet, fruity drink is similar to sugary, low-grade port. Available at all convenience stores, though if you’re on a mountain hike in late summer you may be lucky enough to try some freshly made: it’s sold by farmers at makeshift stalls.

Dongdongju

(동동주) Very similar to makkeolli, dongdongju is a little heavier taste-wise, and since it can only be served fresh you’ll have to head to a specialist place for a try. The restaurants most likely to have dongdongju are those also serving savoury pancakes known as pajeon. A word of warning: many foreigners have been floored by this deceptively quaffable drink.

Maehwasu

(매화수) Similar to baekseju in colour, strength and price, this is made with the blossom of the maesil, a type of Korean plum, and some bottles come with said fruit steeping inside.

Makkeolli

(막걸리) Usually around 8 percent alcohol by volume, this milky rice wine was seen as granddad fuel for years, but a recent shift back towards Korean tradition has seen its popularity go through the roof. The stuff is now sold in upscale bars, and preliminary attempts have been made towards its marketing abroad. Interestingly, although it’s the most expensive of Korea’s alcohols to make, it’s actually the cheapest to buy, since its centuries-old heritage has afforded it tax-exempt status.

Soju

(소주) The national drink, for better or worse. Locals refer to it as “Korean vodka”, but it’s only half the strength – a good thing too, as it’s usually fired down in staccato shots over barbecued meat. It’s traditionally made with sweet potato, but these days most companies go for cheaper, chemical concoctions: the resultant taste puts many foreigners off.

Fast food chains

Many Koreans find it impossible to spare time for a leisurely meal, so it's no surprise that their city streets are packed with fast food outlets. In general the local offerings are far healthier than their Western equivalents, but don’t expect English-language menus or service. Below is a selection of the outlets you’re most likely to come across in cities across the nation.

Bongchu Jjimdak

(봉추찜닭) Jjimdak is steamed chicken, mixed with potatoes and other vegetables in a delicious, aromatic stew. A W22,000 serving – one chicken – should be enough for two, and be sure to don one of the bibs provided, as there’s bound to be some splashback.

Gimbap Cheonguk

(김밥천국) In Korean street-space terms, this ubiquitous orange-fronted franchise is rivalled only by internet bars and the more prominent convenience store chains. Almost all basic Korean meals are served here for around W5000 per dish, and despite the variety on offer you’ll be eating within minutes of sitting down. They also do gimbap from W1500, and these can be made to go: perfect if you’re off on a hike.

Isaac Toast

(이삭토스트) Toast, but not as you know it. The Korean variety is made on a huge hot-plate – first your perfectly square bread will be fried and smeared with kiwi jam, then joined by perfect squares of spam and/or fried egg, and the whole lot injected with two sauces, one spicy and one brown.

Lotteria

(롯데리아) Unlike the similarly omnipresent McDonald’s outlets, at least this is a Korean burger chain: witness the delicious bulgogi burger (W4500), made with marinated beef (at least in theory), or the meatless gimchi variety, served between two slabs of rice rather than a bun.

Paris Baguette

(파리바게뜨) & Tous Les Jours (뚜레쥬르) A pair of near-identical bakery chains, whose offerings may satisfy if you need a breakfast devoid of spice or rice; many branches are also able to whip up a passable coffee. Baked goods start at around W1500, but note that even the savoury-looking ones are usually extremely sugary.

Yu Ga Ne

(유가네) This chain serves tasty barbecued meat, cooked at your table by an apron-wearing attendant. Unlike most barbecue joints, there are dishes for those dining alone, such as the delectable dakgalbi beokkeumbap, which is something like a chicken kebab fried up with rice. W10,000 should be enough to get a bellyful.

Korean tea varieties

Daechu-cha 대추차Jujube tea

Gukhwa-cha 국화차Chrysanthemum tea

Gyepi-cha 계피차Cinnamon tea

Ggulsam cha 꿀삼차Honey ginseng tea

Insam-cha 인삼차Ginseng tea

Ma-cha 마차Wild herb tea

Maesil-cha 매실차Plum tea

Nok-cha 녹차Green tea

Omija-cha 오미자차Five Flavours tea

Saenggang-cha 생강차Ginger tea

Yak-cha 약차 Medicinal herb tea

Yuja-cha 유자차Citron tea

Yulmu-cha 율무차“Job’s Tears” tea

Royal cuisine

Being such an important part of daily Korean life, it’s inevitable that food should wend its way into traditional events. The hundredth day of a child’s life is marked with a feast of colourful rice-cake, while a simpler variety is served in a soup (ddeokguk) to celebrate Lunar New Year. More interesting by far, however, is royal court cuisine: a remnant of the Joseon dynasty, which ruled over the Korean peninsula from 1392 to 1910, this was once served to Korean rulers and associated nobility. The exact ingredients and styles vary and go by several different names, but usually rice, soup and a charcoal-fired casserole form the centre of the banquets, and are then surrounded by a team of perfectly prepared dishes; twelve was once the royal number of dishes and banned to the peasant class, but now anyone can indulge as long as they have the money. The aim of the combination is to harmonize culinary opposites such as spicy and mild, solid and liquid, rough and smooth; a balance of colour and texture is thereby achieved – the Yin-Yang principle in edible form. Some of the best places to try this kind of food are Korea House and Baru in Seoul, or Naedang in Busan.