In South Korea, there is a lot of amazing food. However, people often miss out on trying great Korean food due to a lack of information. Bibimbap, Korean BBQ, and Teokbokki? Yes! You should definitely try those famous Korean foods! However, Korean cuisine has so much more to offer. This article will introduce some very good food you can eat in South Korea, which may never have been recommended to you before.
1. Raw beef
Initially, you may not want to try raw beef, but the taste is truly amazing! You may worry about the safety of consuming raw beef, however it helps to know that beef should be extremely fresh if restaurants want to sell it for raw consumption. Also, it is extremely rare in South Korea that people become ill due to eating fresh raw beef. There are two types of raw beef dishes in South Korea: yuk sashimi and yuk heo. Even though “heo” in Korean means “sashimi”, “yuk (beef) heo” and “yuk sashimi” are different; yuk heo is very thin raw beef marinated in sauce, and yuk sashimi is simple, thicker slices of raw beef, similar to fish sashimi. If you like sauce as an accompaniment to beef, I recommend trying yuk heo. But if you want to taste fresh beef itself, my recommendation is yuk sashimi. Normally people eat yuk sashimi with some sauce on the side, but this depends on the person and restaurant. You can get raw beef from good Korean BBQ restaurants or quality meat markets like Majangdong in Seoul. The city of Deagu is very famous for a type of yuk sashimi called muntigi, which is very thick raw beef with an amazing flavor
2. Korean Chinese food
What?! Chinese food?! Yes! Specifically, Korean Chinese food. Similar to how the US has created its own unique spin on foreign cuisine like Mexican food or pizza, South Korea has developed Chinese food in its own way. Jajangmyun is one of the most popular foods in South Korea. Jjampong is also popular, as is Korean Chinese sweet and sour pork, which is so delicious. We call this sweet and sour pork tangsuyuk. Jajangmyun is noodles in black bean sauce, and jjampong is a spicy noodle dish. You can easily get Korean Chinese food anywhere, and the price is pretty cheap compared to other food. When I visit South Korea, my first meal is always Korean Chinese food. Please try it! You won’t regret it.
3. Japanese restaurants
What?! Not only Chinese food but also Japanese food in South Korea?! That is correct! South Korean Japanese food is different than Japanese food in Japan. Sashimi culture for example, is very different. That is why my first recommendation is to visit a Japanese restaurant, not a sushi restaurant. Well, sushi restaurants are good too, but they can be pretty much the same as sushi restaurants in Japan. Alternatively, Japanese restaurants in Korea can be different. For example, South Korean people eat sashimi with cho-gochujang. Also, the preferred types of fish and main courses can be different as well. If you have watched some South Korean movies (especially gangster movies, or ones related to politics) you’ve probably watched a scene where two or more people are talking in a fancy restaurant. 90% of these scenes are in Japanese restaurants. A good tip is to visit that kind of Japanese restaurant during lunch time. The reason is the price. Yes! That kind of place seems very expensive; however lunch specials can be $30-50 USD, and you can eat more delicious rolls than in the US. Please try this!
4. Fusion food
When I travel to a different country, I sometimes visit McDonalds because they often have some type of fusion burger or fries which incorporates the countries own food. As such, I strongly recommend eating some fusion food. For example, you can get bulgogi burgers in South Korea and it is hard to find one that isn’t delicious. Likewise, fusion pizza will be great too; I generally do not like pizza crust, but in South Korea there is a sweet potato pizza crust and the flavor is amazing! Of course, there is bulgogi and spicy pork flavored pizza as well. Please at least try a bulgogi burger or bulgogi sandwich and you will not regret it.
5. Hanjungsik
Many foreigners try bibimbab and Korean BBQ, but not hanjungsik. Hanjungsik is essentially having a wide variety of banchan, which are small dishes for eating with rice. Normally, restaurants in Korea provide a lot of banchan and you can share them among a group people. This is my favorite Korean food! Every time I eat hanjungsik, I feel like I am a Korean king. You may not like some banchan, however you do not need to worry about it. There will be a huge variety of banchan to choose from, as well as main dishes. Even if you like all the banchan offered, I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to eat it all. The real beauty of hanjungsik restaurants is that they generally do not charge you for ordering more banchan. Depending on the specific banchan you want, they may charge you, but 90% of the banchan will be refilled without any extra cost. Some hanjungsik places can be expensive but normally lunch time prices will be fairly cheap. You can also order main dishes like bulgogi or some fish.
6. Gukbab
I know that many people already recommend eating gukbab. However, my recommendation is to get gukbab late at night, because the atmosphere and general feeling will be different, and more enjoyable. Many gukbab places are open 24/7. Also, if you go later in the day you can eat gukbab with soju. If you want to know more about gukbab, check out my article here.
7. Dessert
There are lots of diverse and amazing deserts in Korea! Here are some of my recommendations:
7-1. My first recommendation is sweet potato cake. You might not be familiar with sweet potato cake, but the flavor is amazing and the cake itself is sweet and creamy! You can get sweet potato cake from almost any normal bakery in South Korea.
7-2. My second recommendation is to try some bread or bun with red bean paste inside. If you really love red bean paste (or have never tried it before), then you must eat this in South Korea. Go to any bakery and ask for their red bean bun. Personally, I really love whipped cream red bean buns. Also, some famous towns have their own red bean pastries. For example, hodugaja in the city Chenan is a very famous snack which has red bean in it.
7-3. Milk ice cream
Milk ice cream is an amazing type ice cream you can easily try in South Korea. It’s not super rich, but instead has a very soft flavor. When I visited
South Korea a few years ago, milk ice cream was recommended to me and I immediately fell in love with it. I can say this ice cream is the best ice cream in my life! And while it’s not as popular nowadays, I recommend trying honey ice cream as well (if you can find it). It’s eaten with honeycomb, the flavor of which is very harmonious with that of the ice cream.
Those are my suggestions for what to eat in South Korea that people may not have recommended to you before! This list might be subjective, but I always look forward to eating these foods whenever I visit South Korea.
