Regional food guide

What to eat in Gangwon

Written by hand, not generated. Dishes, markets, timing and prices for Gangwon.

5 dishes 7 food areas See Gangwon restaurant picks Open the food map

Mountains and sea sit close together here, so upland crops — buckwheat, potato, corn — and East Sea fish share the same table. The winters are long, which is why so much of the local food is dried, frozen and thawed, or otherwise preserved.

What people eat here

Start with the local defaults

Chuncheon and Inje

Makguksu (buckwheat noodles)

Buckwheat noodles served in cold radish water kimchi broth or with chilli sauce. You choose which, and broth usually comes on the side.

Chuncheon

Dakgalbi

Marinated chicken and vegetables stir-fried on a hot plate; rice is fried in the leftover sauce at the end.

Yongdae-ri, Inje

Hwangtae (freeze-dried pollack)

Pollack hung through the winter and repeatedly frozen and thawed. Served as hangover soup or grilled.

Cheongho-dong, Sokcho

Squid and abai sundae

Sausages stuffed into squid bodies or large intestine, from villages settled by people displaced from the north.

Chodang-dong, Gangneung

Chodang sundubu (soft tofu)

Tofu set with seawater instead of brine. Many shops serve it as breakfast.

Where the food is

Markets, streets and harbours

View all (21)

Chuncheon dakgalbi alley

A downtown alley densely packed with dakgalbi restaurants.

Restaurants nearby

Sokcho Tourist and Fishery Market

Dried seafood, raw fish and fried chicken, all inside one building.

Restaurants nearby

Gangneung Jungang Market

An old town market mixing street food with seafood stalls.

Restaurants nearby

Gangneung Chodang Tofu Village

South of Gyeongpo, Chodang-dong is a cluster of soft tofu houses that set their curds with seawater. Many open early, so it is a breakfast destination.

Restaurants nearby

Anmok Coffee Street

Gangneung cafes lined along the beachfront.

Restaurants nearby

Daegwallyeong Hoenggye Hwangtae Village

Below the Daegwallyeong pass, Hoenggye-ri has drying racks and restaurants specializing in dried pollack. Grilled pollack and pollack soup sets are standard, best in the winter drying season.

Restaurants nearby

Yangyang Namae Port

Yangyang's largest harbor, ranked among Gangwon's three most beautiful ports; raw-fish centers along the port slice fish caught before dawn.

Restaurants nearby

Yangyang Traditional Market

The largest five-day market (days ending 4/9) in the Yeongdong region, famous for direct pine-mushroom sales in autumn plus wild greens and seafood.

Restaurants nearby

When to go

Freeze-dried pollack is at its best in the winter drying season, December to February.
Winter fish such as snailfish and sandfish appear from December through February.
In the July and August peak, coastal roads jam and restaurant waits get long.

Worth knowing

1Sokcho and Gangneung get very crowded for accommodation and parking on summer weekends; travel early in the morning.
2Soft tofu places trade mainly at breakfast and may run out by late afternoon.
3With makguksu, add only a little sauce at first to taste the buckwheat, then adjust.
4Temperatures differ sharply between the mountains and the coast — pack accordingly.

What it costs · Per person, roughly

Dakgalbi runs KRW 14,000-16,000 per person, buckwheat noodles KRW 9,000-11,000, and a soft tofu set around KRW 10,000.