Regional food guide

What to eat in Gyeonggi

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

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

Gyeonggi wraps around Seoul, and each city in it eats differently. Place names double as dish names here — Suwon ribs, Uijeongbu army stew, Icheon rice — and almost all of them are within an hour of Seoul by train or bus.

What people eat here

Start with the local defaults

Suwon

Suwon galbi

Large-cut beef ribs, originally grilled with salt alone. Most restaurants now serve a marinated version alongside.

Uijeongbu

Uijeongbu budae jjigae (army stew)

A stew that began around the US army bases, built on ham and sausage with instant noodles added at the table.

Icheon

Icheon rice set meal

Rice cooked in a stone pot, surrounded by side dishes. The rice itself is the point of the meal.

Idong, Pocheon

Idong galbi

Ribs cut small, marinated and grilled — sized to pick up one at a time.

Gonjiam, Gwangju

Ox head soup with rice

Simmered ox head served over rice. The old shops cluster near the motorway junction.

Where the food is

Markets, streets and harbours

View all (28)

Suwon Paldalmun Chicken Street

Beside Paldalmun Gate, an alley of cauldron-fried whole chicken shops. Old-style fried chicken with a side of fried gizzards is the standard order here.

Restaurants nearby

Icheon rice restaurant district

A cluster of large restaurants serving the rice set meal.

Restaurants nearby

Yangpyeong Okcheon Naengmyeon Village

Cold-noodle houses cluster in Okcheon-myeon, Yangpyeong. Known for Hwanghae-style naengmyeon served with pork meatballs and sliced boiled pork.

Restaurants nearby

Bucheon Jayu Market

Bucheon's oldest traditional market, formed in 1947 near Sosa Station; twinned with the nearby Kkang Market, it's known for its lively alley of sundae and jeon pancakes.

Restaurants nearby

Yongin Baegam Sundae Street

A sundae (blood sausage) street centered on the centuries-old Baegam five-day market, ranked among Korea's three most famous sundae towns alongside Abai and Byeongcheon.

Restaurants nearby

Seongnam Moran Market

The largest five-day market in the Seoul area, held on dates ending in 4 and 9. On market days a big open-air food section of soups, pancakes and noodles appears.

Restaurants nearby

Hwaseong Gungpyeong Port Seafood Market

A national fishing port with about 200 vessels, its live-fish direct-sale market paired with famous sunset views makes it a leading West Coast seafood destination.

Restaurants nearby

Ansan Wongok-dong Multicultural Street

Formed in Korea's largest foreign-resident enclave, this street clusters restaurants from Thailand, Vietnam, Central Asia and beyond, famous for exotic international food.

Restaurants nearby

When to go

Icheon rice is at its best with the autumn harvest, October and November.
Roads towards Yangpyeong and Gapyeong jam badly on cherry blossom and autumn foliage weekends.
The army stew street builds a queue in the evening.

Worth knowing

1Dishes named after a city are concentrated in that city. Most are reachable on the metropolitan rail network.
2The weight behind one portion of ribs varies by restaurant — check the grams.
3Suburban food streets usually have parking, but weekend lunchtime queues are long.
4Army stew is commonly cooked from two portions up.

What it costs · Per person, roughly

Army stew runs KRW 10,000-12,000 per person, the rice set meal around KRW 15,000, and Suwon ribs from KRW 40,000 per person.