Traditional South Korean Breakfast

Would you like to step out of your bacon and eggs breakfast routine and try something new? Join us in exploring Korea’s tradition of dinner for breakfast. It’s a delicious and filling way to start the day.

Breakfast in South Korea

Breakfast looks different around the world. In South Korea breakfast may consist of soup, side dishes, and rice. Favorite breakfast soups include galbitang, kongnamul bap, kimchijjigae, or manduguk. There is also a side dish meal called baekban which consists of a small bowl of soup with many side dishes. If people are in a hurry, they will often just grab a kimbap at the corner store and call it good.

• Budaejjigae = 부대찌개
• Kimchijjigae = 김치찌개
• Galbitang = 갈비탕
• Gamjatang = 감자탕
• BaekBan = 백반

What It Feels Like to Eat Korean Breakfast

Although this might seem odd at first, Korean breakfast can quickly become a way of life once you get used to it. That’s because galbitang with rice and a few side dishes makes you feel like you could take on the world. You are full but not weighed down. For me, I feel full but not groggy straight through to lunch. No snacks are needed. These days I will choose a Korean breakfast 9 times out of 10 because it gives me energy instead of making me want to crawl back in bed.

How to Know If a Restaurant Serves Breakfast

Interestingly, finding out which restaurants serve breakfast isn’t always easy. They will usually have the information posted on their door but rarely advertise it online. CLICK HERE to read more about how to know who serves breakfast.

Below you will find five places I go for Korean breakfast regularly. Try a few of them and see what you think. Korean breakfast might be your thing or it might not. Either way, it’s worth a try just in order to experience how another culture experiences the start of their day.

Korean ‘Lunch Counters’

You will notice that the following list has many ‘Korean ‘lunch counter’ options. These types of restaurants are all across Korean in almost every populated neighborhood. They are the perfect spots to grab a quick affordable breakfast such as kimbap. Such breakfast spots can also often be found near transportation hubs such as bus terminals and subway stations.

10 Spots for Korean Breakfast in Pyeongtaek

Here are spots we grab breakfast across Pyeongtaek. We usually arrive 30 minutes after their “open” time to give them time to get organized and moving in the am. Most countryside spots arrive right when they say they open which means there might still be some things to do before they can get breakfast on the table. This is true about some places, but not all. We just arrive a little later to be safe.