There's something about watching a K-drama that makes you desperately hungry. Characters eating ramyeon at midnight. Friends gathered around a samgyeopsal grill. Someone stress-eating tteokbokki from a street cart in the rain.
Korean food is practically a character in every drama. And once you've seen it enough times on screen, there's only one thing to do: eat it yourself.
Here are the 10 Korean foods every K-drama fan must try β what they are, where you've seen them, and how to eat them properly.
Most of these dishes are easy to find at Korean restaurants worldwide. But if you ever visit Korea, try them fresh from street stalls or local restaurants β the difference is enormous.
The essential 10
Chewy rice cake cylinders smothered in a sticky, spicy-sweet gochujang (red pepper) sauce. This is the ultimate Korean comfort food β eaten at street stalls, pojangmacha tents, and school canteens across Korea. It's warming, filling, and dangerously addictive.
Thick slices of pork belly grilled at the table over charcoal or gas. Wrap the meat in perilla leaves or lettuce with garlic, kimchi, and ssamjang (savoury paste). This is how Koreans bond β over a grill, with soju on the side. The experience is as important as the food.
Not just instant noodles β ramyeon in Korea is an art form. Made in a pot (not a microwave), often with egg, cheese, and vegetables added. The "ramyeon scene" in K-dramas is practically a genre of its own. Shin Ramyun is the iconic brand β spicy, satisfying, and universally loved.
A bubbling, deeply flavoured stew made with aged kimchi, pork, and tofu. This is Korean home cooking at its most comforting β the kind of dish a Korean mum makes when you're sick, stressed, or just need a hug in a bowl. Eaten with rice and a table full of banchan (side dishes).
The legendary Korean combo of fried chicken (μΉν¨, chikin) and cold beer (λ§₯μ£Ό, maekju). Korean fried chicken is double-fried for an impossibly crispy coating β available in soy-garlic, spicy, or original. It became a global phenomenon after My Love from the Star's famous chimaek scene.
Thinly sliced beef marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and Asian pear (which tenderises the meat beautifully). Grilled or pan-fried until caramelised and sweet. This is the gateway dish for many first-time Korean food eaters β approachable, fragrant, and universally loved.
Silky soft tofu in a fiery red broth with seafood, mushrooms, or pork, finished with a raw egg cracked in at the table. It arrives still bubbling in a stone pot. Spicy, warming, and soul-restoring β this is the dish Korean characters eat when they need to recover from heartbreak.
The simplest Korean comfort food β a bowl of hot rice, a fried or raw egg, butter, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Mixed together until creamy and golden. It's what Korean characters make at midnight when they're too tired to cook anything else. Humble, perfect, and endlessly satisfying.
Chewy Korean street pancakes filled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and crushed nuts, fried until golden and crispy on the outside. Eaten piping hot from street carts in winter β the caramelised sugar oozes out when you take a bite. Pure joy in pancake form.
A colourful bowl of rice topped with seasoned vegetables, meat, a fried egg, and gochujang paste β then mixed vigorously at the table. "Bibim" means mix, "bap" means rice. The Jeonju version (μ μ£Ό λΉλΉλ°₯) is considered the best in Korea. Beautiful to look at, even better to eat.
Where to try Korean food outside Korea
You don't need to fly to Seoul to start your Korean food journey. Korean restaurants have exploded globally, especially in cities with large Korean communities.
- Australia: Sydney (Strathfield, Campsie), Melbourne (Box Hill), Brisbane (Sunnybank)
- USA: Los Angeles (Koreatown), New York (Flushing, K-town), Chicago
- UK: London (New Malden, Soho), Manchester
- Canada: Toronto (North York), Vancouver
Check out our Incheon Airport guide and T-money card guide before you go β they'll save you a lot of stress on arrival!
Your Korean food adventure starts here
Korean food is more than just fuel β it's how Koreans show love, build friendships, and process emotions. Every dish has a context, a season, a feeling attached to it. When you understand that, the food hits differently.
Start with tteokbokki and ramyeon. Work your way to samgyeopsal. And one day, if you're lucky, you'll find yourself eating hotteok from a street cart on a cold Seoul evening, wondering how you ever lived without it.
And when you're ready to visit Korea β let our AI Drama Recommender find you the perfect drama to get you in the mood first. π¬