Seoul Eating Out Prices Keep Rising: Gimbap, Naengmyeon, Kalguksu, Samgyeopsal More Expensive
Creatrip Team
25 days ago
Prices for common Korean restaurant dishes in Seoul—like gimbap, naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles), kalguksu (hand-cut noodle soup), bibimbap, jjajangmyeon (black bean noodles) and samgyeopsal (pork belly)—have continued to rise year-on-year. In July, a gimbap roll averaged 3,869 won (+6.8% YoY). Kalguksu cost about 10,038 won (+3.6%), samgyeopsal 200g was 21,321 won (+3.3%), and naengmyeon averaged 12,692 won (+2.2%). Home grilling of samgyeopsal for a family of four now costs over 40,000 won, driven by higher pork prices and increases in kimchi, garlic, lettuce and ssamjang (dipping paste). Analysts cite rising vegetable and processed food costs, ingredient prices, labor, rent and delivery fees—plus seasonal weather impacts like heatwaves and typhoons—as reasons the upward trend in eating-out prices is likely to continue.
