Is Eating Out in Korea Really Cheap? Seoul vs London and Stockholm

Korea Travel • Food & Drink • Seoul Culture • Korean Culture

Is eating out in Korea really cheap? This guide compares Seoul with London and Stockholm using the context most tourists miss, transport, groceries and dining culture.

People often describe eating out in Korea as cheap. It’s a convenient summary, and sometimes it’s true. But it’s also incomplete.

Korea doesn’t feel affordable because food is inexpensive everywhere. It feels affordable because eating is designed to be part of daily life. Frequent. Flexible. Embedded in the city itself.

In Seoul, meals often arrive as a complete set. Rice and banchan included, no negotiating required.

Once you stop comparing single prices and start paying attention to rhythm, the picture becomes clearer.

Eating out, as habit

In Korea, eating out isn’t an occasion. It’s a default. Especially in cities, especially for smaller households.

Restaurants are not destinations. They are infrastructure. You step outside, walk a few minutes, and choose. Not between two places, but between ten. Soup or noodles. Rice or grill. Something bubbling or something crisp. The choice isn’t dramatic. It’s casual. Almost unconscious.

This density changes everything. You don’t plan meals days ahead. You respond to mood, weather, appetite. That’s why visitors often feel overwhelmed. It’s not that Korea has “good food”. It has too many reasonable options, too close together, too easily accessible.

If you loved the “map your meals, not landmarks” vibe, you’ll probably also like my late-night delivery story here: Korean delivery food in Seoul at midnight.

Supermarkets tell a different story

This is where expectations quietly break.

On paper, supermarket prices in Korea don’t always look extreme. Milk, apples, vegetables. The numbers can appear similar to Europe. But lived reality isn’t about numbers alone. It’s about proportion.

Groceries in Korea can look normal on paper, but feel heavy when transport and daily movement are so cheap.

In Europe, especially in Sweden and the UK, supermarket food feels inexpensive relative to wages and daily costs. Transport is expensive. Eating out is expensive. Cooking at home makes sense.

In Korea, the balance shifts.

Quick price reality check: groceries vs daily life

• Seoul: subway base fares commonly quoted around ₩1,250–₩1,350 with a transit card, so a litre of milk can feel “heavy” relative to a ride.
• London: single Tube fares are often in the £2.80–£3.50 range depending on zones and peak/off-peak, so groceries can feel cheaper compared with the cost of simply moving around.
• Stockholm: a single SL ticket is commonly quoted at 42 SEK, again making supermarket shops feel comparatively lighter in the overall budget.
• Milk, apples and beef (rough, city-level snapshots): Numbeo commonly shows milk around £1.24 per litre and apples around £2.21 per kg in the UK, with beef around £10.80 per kg. Use these as “shape of the problem” numbers, not exact receipts.

Sources: TfL fares, SL single ticket info, Numbeo cost of living.

Transport as context

In Seoul, a subway ride costs roughly the same as a cup of convenience-store coffee. Movement is cheap. Constant. Almost frictionless.

Now compare that with supermarket shopping. A litre of milk can cost twice a subway ride. A small bag of fruit can equal several journeys across the city.

It’s not that groceries are unaffordable. It’s that they feel heavy in a place where everything else moves lightly.

This is one reason cooking at home never became dominant for singles and couples. Not because people don’t cook. But because eating out often feels more rational.

Where Korea quietly excels

Everyday meals in Seoul often arrive as complete sets. Warm, fast and oddly comforting.

Everyday meals.

A bowl of kalguksu. Tteokmanduguk on a cold day. Sundubu jjigae, still moving when it arrives. Doenjang jjigae that tastes like someone’s mother, not a recipe.

These meals sit comfortably around ₩9,000–11,000. Rice arrives without asking. Banchan appears without explanation. Kimchi, greens, something pickled, sometimes something fried.

Nothing is itemised. Nothing is negotiated. The meal is whole.

In Europe, even in Korean restaurants, these elements are often charged individually. What feels “simple” becomes layered with extras. In Korea, completeness is assumed.

That assumption changes how value is felt.

If you’re in your “warm soup saves the day” era, you’ll like this one too: Haejangguk mornings in Seoul.

Casual lunch, in real terms

A weekday lunch in Seoul might cost less than a coffee and sandwich in Stockholm. And it will leave you full, warm and unhurried.

When you add in transport. how little it costs to get there, to leave, to move on. the difference becomes more pronounced.

This is where Korea feels generous rather than cheap.

Fast food, as a marker

Fast food is rarely romantic, but it is revealing when you compare cities.

Fast food is rarely romantic, but it’s revealing.

In Seoul, a standard burger meal sits comfortably below Swedish prices. In Europe, fast food has crept upward quietly, until it no longer feels casual.

In Korea, it still does.

Fast food comparison, for perspective

• Seoul: Big Mac price has been reported around ₩5,500 (burger only). Whopper prices are reported around ₩7,400 (burger only) after recent increases.
• What this usually means in real life: once you add fries and a drink, Korea still tends to land below Sweden, while London varies by zone, promos and timing.

Sources: Big Mac reporting, Whopper reporting.

Two-portion rules. culture, not a hidden cost

Some aspects of Korean dining are simply unfamiliar to outsiders.

Certain dishes are designed to be shared. Some restaurants expect one main per person. In group settings, it’s not unusual for everyone at the table to order something. Drinks are often assumed, especially in the evening.

And yes. some places really do enforce it. In a group of four, a restaurant might require four mains. Some spots won’t sell “one portion” of a dish that’s traditionally cooked as a shared pot. BBQ can come with minimum meat orders per table, or per person, depending on the place.

These aren’t tricks or hidden rules. They’re reflections of how space, time and flow work in dense cities. Once you understand them, they stop feeling surprising.

Fine dining, without mythology

At the top end, Seoul can be cheaper than Europe, but wine and pairings stack fast.

At the top end, Korea is still cheaper than Europe in absolute terms.

Michelin 1- and 2-star restaurants in Seoul, including those clustered around Cheongdam, often price tasting menus between ₩200,000 and ₩350,000. Converted directly, this is significantly lower than comparable Michelin dining in Sweden or the UK.

A restaurant like Frantzén in Stockholm sits at a different scale altogether. Expensive, yes, but clearly framed as a long, formal, once-in-a-while experience.

Where Seoul feels different is not the base price, but the structure. Menus evolve quickly. Wine is heavily marked up due to import costs. Pairings can add dramatically to the final bill.

Luxury dining in Seoul can feel expensive not because it costs more than Europe, but because it arrives without the same ceremony. The expectation gap is emotional, not numerical.

Michelin and fine dining. a surprising comparison

• Stockholm (Frantzén): fixed menu is listed at 5,500 SEK per guest, with pairings available.
• Seoul (many 1–2 star and “occasion” restaurants): tasting menus commonly land around ₩200,000–₩350,000 per person, but wine pairings can add ₩180,000–₩300,000 depending on the restaurant and package.
• Why Seoul can still feel “pricey”: the base can look lower than Europe, but the extras stack fast, especially wine.

Sources: Frantzén menu, Seoul pairing example.

What Korea does better than almost anywhere

Choice.

Not curated choice. Not “best of” lists. Real, lived choice.

Restaurants on every corner. Walk-ins as the norm. Places that do one thing, quietly, well, for years. You don’t book. You don’t plan. You arrive.

This is why many visitors end up mapping food instead of landmarks. They move through neighbourhoods, not itineraries. One bowl at a time.

And if you’re building your own snack strategy for travel days, this is a good add-on: Korean instant foods and travel snacks.

So, is eating out in Korea cheap?

Korea isn’t uniformly inexpensive. It’s structurally generous.

Transport is cheap. Everyday meals are accessible. Supermarket food feels expensive relative to daily costs. Cafés and luxury dining can be costly. Fast food sits somewhere in between.

Korea feels affordable when you eat the way the city is designed to be eaten.

Practical takeaways (aka how to win at Seoul eating)

• Eat local soup, stew, noodle and bunsik spots for the best “complete meal” value.
• Expect minimum portions for shared dishes. It’s culture, not a scam.
• Lunch is often the sweet spot. dinner prices rise faster.
• If you’re doing Cheongdam fine dining, budget for wine like it’s a second menu.
• Don’t over-plan. the city rewards walk-ins and mood-based decisions.

What stays with you

It isn’t the price. It’s the ease.

The sense that good food is never far away. That you don’t have to plan for pleasure. That dinner doesn’t need an occasion.

That’s what people remember. Long after the numbers blur.

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