Welcome to Vegetarian Korea!
The GOOD news: There are many vegetarian restaurants throughout the country. Unfortunately, few advertise to foreigners, so for many people, especially those who come to Korea on vacation, or to work for a year, it can be nearly impossible to find them, particularly if you are not in Seoul. It is my hope that this website will fill this void. Having yet to find a comprehensive source in English that listed vegetarian restaurants in Korea, I began to compile this information myself from numerous sources including my own experience, but the majority is lifted from various Korean websites (i.e. the Vegetarian Union, and various vegan/vegetarian sites and searches). Please read my disclaimer and how you can help.
The Korean vegetarian movement is relatively new, but it has caught on fast in the past few years. With this new format, I have expanded the site and hope to offer even more in the future. Click “regular posts” under categories for general information such as Korean vegetarian vocabulary, shopping, etc.
I welcome sponsors and will entertain any ideas. If you can help by sponsoring this site, please let me know! Feel free to link this site! I appreciate your input and hope to build on our combined knowledge to produce an organic resource that will enhance life in Korea for those who appreciate a good meal that doesn’t come at the high price of animal suffering and environmentally unsustainable practices.
Tell the businesses you patronize that you heard about them on www.vegetariankorea.org!
Thanks,
Sonia Knapp
sonia at vegetariankorea.org
on February 16th, 2007 at 2:20 am
There’s a juk [gruel / porridge] restaurant chain called IYAKI. There’s at least one here in Jeju City. A Korean woman told me it’s a national chain. They have vegan options and an English menu. www.jukstory.com is the website on their menu. I went once in February, 2007. It’s at the Inje intersection. Coming from the city hall area, turn right at Inje intersection. Go just a minute or less on foot. It’s on the left side of the street if you’ve made a left turn. There’s no English sign but there are pictures of the dishes on the window. It’s really easy to find. It’s just past the bakery that is on the corner. But don’t turn at the corner, just stay on the main road.
Here are the vegetarian options:
- Mushroom vegetable gruel for 5000 won
- Red bean gruel for 5000 won
- Pumpkin gruel for 5000 won
- Pine nut gruel for 6000 won
- Rice and black sesame gruel for 6000 won
- Spicy kimchi gruel for 5000 won [see note below]
- Mung bean gruel for 6000 won
I got the Rice and black sesame gruel. Nice. Good size portion. Service was good.
Note: a lady working there said the kimchi isn’t made with the seafood sauce / fish sauce so it’s vegetarian. If it’s the same as the kimchi that I got as a side dish, then I suspect that it is indeed vegetarian. I smelled the side dish kimchi, then tasted it. The lady also said that the side dish kimchi is vegetarian. I think I got the usual side dishes consisting of yellow[i]ed[/i] giant radish and a little something else. All vegetarian. But why is the radish yellow anyway? I never touch the stuff.
They’re open every day. I forget the hours, but from late morning until fairly late at night. Phone number is 723-3316. They do take out orders.
Again, I’m told this is a national chain. So, this is an option all over the country.
on March 6th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Such a pleasure to find this website. I have been a vegetarian forever and vegan for over 25 years. For future information, another great international on-line shop is http://www.veganessentials.com/. They are fast and efficient. But now that I have found your fabulous and helpful work, I may not be ordering and paying the shipping from North America! Thank you very much.
on June 23rd, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Hi there,
It’s great to see this site! I was primarily vegan in the U.S. but am now back to an ovo-lacto veg diet here in Korea. I’ve been in Korea for two months now, in Gwangju (Joellanam-do province). Are there many vegetarians in this area? I know there is a veg group in Seoul and I was hoping we could start a group here. If you’re a vegetarian in Gwangju, pleaaaaaase feel free to contact me!
Niki
on October 12th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Eric…
How inspiring! will come back….
on October 30th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
I have looked for a contact e-mail on this site, but couldn’t find one. So I am posting this and hope I can make contact with Sonia Knapp. My name is Bob Snell, and I teach at Pusan University of Foreign Studies. I am also the Global Issues SIG facilator, in the KOTESOL organization. We are planning a global issues conference, in conjunction with the Daejon-Cheonan chapter, for Nov 24. Our keynote speaker is George Jacobs, a noted advocate for global issues, and vegetarianism. He is located in Singapore, and during his visit to Korea, he would like to meet up with vegetarian organizations. He is interested in sharing what he is doing in Singapore, and hearing about vegetarianism in Korea. If you could contact me, we can work to set something up for his visit. My e-mail is bsnell2@yahoo.com. Thanks for your help.
on October 31st, 2007 at 6:06 pm
OH ha. . . just under my name is sonia at vegetariankorea.org! My friend who built this website told me never to post my e-mail anywhere because it makes it too easy for spammers. I’ll be in touch with you anyway!!
peace!!
on November 3rd, 2007 at 3:05 am
Dear all the friendly vegetarian here,
Do any you know the korean words of, ‘onion, garlic, leek, green onion, and that sort’? (Kind of like Buddhism or Jain way of eating
I have frequent business trip to Korea, but I find it very difficult to communicate to the local restaurant how I need my food to be not just have meat, but also without that sort of thing.
I’d really appreciate if any of you can post back on the Q.
Thank you!