Korean Job Discussion Forums

Natebomb · Joined: 23 May 2006

Alright, I'm curious as to how my Western food needs will be met in South Korea. Keep in mind that I have no problems trying/loving Korean food, but I'm pretty stuck in my ways concerning my diet. Also, how expensive will it be for me to eat these foods? I'll post a list of my most commonly consumed foods, (most on a daily basis), and perhaps someone could be so kind as to stick a price tag beside each item.....

chicken
oatmeal
MILK
whole wheat bread
tuna
cottage cheese
eggs
various green veg.
various fruits, not too picky
brown rice
steak
peanut butter
protein powder, (probably order online)
pork

I'm sure I've missed something, but that's pretty much my daily selection of foods. Any help is appreciated.

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

Live near a Costco and you'll be fine.

huffdaddy · Joined: 25 Nov 2005

tzechuk · Joined: 20 Dec 2004

chicken - depends on where you get it from. Chicken br*asts at supermarket (Carrefour, Emart etc.) is about 4,000/5,000 won per 500g.

Costco sells br*asts at about 9,000 for a 1.5kg pack.

oatmeal - You can only either get this at Costco or the blackmarkte.. or the shop opposite Hannam Supermarket. At Costco, a 50 variety box is about 19,000 won.

MILK - 1700/1750 for 1000ml

whole wheat bread - this is not readily available.. not REAL whole wheat anyway. Paris Baguette has a version that is about 2,500 won for a loaf (12 slices)

tuna - this varies according to size. Korea ones start at about 5,000 for 3 small tins.

Costco has albacore for 12,000 for 6 tins.

cottage cheese - haven't found cottage cheese in Korea.

eggs - depends on size. King size eggs are about 4,500 for a pack of 30.

various green veg. - this varies a lot and again, depends on where you get them from. Supermarket is generally more expensive than the fresh produce market, where you can pick 2 heads of broccoli for 1,500 when in season, or an iceberg lettuce for 1,000 won.

various fruits, not too picky - see above. We went last week, got apples for 1,000 each, 4 (Korean) pears for 5,000 and 6 nectarines for 3,000.

brown rice... uh.. don't know about this one.

steak - beef is extremely expensive in Korea, especially Korean beef. We are talking about 3/4,000 per 100g. Costco is a tad cheaper.

peanut butter - about 6,000 a jar.

protein powder, (probably order online)... don't know.

pork - pork is cheap.

Natebomb · Joined: 23 May 2006

Awesome, all sounds pretty reasonable, similar to what I pay here in Canada. Thanks guys!

VanIslander

Sash · Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Location: farmland

Keep in mind that it might be hard to get to a big supermarket (depending on where you are going)... It might be harder to walk to a grocery store and get some cottage cheese and whole wheat bread in some areas than others (actually i haven't seen cottage cheese in Korea either). It might be a pain in the butt to go take the bus just to go grocery shopping for some real whole wheat...

I think I also heard somewhere that they only allow the pre-packaged/instant oatmeal to be imported to Korea... either that or it's extremely hard to find. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyhowwwww... good luck if you decide to come to korea!

huffdaddy · Joined: 25 Nov 2005

huffdaddy · Joined: 25 Nov 2005

denverdeath · Joined: 21 May 2005 Location: Boo-sahn

Brown rice is called hyuhn-mi (현미) in Korean. It's available almost everywhere...sorry, but don't know the price off-hand...but it's reasonable, and much better than the sticky, jelly, white rice that is the norm here.

Go for the Australian beef...as others said, the Korean stuff is too expensive. Also, depending on the cut, I'd say that the Aus stuff is much better...again, don't tell a Korean that!

two roads · Joined: 04 Jan 2006

I buy brown rice at Emart here in Busan. It's funny, I buy it all the time, but I can't remember the price at the moment. I think it's like 6,000 for a small bag.

peony · Joined: 30 Mar 2005

they even have microwaveable brown rice (het ban)

tzechuk · Joined: 20 Dec 2004

Yeah.. they do have brown rice... we don't eat it so I didn't know about it... Razz

kermo · Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 6:24 pm Post subject:

Instant, flavoured oatmeal is available at Costco, but regular rolled oats are pretty tricky.

Also, Natebomb, get ready to use gas for cooking! Keep a close eye on your pan as you cook. It gets scorching in a jiffy, and I regularly ate blackened food for the first month or so.

Alexandra · Joined: 08 Sep 2005 Location: Ilsan

I saw cottage cheese in Dandy's Grocery.