On the 30th, community forums began sharing the so-called "Geojimap," an easy way for people to locate cheap eats nearby.
Geojimap lists eateries by neighborhood that serve meals for 10,000 KRW or less. The site highlights value picks like sundae soup for 3,500 KRW (approximately $2.63), kimchi jjigae for 3,000 KRW (approximately $2.25), and tteokbokki for 2,500 KRW (approximately $1.88). You can even set a maximum price using a filter to find options that fit your budget.
Clicking a listing reveals the restaurant’s location, name, menu items and prices. Real customers leave comments — think “I come here all the time” or “cheap and delicious” — so it’s easy to get a sense of what’s worth trying.
The name "Geojimap" blends “geoji,” a joking term for someone extremely stingy, with the English word “map.”
The surge in frugal dining reflects steep jumps in restaurant prices. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s “Dining-Out Price Status,” the price of a roll of gimbap in Seoul rose from 2,446 KRW (approximately $1.83) in February 2020 to 3,800 KRW (approximately $2.85) this February — roughly a 55% increase. Kalguksu climbed from 7,000 KRW (approximately $5.25) to 9,923 KRW (approximately $7.44), up 41.75%; naengmyeon rose from 9,000 KRW (approximately $6.75) to 12,538 KRW (approximately $9.40), up 39.31%; and bibimbap went from 8,769 KRW (approximately $6.58) to 11,577 KRW (approximately $8.68), a 32.02% increase.
The developer behind Geojimap thanked users for the attention, saying the platform depends on the collective smarts and participation of thrifty diners to carry out strict evaluations. They added that some recent reports appear to come from interested parties and promised to take decisive action based on rigorous reviews.
