What do Koreans eat for breakfast? As a Korean-American, it feels like a sort of personal cultural failure when I initially typed the search into Google. To be completely honest and to draw from the personal experiences of both native Koreans and Korean Americans, breakfast as a meal having distinct components from other daily meals hasn't really been a "thing" in Korea. Though Western-style breakfasts are gaining traction in the country, the general consensus is that unless you're eating a Korean meal in the morning (which few students and working professionals really have time for), breakfast is generally a pastry and some coffee or milk.
For those who do eat Korean food for breakfast, however, breakfast is a subdued affair consisting primarily of a fish or meat dish (note the singular), some banchan, and a soup of some sort. The soup is an especially integral ingredient, considering that for those who hit the bars the night before, there's likely to have been some drinking and subsequent dehydration involved. As such, restaurants serving soups and stews tend to be open earlier in the day. Here are five great Korean breakfast compilations in LA's Koreatown at restaurants that are open in the morning hours.
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