Restaurants in Jinju

Jinju is known throughout the country for its bibimbap (sometimes called ggotbap or "flower rice"), a mixed rice bowl with a variety of vegetables. A couple of restaurants that specialize in bibimbap are Cheonhwang Shikdang (tel. 055/741-2646), located near Jung-ang Shijang, just a block off the main drag, and Jeil Shikdang (tel. 055/741-5591), right next to the fortress and the folk museum.

Other specialties of the area include heotjesatbap, a "fake" rice meal traditionally made for the ancestral memorial table by starving scholars. Another Jinju favorite is jang-uh gui, grilled eel. A concentration of restaurants specializing in the fish dish is located along the waterfront near the fortress. They are all very similar to each other and charge a universal price of about W13,000 for an eel meal. Yujeong Jang-uh (tel. 055/746-9235) is one such restaurant that specializes in both freshwater and saltwater eel. The restaurant doesn't have an English sign, but just look for the ornate, traditional-looking house just west of the bridge. A meal will easily feed two, especially if you pay the extra W1,000 for rice. The menu on the wall, thankfully, is in English.

For a totally different meal, you can have Vietnamese cuisine at the chain place Hoa Binh, 768-4 Pyeonggeo-dong, Jinju-si (tel. 055/747-4554), a block from the river. A bowl of pho (Vietnamese rice noodles) will set you back W7,900.