Gluten Free in Seoul- Introduction

Hello and welcome to Gluten-Free in Seoul! This is a small blog that I hope will reach fellow gluten-intolerant people visiting Korea, or perhaps their friends or family members.

Travelling, studying or even working abroad is a thrilling experience and can be a lot of fun, but it might be less so if you have to worry about which food you can eat. Even more so if you are not fluent in the language of that country, if many locals don´t speak English fluently and/or have limited knowledge about allergies. You might pack your luggage and organize a lot of food to bring to that country, or try to stick with food that you know is safe for you to eat.
Compared to friends or family who can eat almost everything they want, it can be a frustrating experience. I know that feeling very well.

When I moved to Korea first, I didn’t speak Korean, which IMMENSELY limited my access to information about gluten free 글루텐프리,100% rice flour 100% 쌀가루 or food without wheat (flour) 밀(가루). I found some information in English on the internet, but it was rather fragmentary and sometimes outdated compared to what my Korean friends later discovered by searching on Naver in Korean.

At the beginning, I believed there wasn’t much for me to eat outside, besides perhaps rice. Gluten allergy or intolerance is not very well-known in Korea, and I experienced some disappointments with food I wanted to eat but couldn’t. However, I also encountered many positive surprises regarding the variety of non-gluten/wheat-containing options available in Korea. Especially in areas with few foreigners, not everything might be marked as gluten-free, which makes it harder to find. But that doesn’t mean that restaurants and cafés offering those don’t exist.

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Please note that my blog is based solely on my personal experiences. I’m not affected by traces of gluten or cross-contamination, so I don’t address these factors in my posts. I can’t assume responsibility for products sold by third parties, and as you’ probably know, ingredients can change. Additionally, some of the places I’ll introduce may offer both gluten-containing and gluten-free options.
Please make sure to check everything before eating and always prioritize your health as you are the one who is responsible for your body.

I’m still in the process of discovering, but I’d like to share my experiences and connect with people. It’s one step closer to creating a better gluten-free world! (haha)
In the following posts I’ll do my best to introduce fantastic restaurants and places along with some Korean phrases and vocabulary to help you get around.

So, thank you for visiting this blog, and welcome to the adventure!