Discover the Best Cheap Eats: How ‘거지맵’ is Revolutionizing Dining in Korea

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With dining prices climbing, a cheeky new online map called Geojimap is helping people find budget-friendly restaurants.

Lately, the crowdsourced map—collecting locations of cheap eateries—has been gaining traction online.

The service grew out of “Geojibang,” a KakaoTalk open chat where members shared money-saving tips, and was expanded into a map. Users can search neighborhoods for restaurants with prices ranging from about 1,000 KRW (approximately $0.75) up to the 9,000 KRW (approximately $6.75) level.

Listings on the platform highlight low-cost menu items—egg omelets for 2,000 KRW (approximately $1.50), kimchi stew for 3,000 KRW (approximately $2.25), and tteokbokki for 2,500 KRW (approximately $1.88). Visitors also post reviews and practical saving tips.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s personal services dining price index, restaurant prices have been steadily rising.

The Korea Consumer Agency’s price portal, Price Info, reports that last month a bowl of jajangmyeon in Seoul averaged 7,692 KRW (approximately $5.77), up 0.5% from the previous month. Two hundred grams of pork belly (samgyeopsal) cost 21,141 KRW (approximately $15.86), a 0.4% increase. Kalguksu and bibimbap rose 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

In Seoul, a single roll of gimbap now runs about 3,800 KRW (approximately $2.85), a 7.4% increase compared with February last year. Kalguksu rose 5.3% over the same period.

In a notice, the site operators said they’ve recently spotted submissions that appear to come from parties with vested interests. While they haven’t penalized posts that follow the rules, the number of questionable entries is growing.

They added that the platform relies on the community’s collective intelligence and active participation to rigorously evaluate listings. Based on those evaluations, they plan to take firm action—so please avoid submitting misleading or unnecessary entries.