Israel’s Korean food scene is small but real. Where the country has 342 Japanese restaurants spanning everything from Tokyo-trained omakase counters to neighbourhood ramen bars, there are roughly 10 Korean establishments in the whole country — and most opened within the last few years. The driving force is the same one reshaping menus from London to São Paulo: K-pop and K-drama have made Korean food aspirational. Younger Israelis who grew up watching Korean content now want to eat kimchi jjigae and bibimbap, and a small but growing number of Korean expats and food entrepreneurs are here to serve them.
The scene is honest about its size. There is one main restaurant in Tel Aviv, one in Haifa, a sparse Jerusalem entry, and a handful of unique experiences — private dining, cooking workshops, dessert bars — filling in the gaps. That’s not a criticism; these places hold their own against the wider Israeli dining landscape, and the trajectory is upward.
This guide covers every meaningful Korean food option in Israel. For the full searchable directory, see our Asian businesses directory.
Tel Aviv#
Kimchi’s TLV — Lilienblum#
Tel Aviv’s main Korean restaurant, and the address that gets mentioned every time someone asks where to eat Korean food in the city. Located on Lilienblum Street in the heart of the central nightlife district, Kimchi’s built its reputation on approachable, flavour-forward cooking and a notably wide range of vegan options — an unusual priority for a Korean kitchen.
The menu covers the classics: bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables and gochujang), japchae (glass noodles stir-fried with vegetables and meat), tteokbokki (chewy rice cakes in spicy sauce), and kimchi jjigae (fermented cabbage stew). Nothing revolutionary, but executed well and priced reasonably for the location.
📍 21 Lilienblum Street, Tel Aviv | kimchi-tlv.com | @kimchistlv
SoBing — Ibn Gabirol (Desserts)#
Not a restaurant but worth knowing about. SoBing on Ibn Gabirol is a Korean dessert bar specialising in bingsu — the Korean shaved-ice dessert topped with sweetened red beans, fruit, condensed milk, or tteok. It’s light, not overly sweet, and entirely unlike anything else on the street. Order at least one round of the red bean classic before experimenting with seasonal flavours.
📍 Ibn Gabirol 65, Tel Aviv | Wolt delivery
Haifa#
Koreana Haifa — Independence Street#
Haifa’s Korean option, on a busy stretch of Independence Street (HaAtzmaut). The menu is focused — bibimbap and bulgogi (marinated beef) are the anchors — and the atmosphere is more neighbourhood canteen than destination dining. Hours skew evening-heavy on weekdays, with expanded lunch service from Thursday through Saturday.
📍 Independence Street 66, Haifa | @koreana_haifa | 04-834-9597
Jerusalem#
Seoul House — Old City area#
Jerusalem’s entry into the Korean scene, located near Rehov Chabad in the Old City area (Chabad 34). The description leans into traditional ferments and local sauces — an interesting framing for a small restaurant in the capital. Data is sparse and the menu is not published online, so it’s worth calling ahead or checking Wolt before visiting.
📍 Chabad 34, Jerusalem | Order on Wolt
Unique Experiences#
Begopa Korean Dining — Kfar Saba (Private dinners & workshops)#
Begopa is the most interesting Korean food project in Israel and the one most worth seeking out if you’re serious about the cuisine. Korean chef Taejin Kim-Doron hosts intimate home-cooked dinners at her Kfar Saba kitchen — the address is provided on reservation. The format is Korean home cooking in the truest sense: fermented side dishes, slow-cooked stews, the kind of food that doesn’t travel well to a commercial restaurant kitchen.
She also runs cooking workshops for groups who want to learn the techniques rather than just eat the results.
Reservations via Ontopo. Worth booking early — capacity is limited by design.
📍 Kfar Saba (address on reservation) | @begopa_korean_chef | 050-236-6986
Chef Ash — Tel Aviv (Cooking workshops & private events)#
Chef Ash runs Korean cooking workshops from her Tel Aviv home kitchen, and also travels to clients for private events. The sessions are hands-on and dish-specific: gyoza folding, ramen from scratch, Korean corn dogs, sriracha making. Each class is a standalone workshop rather than a generic “Asian cooking” course — if you want to learn why Korean corn dogs have that particular chew, this is where to go.
Private events (birthdays, corporate groups, bachelorette parties) are also available.
📍 Tel Aviv (home kitchen, also travels to clients) | linktr.ee/Chefff_Ash | @chefff_ash | 054-565-0877
Cooking at Home: Ingredients#
Two dedicated Korean grocers serve the home cook market:
Konel Mart (Tel Aviv) stocks ramen, seaweed, snacks, seasonings, sauces, instant foods, and Korean alcoholic beverages. konelmart.com
Horangi Korean Grocery (Netanya, Smilanski 7) bills itself as the first Korean grocery store in Israel. The range covers soya sauce, gochujang, soju, and a broad selection of Korean pantry staples. Open Sunday–Thursday until 20:00, Friday until 16:00. horangi.co.il | @horangi.netanya | 053-445-3888
The Bigger Picture#
Ten Korean food options in a country of nine million is a thin scene by any measure — compare it to the 342 Japanese restaurants in the same market. But the trajectory matters: every place on this list opened within the last decade, most within the last five years. The Korean community in Israel is small, but the cultural pull of Korean pop culture is large, and the gap between demand and supply is closing.
For the full directory of all Korean businesses in Israel, see asiansinisrael.com/directory/.
