Foreigners in Seoul think samgyeopsal, or Korean pork belly meat, is the most delicious food in the city, followed by kimchi and tteokbokki, a survey by the Seoul Metropolitan Government showed Monday.

The city government polled 1,984 foreigners about their favorite Korean dishes in Seoul via the city government website, social networking sites such as Facebook, Japanese blog websites and the Chinese microblogging site Weibo for five weeks from Sept. 3 to Oct. 2.

Samgyeopsal ranked first with votes from 558 foreigners. Kimchi and dishes made with kimchi were second with 328. Tteokbokki, rice cakes in spicy sauce, was favored by 313.

Bibimbap ― a bowl of rice topped with vegetables and chili pepper paste ― came in fourth. Samgyetang, a Korean chicken soup, and beef ribs known as galbi followed.

Westerners favored kimchi the most, while Chinese selected samgyeopsal and Japanese chose samgyetang as their No. 1 food in the city.

Seoul officials said they found foreigners like dishes favored by locals such as cold noodles known as naengmyeon, bossam or steamed pork wrapped in leaves, and kimbap, or rice and ingredients rolled in dried laver seaweed. The survey also said foreigners like fermented bean soup or doenjang chigae which Seoul officials thought they would dislike because of its distinct smell.

“We plan to develop online content on food to be enjoyed in Seoul and promote it so that more foreigners can get to know the city’s charms,” said Shin Myun-ho, director of economic promotion of the Seoul city government.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)