Not fried chicken: Korean beef rice rolls emerge as Taiwan’s lunchtime hit

Taiwanese diners may think first of Korean fried chicken or spicy rice cakes, but delivery orders point to a different lunchtime winner: Korean beef rice rolls.

Foodpanda’s two-year ranking placed Korean tofu stew first, followed by stone-pot bibimbap, Korean beef rice rolls, Korean fried chicken and kimchi spicy rice cakes. The rice rolls stood out during the day, drawing twice as many orders at lunch as at dinner.

Foodpanda said the dish combines vegetables and protein with the convenience of being easy to eat, making it increasingly attractive to office workers. Korean food, once associated more with group meals or watching shows, is becoming part of the everyday lunch market.

The platform also tracked the side items Taiwanese customers most often ordered with Korean main dishes. Yogurt-flavored carbonated drinks, Asian pear juice and fish cake soup took the top three spots.

Regional tastes differed. Taoyuan, Taichung and Taipei recorded the strongest Korean-food sales in 2025. In Yunlin, six of the county’s 10 best-selling Korean dishes were rice rolls. Kaohsiung customers instead favored filling hot dishes such as army stew and soybean-paste soup.