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Food · How it works
Eating out: how it works
Nothing complicated, but everything works a little differently: you call the waiter with a buzzer, help yourself to water, pay at the till, and never leave a tip.
Updated 7 October 2026
How a meal unfolds
Sitting down
In small restaurants you walk in and sit. At popular places you write your name and party size on a list or tablet at the door. Some traditional restaurants ask you to take off your shoes.
Finding the cutlery
The metal spoon and chopsticks are in a drawer on the side of the table, or in a box on top, with the napkins.
Ordering
On a tablet at the table, a kiosk at the entrance, or by calling the waiter with the buzzer fixed to the table. Shouting "jeogiyo!" (excuse me) across the room is perfectly polite.
Water and side dishes
Water is free: a jug on the table or a self-service dispenser. Banchan arrive on their own; to ask for more, show the empty dish. A sign reading 셀프 ("self") means you go and refill them yourself.
Eating
Dishes are shared in the middle. Rice and soup are eaten with the spoon, the rest with chopsticks. The scissors are for cutting meat, noodles and kimchi.
Paying
You get up and pay at the till near the exit, with the bill left on your table or your table number. No tip, ever.
Common pitfalls
Two portions minimum
Barbecue and many stews must be ordered for at least two people: the menu says 2인분 이상. Alone, you will pay for two portions or choose something else.
Ordering kiosks
Increasingly common, often in Korean only, and not always compatible with foreign cards. Use Papago's photo translation, and ask to pay at the till if the kiosk refuses your card.
The afternoon break
Many restaurants close between 3 and 5 pm, and last orders are taken an hour before closing.
Breakfast
Cafés rarely open before 9 or 10 am. In the morning you will find soups, gimbap, bakeries and convenience stores.
Queues
For fashionable places, booking or virtual queuing goes through the CatchTable app.
Meat at the table
At a barbecue the staff often come to turn and cut the meat for you. Let them; it is normal.
Eating alone
Soup restaurants (gukbap, seolleongtang), noodle, gimbap, dumpling and bibimbap places: you eat alone there without anyone raising an eyebrow.
"Bunsik" chains serve gimbap, tteokbokki, ramyeon and rice dishes for a few thousand won, at any hour.
The basements of department stores and malls house food halls where everyone orders at their own counter.
Rice triangles, lunch boxes to reheat, ramyeon to cook on the spot: a real meal for ₩3,000 to ₩6,000, with tables and microwaves.
Possible at places advertising single-person sets, more common in student districts. Elsewhere, go as a pair.
Vegetarian, vegan, halal, allergies
It is hard, and better to know it. Meat is rarely the visible problem: it is the anchovy broths, the fish sauce in kimchi and the shrimp paste that hide everywhere. The idea of vegetarianism is still poorly understood outside the big cities.
Bibimbap without meat, vegetable pancakes, grilled tofu, vegetable gimbap, pumpkin porridge, cold noodles with vegetables. Always specify: "gogi ppaejuseyo" (고기 빼주세요), no meat please.
Entirely plant-based, without garlic or onion, and refined. Several restaurants specialise in it around Jogyesa Temple and in Insadong, Seoul.
HappyCow lists vegetarian and vegan restaurants; their number has grown sharply in Seoul, especially in Itaewon, Hongdae and Seongsu.
Certified options are concentrated in Itaewon, around the mosque. Elsewhere, seafood and vegetarian dishes are the fallback. The tourism organisation publishes a list of suitable restaurants.
Peanuts are uncommon, but sesame, soy, wheat and seafood are everywhere. Prepare a card in Korean describing your allergy and show it before ordering.
Table manners
Nobody starts before the oldest person has taken their first mouthful.
Never stuck upright in the rice: that is the gesture for offerings to the dead. Rest them on the edge of the bowl or on the table.
Unlike in Japan or China, you do not lift your rice bowl to your mouth.
You fill other people's glasses, not your own, and hold the bottle with both hands in front of an elder. When someone pours for you, hold your glass with both hands.
You turn your head slightly to the side to drink. Nobody expects this of a foreigner, but the gesture is always noticed.
Not at the table. Dab discreetly, or step away.
What a meal costs
| Type of meal | Per person |
|---|---|
| Convenience store or gimbap | ₩3,000–6,000 |
| Soup, noodles or bibimbap | ₩9,000–14,000 |
| Pork barbecue | ₩16,000–25,000 |
| Korean beef barbecue | ₩40,000–80,000 |
| Fried chicken and beer for two | ₩15,000–20,000 |
| Americano in a café | ₩2,000–6,000 |
| Fine-dining tasting menu | ₩100,000 and up |