Korean Restaurant Etiquette: Ordering, Banchan and Dining Solo
How ordering, side dishes, call buttons, payment and tipping work in Korean restaurants, plus honest advice for solo diners and tips for shared grilled-meat meals.
What happens when you walk in
Korean restaurants are friendly to visitors, but the system differs from many Western ones. In most casual places you seat yourself, or a staff member points you to a table. Some busy restaurants use a tablet or a paper sheet at the door where you add your name and party size. If there is no obvious host, a short bow of the head and holding up fingers for the number of people usually works.
Menus may be on the wall, on a laminated sheet, on a tablet or on a QR code. Many tourist-area restaurants have an English or picture menu, and a translation app with a camera function handles most of the rest. Do not worry about getting everything right. Pointing at a photo or at another table's dish is completely normal.
Water is free and self-serve in most places, usually from a dispenser or a jug near the entrance. You also fill your own water cup, and spoons and chopsticks are often in a drawer at your table. Expect metal chopsticks, a spoon for rice and soup, and sometimes a pair of scissors on the table for cutting meat, noodles or kimchi.
Calling the staff and paying
Staff will not check on your table constantly, and that is not rudeness. Many tables have a call button. Press it when you are ready to order or need something, and someone will come. If there is no button, say a polite word to call out, such as the one in our phrases guide, or raise your hand a little. Calling out is normal in Korea and not considered impolite.
Order everything at the start in many places, and do not expect separate courses. Dishes arrive when they are ready, often together. For grilled-meat meals, the staff may grill the first batch for you, and then leave you to continue.
Pay at the front counter when you leave. The bill is usually brought to the register by you, not to the table. Many restaurants handle it through a card terminal or a kiosk at the door. If you are with friends, splitting is easy at the register, although it works best if you tell the cashier before they ring up the order. Some restaurants with tablets let you pay at the table. As in the rest of Korea, there is no tipping, and nobody expects it.
Banchan and shared dishes
Most Korean meals arrive with several small side dishes called banchan, such as kimchi, pickled vegetables, seasoned greens and sometimes a small egg or fish dish. They are included in the price and shared. If you finish one, you can usually ask for more for free. That is a normal practice in many restaurants, though some places charge for refills of items such as expensive seafood, and higher-end restaurants might not refill at all.
Stews and grilled foods are often meant to be shared in the middle of the table. Each person gets their own bowl of rice, and everyone takes from the central dishes with their own spoon or chopsticks. Use the serving spoon if one is provided, and do not worry if everyone dips into the same pot. That is the point.
A few table manners are worth knowing. Do not stick your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice, since this resembles a ritual offering for the dead. Leave your spoon and chopsticks on the table rather than holding them while you speak. When eating with someone older, wait for them to start. If you drink alcohol with a group, pour for others with your right hand supported by your left, and receive a glass with both hands as a sign of respect. Some places have floor seating, in which case you take off your shoes at the entrance.
Eating alone
Dining alone is common and increasingly normal in Korea, but it is easier in some kinds of restaurants than others. Good choices for a solo meal include kimbap shops, noodle and dumpling restaurants, rice-soup (gukbap) places, food courts in department stores and subway stations, bunsik restaurants serving tteokbokki and fried snacks, and convenience stores, which have counters and hot water for instant noodles.
Be aware that some dishes are designed for groups, especially Korean barbecue, hot pots and large stews, and some restaurants set a minimum of two portions per order. Solo travelers sometimes pay for two portions, find a restaurant that sells single servings, or choose lunch-set menus, which are cheaper and offered to individuals. In busy times a restaurant may prefer to give a single diner a counter seat or ask them to wait. Do not take it personally.
Many restaurants offer a lunch special that is a good value and designed for people dining alone. Ask for the set menu or look for a sign listing a daily special. Opening hours matter as well: many restaurants take a mid-afternoon break between lunch and dinner, often some time in the afternoon, and may be closed, so check the hours on a map app before you walk across town.
Small details that make the meal smoother
Spice is a real issue. Many dishes are spicy, and the level of heat is often higher than visitors expect. Ask for something not spicy, using the phrase in our guide, or choose naturally mild dishes such as chicken ginseng soup, grilled beef, japchae noodles or bibimbap with the chili paste served on the side.
Tell your hotel or a local if you have a dietary restriction. Allergies and vegetarian eating are covered in our first-timer food guide, along with some key Korean phrases.
Finally, a note on timing. Lunch is usually between noon and one, and offices empty into restaurants at that hour, so arriving at 11:30 or after 1:30 avoids queues. Dinner is typically early evening, and popular grilled-meat places fill up after work. Menus, prices and hours change, so use these tips as general guidance.