What to Eat in Korea: First Dishes and Restaurant Basics

If you’re trying to figure out what to eat in Korea, plan your first meal around dishes that are either not spicy or let you set the heat yourself: bibimbap (비빔밥), samgyetang (삼계탕) or japchae (잡채). The red-broth dishes can wait for your second or third meal.

Once you sit down, you call staff with the bell on the table, and water and side dishes are free to refill. You don’t tip. The only real snags are two-serving minimums and allergies, and both are covered below.

What to eat in Korea if you want to skip the heat

For a first meal, playing it safe is the smart move. Most English menus use the names from a romanization guide that the Korea Hansik Promotion Institute put together with several government bodies, so the spellings below are what you’ll see printed.

The spice notes follow official Korean food classification standards. Even when an item lacks a formal ‘Spicy’ icon on a tourist menu, red pepper-based favorites like tteokbokki (simmered rice cakes), kimchi stew, and spicy pork stir-fry can carry serious heat for sensitive palates. Heat intensity varies from stall to stall, so always sample a small bite before diving in.

The last word of a dish name tells you a lot. The guide renders jjigae (찌개) as Stew (kimchi jjigae is Kimchi Stew), tang (탕) as Soup (galbitang is Short Rib Soup) and jjim (찜) as Braised (galbijjim is Braised Short Ribs). If a place has no English menu, the English version of a reservation app like Catch Table can help. The Korea Tourism Organization teamed up with the app in 2022 to translate restaurant menus.

How to order in a Korean restaurant: bell, water, side dishes

To get a server’s attention, press the call bell mounted on or along the edge of the table (restaurant dining tips). The chime can ring surprisingly loud in smaller eateries. Spoons, chopsticks, and napkins are typically stored in a pull-out drawer built into the side of the table rather than laid out on top.

Water and side dishes are free to refill. The Korea Tourism Organization also notes that more restaurants now have self-service corners or kiosks where you fetch your own. If there isn’t one, the staff will bring more. Side dishes (banchan) are virtually always complimentary and unlimited; feel free to request refills (banchan deo juseyo) or visit self-service banchan stations. Tipping is non-existent in Korea, confirmed by official tourism authorities.

Many modern dining rooms take orders via digital tablet kiosks (t-order) mounted directly at the table. In popular 24-hour spots like Itaewon gamjatang (pork bone stew) restaurants, tabletop kiosk systems streamline ordering completely, often while complimentary starter banchan and soup arrive immediately. Picture menus with English and Japanese toggles make ordering seamless without requiring Korean language skills.

The etiquette list is short. Don’t stick your chopsticks or spoon upright in your rice, and if an older person is at the table, wait until they pick up their spoon first. Eating with your hands is fine when you wrap meat in lettuce (per the Seoul Tourism Organization).

Eating alone: what about the two-serving rule?

Not every restaurant does this, but some dishes have a two-serving minimum. Barbecue like samgyeopsal (삼겹살, grilled pork belly) and jjimdak (찜닭, braised chicken cooked whole) tend to work this way. No law covers it, so it depends on the restaurant.

In traditional Korean barbecue venues, tables generally require a minimum two-portion initial order before lighting the charcoal grill (K-BBQ etiquette guide). If dining solo, target spots offering single-seat counters (honbap), or visit during off-peak weekday lunch windows. The two-serving rule has sparked public debate—in July 2025 the coastal city of Yeosu issued administrative guidance urging 5,000 local eateries to accommodate solo diners fairly (Korea Times)—though it remains voluntary. For solo travelers wanting zero hassle, naturally portioned single-serving classics like bibimbap, gukbap (hot rice soup), gimbap, and kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) offer instant seating.

Barbecue remains most cost-effective and flexible when dining in groups. In bustling districts like Seongsu, group dining orders typically start with a large mixed meat platter for 3–4 people before ordering additional cuts. Note that deep red seasonings on marinated pork or dipping sauces often reflect smoky sweet paprika and mild gochugaru rather than searing chili heat. Cold buckwheat noodles tossed in toasted perilla oil (deulgireum makguksu) make a nutty, refreshing palate cleanser between rich cuts.

Allergies, vegetarian and halal: what to say

Don’t expect allergy labels on an ordinary restaurant menu. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety made labeling mandatory from May 2017, but only for franchises with more than 100 outlets that sell children’s favorite foods, such as hamburgers, pizza, bakery goods and ice cream. The labeled items include eggs, milk, buckwheat, peanuts, soybeans, wheat, shrimp, crab, pork, peaches and tomatoes. Everywhere else, tell the staff when you order.

Vegetarians need to be a bit more careful. According to Korea Tourism Organization dining guidelines, animal products appear frequently in hidden bases: soup broths typically rely on anchovy, beef bone, or dried pollack, while conventional kimchi includes fermented shrimp paste (saeujeot) and anchovy sauce. Bibimbap commonly comes with meat and egg, gimbap with ham or tuna, and sundubu-jjigae (순두부찌개, soft tofu stew) with salted shrimp. The organization suggests writing out a phrase like “no meat, please” in Korean before you go, and recommends temple food, which uses no meat at all.

For Muslim travelers, the tourism organization’s Muslim Friendly Korea page is the best-organized resource. It sorts restaurants into four levels: halal certified, self-certified, Muslim friendly (has halal menu items and may serve alcohol) and pork-free. Visit Seoul also has a separate halal restaurant recommendation page on its English site.

If you need help in English mid-trip, the 1330 Korea Travel Hotline, run by the Korea Tourism Organization, answers in English around the clock and is free apart from your carrier’s charges (per The Seoul Guide).

Gwangjang Market for a little of everything

If you want to sample several dishes in one meal, Gwangjang Market in Jongno is the easy pick. It’s right outside exit 7 or 8 of Jongno 5-ga Station on Line 1. You usually sit side by side with strangers on the long benches in front of the stalls, and you can order just by pointing (per Seoul Tourism).

For first-time market navigators (Gwangjang food itinerary), classic street staples like mayak gimbap (mini seaweed rolls), tteokbokki, crisp bindaetteok (mung bean pancake), and steamed mandu offer the safest introduction. Keep track of cash totals, as grazing between multiple stalls adds up quickly. Street snacks stay affordable: market price checks show fresh sugar-twisted donuts (kkwabaegi) at 1,000 won, honey hotteok at 2,000 won, and cheese hotteok at 3,000 won. Major food alleys offer very consistent quality across vendors (Gwangjang tasting reviews). In the covered butcher alley, local dining itineraries recommend seasoned raw beef (yukhoe, 21,000–23,000 won) and yukhoe bibimbap (11,000 won) over live octopus (sannakji) for a smoother entry into Korean delicacies.

Seoul Tourism’s guide says foreign cards may not work at the stalls, so bring a little cash. Seoul’s real-time city data shows weekday mornings are quiet, and it gets crowded from about 1 pm, after lunch. If you want to eat slowly and take photos, go in the morning.

For getting to the market by subway, read how to use a T-money card first, and if you’ll be hunting for restaurants, how to use Korean map apps saves a lot of wandering. You’ll find more on Korean culture in K-culture.