Food overview image: grilled pork belly, fried chicken, tteokbokki, bibimbap and kimchi stew. Actual ingredients and serving styles vary by restaurant.
Five dishes. One useful meal-ordering skill.
Choose a dish, check its ingredients and portions, then make one clear request. This guide keeps the food list short and takes the ordering deeper: what you say, what the staff may say back, and what to do when the food arrives.
If reading Hangul is new to you, start with the romanization below each phrase. It is a reading aid, not a phonetic transcription. Listen, repeat, then cover the line and try it from memory.
Listen, then try it: every Listen button plays a Korean recording, including the food names and menu words below. Play one phrase, repeat it, then try saying it without looking.
First, understand the question at the door
You may be asked how many people are eating. 몇 분이세요? is a polite headcount question here; 분 refers to people, not minutes. 몇 명이세요? is another common version.
These are possible exchanges, not a fixed script. Some places use a kiosk or table tablet. The same menu words still help you choose.
Another headcount question you may hear:
1. 삼겹살 · samgyeopsal · grilled pork belly
Choose it for: a sit-down barbecue meal, usually shared at the table. Samgyeopsal is pork belly. A lettuce wrap, 쌈 (ssam), can include cooked meat and 쌈장 (ssamjang), a seasoned dipping paste. Ssamjang and 된장 (doenjang), fermented soybean paste, are related but are not interchangeable names. [1]
If you need help with the grill, ask:
Put a piece of cooked meat and a little ssamjang on a lettuce or perilla leaf, fold it into a manageable wrap, and try it. Use the grill tools provided. Some restaurants cook for you; at others, ask the staff for help before assuming who is grilling.
2. 치킨 · chikin · Korean fried chicken
Choose it for: a sharing meal or takeaway. 후라이드 (huraideu) is the common menu spelling for plain fried chicken; 양념치킨 (yangnyeom chikin) has seasoned sauce, often sweet and spicy. 반반 (banban) means half-and-half when that option is offered.
Choose from that restaurant’s actual flavour list. 치맥 (chimaek) combines chicken and 맥주 (maekju, beer); ordering chicken does not require ordering alcohol. For delivery, check the payment method and your accommodation’s handover rules.
Look for a small side of pickled radish, often served alongside chicken; it is eaten between bites. A full order can be a sharing portion, so check the size before each person orders a whole chicken.
3. 떡볶이 · tteokbokki · rice cakes in sauce
Choose it for: chewy rice cakes and a spicy-sweet snack-shop meal. The familiar red version is often spicy. Other versions exist, so the colour and dish name do not tell you every ingredient. 어묵 (eomuk, fish cake) and animal-based stock may already be in the sauce.
Another way to request less spice:
If the sauce is already prepared, you may hear:
The staff’s spice question applies where levels are offered. A stall serving one prepared batch may be unable to change it. In that case, ask for another option:
Try one rice cake with a little sauce first, using the utensil provided. The sauce can stay hot. Removing visible fish cake does not remove fish stock already mixed into the dish.
4. 비빔밥 · bibimbap · mixed rice
Choose it for: rice and toppings you mix together. Toppings may include seasoned vegetables, egg and meat. Jeonju is especially associated with bibimbap, but versions vary across restaurants and regions.
Leaving out meat is only one ingredient request. It does not establish that the vegetables, sauce or accompanying soup are vegetarian or vegan. Use the ingredient check below.
Add a little gochujang, then mix the rice and toppings with a spoon so the flavour is distributed. Add more sauce to taste. With dolsot bibimbap, avoid touching the hot stone bowl. [2]
5. 김치찌개 · gimchi jjigae · kimchi stew
Choose it for: a hot stew to eat with rice. It may contain pork, tuna, tofu or other ingredients. Tofu in the pot does not make the broth or kimchi plant-based.
Eat a spoonful of stew alongside rice from your own bowl; you do not need to tip all the rice into the pot. If the stew is shared, use the serving ladle and individual bowls provided. Rice and side dishes complete this style of meal, but rice is not always included in the listed price. [3]
Vegetarian, vegan or halal? Check the hidden ingredients
Kimchi is not automatically vegetarian. It can contain 젓갈 (jeotgal, salted fermented seafood), 새우젓 (saeujeot, salted fermented shrimp) or 멸치액젓 (myeolchi aekjeot, anchovy fish sauce). Sauces and seasoned vegetables can also contain seafood seasoning; broth can contain fish or meat. [4]
For a vegan meal, check eggs and dairy too. Ask about ingredients already mixed into the sauce or stock, not just toppings the kitchen can remove.
Pork-free is not the same as halal-certified. Check the restaurant’s certification or halal provision and the preparation relevant to your needs. Seafood seasoning is an issue for vegetarian or vegan eating; its presence alone does not determine halal status. The Korea Tourism Organization distinguishes halal-certified, self-certified, Muslim-friendly and pork-free restaurants. [5]
For a fuller ingredient checklist and phrases to show the staff, read our vegetarian, vegan and halal food guide. If an ingredient cannot be confirmed, choose a meal whose preparation the staff can explain.
Small menu words that prevent confusion
| Korean · reading aid | Meaning | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| 1인분 · il inbun | One portion | Weight, minimum order and included sides |
| 추가 · chuga | Addition / extra | Whether it costs extra |
| 포장 · pojang | Takeaway | Which dishes travel well |
| 공깃밥 · gonggitbap | A bowl of rice | Whether it is included or ordered separately |
| 돼지고기 / 소고기 · dwaejigogi / sogogi | Pork / beef | The meat type, including meat in sauces |
| 육수 · yuksu | Stock / broth | Ingredients already cooked into it |
Listen to 45 food names and menu words
Hear each word on its own. Then return to the phrase and order a dish from memory.
Food names
Ingredients and sides
Menu words
Finish the conversation: eat in, take away and pay
If you do want the receipt, say 네, 주세요. Finish with a simple thank you.
___ 하나 주세요. · ___ hana juseyo. · One ___, please.
___는 따로 주세요. · ___neun ttaro juseyo. · Please serve ___ separately.
The topic ending changes after a consonant: 고추장은 (gochujangeun), but 소스는 (soseuneun). For a beginner, remembering 고추장은 따로 주세요 as a complete phrase is enough.
Quick check · Say it before opening the answer
1. You want half plain chicken and half seasoned chicken. What can you ask?
Then choose from the flavours that restaurant offers.
2. You ask to remove meat from bibimbap. Is that enough to confirm a vegan meal?
No. Check egg, the vegetable seasoning, sauce and accompanying broth as well. Kimchi may contain fish sauce or fermented seafood.
3. The staff say 밥은 별도예요. What does that mean, and how can you ask for rice?
Rice is ordered separately. Ask:
Choose one dish above. Read its request, cover it, say it, then answer one possible staff question. Tomorrow, try the same pattern with a different dish. You are practising an exchange, not memorising a list.
More restaurant phrases →
Check vegetarian, vegan and halal ingredients →
Type a short everyday request →