The Complete Guide to Korean Restaurant Culture: Ordering, Payment Tips & Dining Etiquette!

Ordering and paying at Korean restaurants have some unique characteristics.

📋 Ordering Culture

• Sharing food: In Korea, it's common for many people to share food together. Especially in Korean restaurants, it's customary to share both side dishes and main courses. Often, several dishes are ordered and placed in the center of the table to be shared.

Payment Culture

• Payment methods: It's common for customers to go directly to the counter to pay. Having a staff member take your card to the counter to process the payment is only seen in high-end restaurants or foreign chain family restaurants. Both cash and cards are widely used in Korea. While some restaurants (traditional markets, street food) prefer cash payments, it's rare to find places that refuse credit cards.

• Tipping culture: Tipping is almost nonexistent in Korea, and offering a tip might even be considered awkward. If you want to leave some extra money, it's generally said as "Keep the change."in Korean.

• Self-checkout systems: While some restaurants are introducing self-checkout systems, they are still uncommon. However, kiosk ordering (prepaid) has increased significantly.

Other Characteristics

• Dining etiquette: In Korea, elders eat firstis considered polite. Also, when sitting at the table, placing a paper napkin and setting down your utensilsis common. This is considered a thoughtful gesture to ensure the other person uses clean utensils. Professor Joo Young-ha's (Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine) analysis is interesting. As a food humanities scholar, he suggests that "placing a napkin is a result of the combination of business owners' pursuit of profitability by simplifying supplies and customers' 'mood hygiene.'" This is because tables wiped down hastily with a dishcloth during busy hours are unreliable. Coupled with the modern enlightenment spirit of Koreans that chemically processed products are hygienic, placing napkins has become a custom.

Basic etiquette in Korean restaurants is largely related to Confucian traditions.

1. Elders First
◽ When dining with family or guests, elders begin eating after picking up their chopsticks and spoon first.
◽ Even when dining with guests, wait until an elder picks up their utensils and offers you to begin eating.

2. Utensil Etiquette
◽ Do not hold your spoon and chopsticks simultaneously.
◽ Avoid banging utensils against the bowl, making noise.
⚠ Do not stick your spoon in the rice.

💬 This is mainly due to ancestral rites customs.
Ancestral rites are ceremonies where offerings are presented to ancestors or the deceased, and
sticking a spoon or chopsticks in rice or side dishes is interpreted as preparing food for them.
Therefore, in everyday meals, this action can be considered rude or insulting.

3. Basic Dining Etiquette
◽ Do not put utensils with food residue into dishes shared by multiple people.
◽ Avoid making loud noises while eating.
◽ Do not rummage through your rice or side dishes while eating.
◽ Do not shake off seasoning or pick out specific ingredients from side dishes.

💬 Noisy and impolite behavior, especially in shared dining situations.

◽ Do not drink soup directly from the bowl.

💬 Korean dining culture is deeply rooted in Confucian valueswhich emphasize respect and courtesy among individuals.
Drinking soup directly from the bowl is seen as a lack of restraint and moderation, which are important values in Korean society.

In contrast, in Japan, it is considered polite to hold the rice bowl while eating, and there is a culture of drinking soup directly from the bowl.
This shows that Korean and Japanese dining cultures reflect different traditions and values.

4. Post-Meal Etiquette
◽ If you finish eating before the elders, do not put your utensils on the table. Instead, place them on your rice bowl and wait until the elders finish eating before placing them on the table.
◽ After finishing the meal, neatly place your utensils in their original position.

5. Other Etiquette
◽ Avoid crossing your legs, touching your face or head with your hands, or resting your elbows on the table while eating.
◽ When sneezing or coughing, turn your face to the side and cover your mouth with your hand or a handkerchief.
◽ Blow your nose or spit as far away from the dining table as possible.