How to read a Korean menu

How a Korean menu is laid out

Learning how to read a Korean menu is mostly about one fact: many Korean restaurants specialise, so the menu is a short list on the wall rather than a booklet. A barbecue place lists cuts of meat, a stew house lists stews, a noodle shop lists noodles. Bigger menus split into meals (식사 siksa), dishes to go with drinks (안주 anju) and drinks (주류 juryu for alcohol, 음료 eumnyo for soft drinks).

What you'll usually see:

• Prices per portion. Barbecue is priced per 인분 inbun (one person's portion, usually stated in grams). Many places require at least two portions (2인분 이상).
• Free side dishes. Every meal comes with banchan, small plates of kimchi, vegetables and pickles. You don't order them.
• Add-ons. 추가 chuga means extra. 사리 sari is an extra serve of noodles for a stew or hot pot, and 공기밥 gonggibap is an extra bowl of rice.
• Spice levels. Some places let you pick 순한맛 sunhanmat (mild), 보통 botong (regular) or 매운맛 maeunmat (spicy).
• Kiosks and tablets. Many casual places take orders at a kiosk by the door or a tablet on the table, often with an English option.
• Self-service. A sign saying 셀프 selpeu means water, side dishes or cups are self-serve, usually from a station by the counter.
• Tax. Menu prices are meant to be the final price, including VAT.

Reading the script

Hangul (한글) is an alphabet, not a set of pictures, so you can sound out any word once you know about 24 letters. Letters stack into syllable blocks: 김 is ㄱ g + ㅣ i + ㅁ m, "gim". Many menu words are Korean, some are Sino-Korean, and some are English loanwords written phonetically (치즈 chijeu, cheese). The romanisation below is Revised Romanization, the system on Korean road signs.

Cooking methods

The cooking method is almost always the last word of the dish name: 돼지갈비구이 is pork ribs, grilled.

Meat, seafood and key ingredients

These words appear inside dish names, so spotting them tells you the main ingredient.

Allergy and diet watch-outs

Anchovy and salted shrimp are the hidden ingredients in Korean food: they season kimchi and make the stock for many soups, stews and even tteokbokki. Anchovy stock (멸치육수 myeolchi yuksu) means fish in dishes that look vegetable-only, and salted shrimp (새우젓 saeujeot) in most kimchi means crustaceans. Seafood pancakes, stews and hot pots often add squid, clams and oysters (molluscs).

Other ingredients to ask about:

• Wheat. Brewed soy sauce (양조간장 yangjo-ganjang) is made with wheat, and gochujang often contains wheat flour, so gluten is in marinades like bulgogi and in most red sauces. Many street stalls make tteokbokki with wheat rice cakes (밀떡 mil-tteok), not rice ones. Fish cake (어묵) contains wheat as well as fish. Jeon batter and fried chicken coatings are wheat.
• Buckwheat. Buckwheat is in naengmyeon (cold noodles), makguksu and memil-guksu, and buckwheat flour turns up in some pancakes and jellies (메밀묵 memilmuk).
• Sesame. Sesame oil and toasted seeds finish bibimbap, japchae, namul (seasoned vegetables), bulgogi and many banchan. It's hard to find a meal without it.
• Soy. Soy is in soy sauce, doenjang, gochujang, tofu and soybean sprouts.
• Peanuts and tree nuts. Peanuts appear in some banchan (땅콩조림 ttangkong-jorim, braised peanuts), sweet pancakes (호떡 hotteok) and snacks. Pine nuts and walnuts (tree nuts) garnish porridge, rice drinks and sweets.
• Egg. Eggs top bibimbap and naengmyeon, and go into rolled omelettes and many batters.
• Meat in the broth. Stews often use pork, and many soups are built on beef bone stock (사골 sagol). A vegetable stew can still contain meat stock.

Korea's allergen labelling rules mainly cover packaged food. Large franchise chains selling children's favourites (pizza, burgers, fried chicken, bakery items, ice cream) must show allergens in store, but most ordinary restaurant menus don't list them. Show a written card in Korean and ask directly. Carry any medication you have been prescribed, following your doctor's plan.

Useful phrases

The -요 (-yo) endings below are the standard polite form for talking to restaurant staff, and Korean has no gendered forms here.

Ordering and paying

You don't tip in Korea, the menu price is the price you pay, and you usually settle the bill at the counter on the way out. The details:

• Calling staff. Press the call button on the table (호출벨 hochulbel) if there is one; otherwise raise a hand and say "jeogiyo". Staff won't hover.
• Water and refills. Water is free, often self-serve. Banchan refills are free; extra meat, rice and noodles are not.
• Minimum orders. Barbecue and some stews need two portions or more, even for one person.
• At the barbecue. Staff often cook and cut the meat for you with scissors. Wrap it in lettuce (쌈 ssam) with garlic, sauce and kimchi.
• Sharing. Stews and hot pots go in the middle and everyone eats from them. Rice comes in your own bowl.
• Paying. Take the bill (or your table number) to the counter (계산대 gyesandae). Cards are accepted almost everywhere, including small places. Separate bills are 따로 계산 ttaro gyesan, which busy places may not love.
• Tipping. Don't. It isn't expected, and offering it can cause confusion.

Dishes to know

• Bibimbap (비빔밥): rice topped with vegetables, meat, egg and gochujang, mixed at the table.
• Kimchi jjigae (김치찌개 gimchi-jjigae): kimchi stew, often with pork or tuna, and tofu.
• Bulgogi (불고기): thin slices of beef marinated in soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil.
• Tteokbokki (떡볶이): rice or wheat cakes in sweet chilli sauce, often with fish cake.
• Japchae (잡채): sweet potato glass noodles stir-fried with vegetables, soy sauce and sesame oil.
• Samgyeopsal (삼겹살): thick pork belly grilled at the table.
• Naengmyeon (냉면): cold buckwheat noodles in icy broth (mul) or chilli sauce (bibim).
• Samgyetang (삼계탕): whole small chicken stuffed with rice, simmered with ginseng.
• Sundubu jjigae (순두부찌개): soft tofu stew, often with seafood or pork and a raw egg.

Questions

Do you tip in Korean restaurants?

No. Tipping isn't part of eating out in Korea, and menu prices are meant to be the final price you pay, tax included. You usually pay at the counter by the door on your way out.

Why does the menu say 2인분 이상?

2인분 이상 (2 inbun isang) means a minimum of two portions. Korean barbecue and some stews and hot pots are cooked for the table, so many restaurants won't serve a single portion of them. Solo diners can look for set meals (정식 jeongsik) or one-bowl dishes instead.

Are Korean side dishes (banchan) free?

Yes. The small side dishes (반찬 banchan) that arrive with your meal are free, and refills usually are too. Some places have a self-service banchan station, and extra meat or rice (공기밥 gonggibap) is charged.

Is kimchi vegetarian?

Usually not. Most cabbage kimchi is seasoned with salted shrimp (새우젓 saeujeot) or anchovy fish sauce (멸치액젓 myeolchi aekjeot), so it contains fish or crustaceans. Temple-style and specifically labelled vegan kimchi leave these out.

Sources

1. Allergy Asthma & Respiratory Disease: The current status and issue of food allergen labeling in Korea
2. Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia: Translated chef cards for travelling
3. ASCIA: Travel checklist for people at risk of anaphylaxis

Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.