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Korean restaurant menu: barbecue, bowls and sides

Korean menus may separate table barbecue, rice bowls, stews and shared dishes. Banchan are side dishes; ask what comes with your main before treating every small plate as an extra order.[1]

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Typical menu

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Examples vary by restaurant. Confirm ingredients, portions and dietary needs with staff.

Rice and soup meals

  • Bibimbap — Warm rice topped with seasoned vegetables and gochujang chili paste, all mixed together before eating[1], often with meat and an egg; ask for the gochujang on the side to control heat. A stone-bowl (dolsot) version arrives sizzling with a crisp rice crust.
  • Kimchi jjigae — A bubbling stew of aged kimchi, tofu and often pork or tuna; sour, savory and usually spicy, served in a pot with rice alongside.
  • Sundubu jjigae — Silky soft-tofu stew, often with seafood or pork and an egg cracked in; many restaurants let you choose the spice level, so say mild if needed.
  • Naengmyeon — Chewy buckwheat noodles served icy cold, either in a tangy broth (mul) or mixed with a spicy sauce (bibim); staff may offer to cut the long noodles with scissors.

Barbecue and shared dishes

  • Bulgogi — Thin slices of beef marinated in sweet soy, garlic and sesame; mild and savory, either grilled at the table or served cooked on a hot plate, so ask which.
  • Samgyeopsal — Thick pork belly, the most popular Korean grilled meat, cooked at the table and wrapped in lettuce or perilla leaves (ssam)[1]; check the weight per portion and any minimum order.
  • Japchae — Glass noodles made from sweet-potato starch, stir-fried with vegetables and sometimes beef in soy and sesame; slippery, slightly sweet and not spicy.
  • Pajeon — A savory scallion pancake, sometimes with seafood (haemul pajeon), crisp at the edges and cut into wedges with a soy dipping sauce; one pancake can be shared by the table.

How to order on your first visit

For two at barbecue, confirm the minimum meat order, then add a stew or noodles after seeing the included banchan. For a quick meal, a rice bowl or stew each may be enough; check whether rice is included.

Different menu styles

A barbecue restaurant and a soup specialist solve different meals. Ask staff who operates the grill and which dishes are intended for the whole table.

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What to order

  • Samgyeopsal — thick pork belly grilled at the table, wrapped in lettuce with ssamjang
  • Galbi — sweet soy-marinated beef short ribs, charcoal-grilled
  • Kimchi jjigae — bubbling kimchi stew with pork and tofu
  • Bibimbap — rice bowl with vegetables, egg, and gochujang, best in a hot stone pot
  • Naengmyeon — chilled buckwheat noodles in icy broth, the barbecue chaser

22 menus

Frequently asked questions

Are the small side dishes (banchan) free?

Banchan often arrive alongside a meal, but the selection, price and refill policy vary by restaurant and order. Ask which sides are included before ordering more.[1]

How does Korean barbecue work?

Meat is grilled on a burner set into your table — by staff or by you — then eaten wrapped in lettuce or perilla leaf with ssamjang paste, garlic, and banchan. Order 2-3 meats for variety and finish with rice, stew, or cold noodles.

What should I order at a Korean restaurant if I don’t eat spicy food?

Galbi, bulgogi, japchae and seolleongtang (milky beef-bone soup) are usually made without chili paste, but recipes vary, so ask. For bibimbap, which is normally mixed with gochujang[1], request the paste on the side.

What background helps when reading a Korean menu?

Korean menus include tabletop barbecue, rice bowls, stews and banchan. Kimjang, the communal making and sharing of kimchi, was recognized by UNESCO in 2013; that cultural tradition does not determine a restaurant’s side-dish charges or refill policy.[2][1]

Related guides

Sources

  1. Korea Tourism Organization. About Korean Food. Accessed
  2. UNESCO. Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea. Accessed
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