Korean Dining Etiquette

Wait for elders

If you’re eating with Koreans, wait for the oldest person to start before lifting your spoon. This is a small thing that locals genuinely notice and appreciate.

Don’t lift your rice bowl

Unlike Japan or China, holding your rice bowl in your hand while eating is considered poor manners. Keep it on the table and bring food to your mouth.

Use the right hand

Pass and receive items with two hands or with your right hand only — never just the left. This applies to giving and receiving anything: drinks, money, business cards.

Side dishes (banchan)

The small side dishes are free and unlimited. Ask for refills with “banchan deo juseyo” (more side dishes, please). It’s a sign of a generous restaurant, not greedy customers.

Drinking culture

When someone older or senior pours you a drink:

• Hold your glass with two hands (or right hand with left supporting elbow)
• Turn your head away slightly when drinking
• Pour theirs back with the same two-hand etiquette
• Never pour your own drink first

Don’t stick chopsticks upright

Sticking chopsticks straight up in a bowl of rice resembles a funeral offering. Place them flat on top of the bowl or on the chopstick rest.

Slurping is fine

Slurping noodles is perfectly acceptable, even encouraged for hot soups. It cools the food and signals appreciation.

Paying

Bill comes to your table but you pay at the front counter on the way out. Splitting evenly is increasingly common with younger Koreans but among older groups, one person usually treats — often the host or the most senior person.

Restaurant courtesies

• Take your shoes off if entering a floor-seating restaurant
• Press the table call button to signal a server — they won’t check in unprompted
• Tap water and side dishes are free; you don’t need to order them