You do not need to speak Korean to eat well in Korea. Most restaurants in Seoul, Busan, and other major cities are well-practiced at serving international visitors, and a handful of key phrases — combined with pointing and a smartphone — will get you through almost every meal. This guide gives you the exact words, gestures, and tools to order confidently with little or no Korean.
The Phrases That Actually Matter
You do not need a full vocabulary. These seven phrases cover the vast majority of restaurant situations across Korea.
- 이거 주세요 (i-geo ju-se-yo) — “This one, please.” Point at a menu photo and say this. Works everywhere.
- 하나 / 둘 / 셋 (ha-na / dul / set) — One / two / three. For quantities. Hold up fingers to confirm.
- 맵지 않게 해주세요 (maep-ji an-ke hae-ju-se-yo) — “Please make it not spicy.” Essential if you have a low heat tolerance. Say this at Korean BBQ spots and jjigae restaurants.
- 계산서 주세요 (gye-san-seo ju-se-yo) — “Bill, please.” Though many restaurants now have a call button on the table.
- 물 주세요 (mul ju-se-yo) — “Water, please.” Tap water is free at almost all Korean restaurants.
- 포장해 주세요 (po-jang-hae ju-se-yo) — “To go, please.” Useful at convenience store counters or street food stalls in Myeongdong or Gwangjang Market.
- 감사합니다 (gam-sa-ham-ni-da) — “Thank you.” Always appreciated and always noticed.
Write these phonetics on your phone notes app before you go. You will not regret it.
Where These Phrases Work Best (Real Spots)
Most budget and mid-range Korean restaurants rely heavily on photo menus or picture-based digital kiosks, which makes ordering nearly visual. Here is how it plays out at real places tourists visit regularly.
Kiosks at fast food and chain restaurants: Lotteria, Issac Toast, and most Kyochon Chicken branches now have English-language kiosk options. Select English on the screen, tap your item, pay by card. No Korean needed at all. A Kyochon half-and-half set in Hongdae runs around 20,000–23,000 KRW.
Gwangjang Market (Jongno-gu, Seoul): This is one of the best places to practice pointing-based ordering. Stall vendors at the bindaetteok (mung bean pancake) and mayak gimbap rows expect tourists. Hold up fingers for quantity, hand over cash. One plate of bindaetteok is 4,000–5,000 KRW. Mayak gimbap goes for around 3,000 KRW per serving.
Myeongdong street food strip: Every cart has prices displayed in Korean numerals, but vendors are used to tourists pointing and paying. Hotteok (sweet pancakes) cost around 1,500–2,000 KRW. Tteokbokki cups are around 3,000–4,000 KRW. Payment is always cash here — carry small bills.
Local haejangguk or sundubu-jjigae spots: These smaller neighbourhood restaurants are where your phrase card earns its keep. Most have laminated photo menus. Say “이거 주세요” while pointing and you will be fine. A bowl of sundubu-jjigae at a standard local restaurant in Insadong or Euljiro runs 9,000–12,000 KRW including banchan (side dishes, served automatically and free).
Digital Tools That Fill the Gap
Your phone does most of the heavy lifting when phrases are not enough.
- Papago (Naver): The most accurate app for Korean translation. Use the camera mode to point your phone at a menu and get an instant overlay translation. Works offline if you download the Korean language pack beforehand.
- Google Translate camera mode: Works similarly but is slightly less accurate for food-specific Korean. Still very useful.
- Naver Maps reviews: Search the restaurant name in Naver Maps. User photos almost always show the actual dishes, so you can tap a picture before you walk in and know what to order.
- Coupang Eats / Baemin: If you are ordering delivery at your accommodation, both apps have English interfaces now. Baemin (Baedal Minjok) added English in 2023. Filter by your neighbourhood and pay by international card.
A practical routine: check Naver Maps photos before entering, use Papago on the menu if needed, then point and say “이거 주세요.” This covers 95% of situations.
Handling Allergies and Dietary Needs
This is where preparation matters most. Korean cuisine uses sesame oil, shellfish-based broths, and fermented pastes (doenjang, gochujang) widely. Communicating dietary restrictions across a language gap requires more than pointing.
The most reliable method, covered in more detail in our guide to food allergies in Korea, is to prepare a small allergy card in Korean before you travel. Sites like AllergyTranslation.com offer free printable cards in Korean. Show the card to the server before ordering. Most Korean restaurant staff will take it seriously and check with the kitchen.
Key terms to know or include on a card:
- 땅콩 알레르기 (ttang-kong al-le-reu-gi) — peanut allergy
- 해산물 못 먹어요 (hae-san-mul mot meo-geo-yo) — I cannot eat seafood
- 채식주의자예요 (chae-sik-ju-ui-ja-ye-yo) — I am vegetarian
Vegetarian travel in Korea requires extra care — even dishes that appear vegetable-based often use anchovy or beef broth as a base. Temple food restaurants (사찰음식), found near major Buddhist temples like Jogyesa in Seoul or Tongdosa near Yangsan, serve fully vegan menus and are worth seeking out. Expect to pay 15,000–25,000 KRW for a full temple food set.
Foreign Transaction Fees: Which Card Should You Load Into Apple Pay or Google Pay
Not every Visa or Mastercard behaves the same once it is tapped inside Apple Pay or Google Pay in Korea. The card network handles the NFC handshake, but your bank still decides the exchange rate and whether it charges a foreign transaction fee — and this is where visitors quietly lose money without noticing.
A standard high-street debit or credit card typically charges a foreign transaction fee of around 1–3% on every purchase made in Korean won, on top of whatever exchange rate margin the bank applies. Over a week of daily transit rides, convenience store snacks, and restaurant meals, that adds up to a noticeable amount by the time you check your statement back home. A travel-focused card or a multi-currency account (such as Wise, Revolut, or a dedicated no-foreign-fee credit card) usually charges 0% on the transaction fee and applies the interbank exchange rate, which is close to the rate you see on Google.
Who should use which: if you are visiting for a short trip of under two weeks and already own a no-foreign-fee travel card, load that one into Apple Pay or Google Pay before departure — it is strictly better for everyday spending. If you only have a standard bank card, it still works everywhere the same way technically, but budget for the extra 1–3% and consider it the cost of convenience. For longer stays (a month or more), it is worth the ten minutes to open a Wise or Revolut account before you fly, since the savings compound with every tap.
A practical tip that most guides miss: when a card terminal in Korea asks “Charge in KRW or USD?” (a prompt called Dynamic Currency Conversion, or DCC), always choose KRW. Selecting your home currency lets the Korean merchant’s payment processor set its own exchange rate, which is almost always worse than what your card issuer would apply — this single choice can cost you an extra 3–7% on that transaction. This DCC prompt occasionally appears on larger purchases at department stores and hotels, even when paying via Apple Pay or Google Pay, so it is worth watching for regardless of which payment method you tap.
If your mobile payment is declined at a terminal — which does happen occasionally, particularly with older card issuers not fully provisioned for Korean NFC networks — do not assume the store does not accept foreign cards. Try the tap a second time holding the phone flush against the reader for a full second, then fall back to inserting the physical chip card if you are carrying one. Keeping one physical backup card in your wallet, separate from your phone, is the single most useful habit for avoiding a stressful moment at checkout.