I’ve been collecting practical Korean expressions you can use at restaurants — things Koreans actually say, not the textbook versions.
Sharing them here in case anyone finds them useful!
Here are a few that come up a LOT when eating out in Korea:
🔥 덜 맵게 해주세요
“Please make it less spicy.”
Perfect when you’re worried the food might be way too spicy for you.
Similar phrases:
• 조금만 맵게 해주세요 — “Make it just a little spicy.”
• 안 맵게 해주세요 — “No spice, please.”
🪑 자리 있어요?
“Do you have a seat available?”
Useful when you walk into a busy place and aren’t sure if there’s a table.
Similar phrases:
• 두 명이요 — “Two people.”
• 예약했는데요 — “I have a reservation.”
📖 메뉴 좀 볼 수 있을까요?
“Can I see the menu, please?”
A polite and super common way to ask.
Similar phrases:
• 추천 메뉴 뭐예요? — “What do you recommend?”
• 이거 인기 많아요? — “Is this popular?”
👉 이거 하나 주세요
“One of this, please.”
When you point at something on the menu.
Similar phrases:
• 이거 두 개 주세요 — “Two of these, please.”
• 이거 빼고 주세요 — “Please take this out.”
💵 계산서 주세요
“Can I have the bill, please?”
Similar phrases:
• 따로 계산할게요 — “We’ll pay separately.”
• 같이 계산할게요 — “We’ll pay together.”
If you’ve eaten out in Korea before —
👉 What expressions did YOU end up using the most?
Or is there a phrase that confused you at a restaurant?
I’d love to hear other useful lines so we can all learn together! 🙌
by DoranDoran_Korean
9 Comments
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Thank you, that’s definitely useful even without visiting Korea, but for example when visiting authentic Korean restaurant with Korean-speaking staff
thanks for this. Will be in Korea for the next 5 weeks, so plenty of time to learn the basics
What does no spice mean?
I always say the most important Korean sentence to learn is “kkaka juseyo” – please give me discount. Use it everywhere and watch people crack up at you.
What you translated as “I have a reservation” is more like “But I made a reservation”
Not to be rude but this is absolutely worthless without a way to say it in Korean. If you already speak or can read Korean what would be the purpose of this? This would benefit non speakers but since there is no way to say it becomes useless.
This is nice but you won’t need the last one really, I’ve always payed at the front in every restaurant but 따로 and 같이 are very good for people to know
What do you say when you mean
“please do not make it less spicy just because I’m foreign, I would like to have it the normal way.” ?