The grammar
Look for a familiar word at the end of a dish name. Many names combine an ingredient with a word describing the cooking method or type of dish. Not every name follows this pattern.
| Dish | Reads as | Which is |
|---|---|---|
| 김치찌개 | kimchi + stew | kimchi stew |
| 된장찌개 | soybean paste (된장) + stew | soybean-paste stew |
| 돼지갈비찜 | pork rib (돼지갈비) + braised | braised pork ribs |
| 오징어볶음 | squid + stir-fried | stir-fried squid |
| 고등어구이 | mackerel + grilled | grilled mackerel |
| 해물파전 | seafood (해물) + spring onion + pancake | seafood-and-spring-onion pancake |
| 제육덮밥 | pork (제육) + rice bowl | pork on rice |
| 소고기국밥 | beef (소고기) + soup-with-rice | beef soup with rice in it |
Recognising these parts gives you a useful starting point. Ask about the recipe if you need to know more than the main ingredient.
The twenty words
How it is cooked or served
| Word | Say | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 탕 | tang | This means soup, often made by simmering meat or bones. Galbitang is short-rib soup. |
| 국 | guk | This also means soup. Examples include seaweed soup and bean-sprout soup. |
| 찌개 | jjigae | This means stew. It may come in an individual or shared pot. |
| 전골 | jeongol | This means a hotpot, commonly cooked at the table. Check its serving size. |
| 구이 | gui | This refers to grilled or roasted food, such as mackerel or pork belly. |
| 볶음 | bokkeum | This refers to stir-fried food, such as pork, squid or rice. |
| 조림 | jorim | This refers to food simmered in a seasoned liquid, such as soy-braised beef. |
| 찜 | jjim | This refers to steamed or braised food, such as braised short ribs. |
| 무침 | muchim | This refers to ingredients mixed with a dressing or seasoning, often after blanching. |
| 튀김 | twigim | This refers to deep-fried food, often coated in batter. |
| 전 | jeon | This refers to pan-fried dishes such as savoury pancakes or battered slices of meat or vegetables. |
| 회 | hoe | This refers to raw preparations, including sliced fish. Yukhoe is seasoned raw beef. |
How it arrives
| Word | Say | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 덮밥 | deopbap | A single bowl of rice with something on top. It is often an individual meal; check any minimum-order policy. |
| 비빔 | bibim | This means mixed. Bibimbap is rice mixed with toppings and seasoning. |
| 정식 | jeongsik | This means a set meal. Check which dishes are included. |
| 백반 | baekban | This is a rice-based set meal with soup and side dishes. |
| 세트 | set-eu | This means a combination or set sold for one price. |
What you say to change it
| Word | Say | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 추가 | chuga | This means an extra addition. Check the charge before adding rice, meat or another dish. |
| 사리 | sari | This refers to an extra portion of noodles added to a dish such as a hotpot. |
| 곱빼기 | gopbaegi | A larger serving of a noodle or rice dish, usually for an additional charge. It is not always exactly double. |
| 포장 | pojang | This means takeaway. Ask “포장 되나요?” to check whether the food can be packed to go. |
| 매운 | mae-un | This means spicy. Ask about the available heat levels if you want a milder dish. |
Sizes, quantities and what they really mean
| On the menu | Means |
|---|---|
| 소 / 중 / 대 | These mean small, medium and large. The serving count varies, so ask how many people a size is intended to serve. |
| 인분 | Portions counted by person. Said with Sino-Korean numbers: one portion (일인분), two portions (이인분) |
| 1인분 가능 | Single portions are sold — the sign to look for |
| 2인 이상 주문 가능 | Two people minimum |
| A bowl of rice (공기 / 공기밥) | Check whether rice is included or charged separately. |
| A whole bird or fish (마리) | The counter used for both — one whole chicken (치킨 한 마리) |
| 무한리필 | All you can eat / free refills |
| 점심특선 · 런치 | Lunch special — very often the single-portion version of the same kitchen |
| 포장 / 배달 | Takeaway / delivery |
Prices are written plainly in won, and under Annex 17 of the Food Sanitation Act's Enforcement Rule the price on the list is the price you pay: VAT (value-added tax) is inside it and the restaurant must charge it as posted. Ask about any unclear minimum or additional charge before ordering.
Look for ingredient-origin information
Ingredient-origin information may appear on the menu or on a separate board. Under Article 5(3) of the Act on Origin Labelling of Agricultural and Fishery Products, every restaurant, café and canteen must declare the origin of what it cooks, and Article 3(5) of the Enforcement Decree lists exactly what is covered:
- Beef, pork, chicken, duck, lamb and goat — and for beef, the kind of cattle as well
- Rice used in cooked rice (밥), porridge (죽) and scorched rice (누룽지)
- Cabbage and chilli powder in cabbage kimchi (배추김치)
- Soybeans in tofu (두부), soybean-curd stew (콩비지) and cold soy-milk noodles (콩국수)
- Twenty named fish and shellfish — olive flounder (넙치), Korean rockfish (조피볼락), red seabream (참돔), loach (미꾸라지), eel (뱀장어), octopus (낙지), pollock (명태), mackerel (고등어), hairtail (갈치), squid (오징어), blue crab (꽃게), yellow croaker (참조기), tuna (다랑어), monkfish (아귀), webfoot octopus (주꾸미), scallop (가리비), sea squirt (우렁쉥이), abalone (전복), yellowtail (방어), white croaker (부세)
- Any live fish kept in a tank for cooking
Annex 4 of the Enforcement Rule says how. Origin goes beside or below the dish name on every menu and board, in Korean, in type at least as large as the dish name. Or the restaurant may hang one dedicated origin-labelling board headed 원산지 표시판, at least 29 cm × 42 cm in 60-point type, beside the largest menu board in the room or facing you as you come through the door. Mixed origins are listed in descending order of how much is in it, which is why you see 쇠고기 불고기(쇠고기: 국내산 한우와 호주산을 섞음).
What to read off it:
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| 국내산 · 국산 | Domestic |
| 한우 | This identifies Korean native cattle. Price also depends on the cut, grade and restaurant. |
| 육우 | Domestic beef cattle that are not 한우 |
| 젖소 | Dairy cattle |
| 호주산 · 미국산 · 중국산 | Australian, American, Chinese |
| 외국산 | This means the ingredient was imported. Check any accompanying country information. |
| A province or city name | Domestic, from that place — permitted instead of 국내산 |
The board is enforced rather than decorative: leaving it off draws a fine of up to ₩10 million, and declaring origin falsely is a crime carrying up to seven years.
Ask staff about allergies and dietary requirements
No ordinary Korean restaurant has any duty to declare allergens. The one exception is franchise chains of 50 or more outlets, which must mark allergens on bakery goods, ice cream, burgers and pizza. Do not assume that an independent restaurant provides a complete allergen list. An ingredient-origin board identifies where certain foods came from; it is not a complete recipe or allergy check. Ask instead — “Allergy and dietary phrasing in Korean” has the sentences.
Where the English on a menu comes from
Where a Korean menu carries English, it is usually taken from a national standard. The Korean Food Promotion Institute publishes a searchable table of 800 dish names with standard English, Japanese and Chinese renderings, with examples such as 김밥 as “Gimbap” and 간장게장정식 as “Soy Sauce Marinated Crab with Rice” — the fastest way to check what something is before you order. English on a menu is voluntary, though, and where a name is romanised rather than translated the spelling may not be the one you would guess, because the romanisation rules let a business keep whatever spelling it already uses.
