Beyond "This One, Please"
If you've learned 이거 주세요 (igeo juseyo -- "this one, please"), you can survive in a Korean restaurant. But surviving and actually communicating are different things. These are the phrases that take you from pointing-and-hoping to placing a real order.
Specifying What You Want
Korean uses counters when you're ordering quantities -- similar to how English says "two cups of coffee" instead of "two coffees." Here are the patterns that come up most:
| Korean | Romanization | English | |--------|-------------|---------| | 하나 주세요 | hana juseyo | One, please | | 두 개 주세요 | du gae juseyo | Two, please | | 삼 인분이요 | sam inbun-iyo | Three servings | | 덜 맵게 해 주세요 | deol maepge hae juseyo | Less spicy, please | | 많이 주세요 | mani juseyo | Give me a lot, please | | 따로 주세요 | ttaro juseyo | On the side, please |
The counter 개 (gae) works for individual items like drinks or side dishes. For shared meat dishes like samgyeopsal or galbi, use 인분 (inbun) for servings.
덜 맵게 해 주세요 is a lifesaver. Korean food is often spicier than visitors expect, and this phrase politely asks the kitchen to dial it back without being insulting.
Dietary Restrictions and Allergies
Communicating dietary needs in a foreign language is stressful. These phrases won't cover every edge case, but they handle the most common situations:
| Korean | Romanization | English | |--------|-------------|---------| | 고기 빼 주세요 | gogi ppae juseyo | Without meat, please | | 해산물 빼 주세요 | haesanmul ppae juseyo | Without seafood, please | | 채식이에요 | chaesig-ieyo | I'm vegetarian | | 알레르기가 있어요 | allereugi-ga isseoyo | I have an allergy | | 땅콩 알레르기가 있어요 | ttangkong allereugi-ga isseoyo | I have a peanut allergy | | 이거 안에 뭐 들어가요? | igeo ane mwo deureogayo? | What's in this? |
The pattern 빼 주세요 (ppae juseyo) means "please remove/leave out" and you can attach any ingredient in front of it. Useful and flexible.
A heads up: vegetarian and vegan dining in Korea has gotten much easier in Seoul, but outside major cities the concept can still be unfamiliar. Many dishes that look vegetable-based use anchovy or shrimp stock. Asking 이거 안에 뭐 들어가요? ("what's in this?") helps you check.
Asking for Recommendations
When the menu is overwhelming -- and Korean menus can be long -- lean on the staff:
| Korean | Romanization | English | |--------|-------------|---------| | 뭐가 맛있어요? | mwoga mashisseoyo? | What's good here? | | 인기 메뉴가 뭐예요? | ingi menyuga mwoyeyo? | What's the popular item? | | 이 집 특선이 뭐예요? | i jip teukseon-i mwoyeyo? | What's the house special? |
These questions almost always get you pointed toward the best thing on the menu. Korean restaurant staff tend to have strong opinions about what you should order -- in a helpful way.
Making These Phrases Stick
The gap between reading a phrase list and actually using it at a restaurant counter is repetition. You need to retrieve these phrases from memory, not just recognize them on a page.
StudyArcade turns custom Korean vocabulary lists into study games -- Memory Match, Word Hunt, and Mini Crossword. Load these ordering phrases and practice matching hangul to meanings until 주세요 and 빼 주세요 feel automatic. That's when the phrases start working for you in real life.