One Small Word That Gets You Through a Korean Restaurant

You are standing at a table in a Seoul restaurant, the staff member is waiting, and the menu is entirely in Hangul. It is tempting to freeze at this point and start searching your phone for phrases. A calmer approach is to learn a single pattern and reuse it all week.

The pattern is built on a word that Korea Compass calls the most useful one for a traveler: juseyo (주세요), which means please give me. Say what you want, then add juseyo. That is the whole rule.

Thing plus juseyo

Because the verb comes last in Korean, the thing you want comes first and needs no extra grammar. A few examples from the guide:

• mul juseyo (물 주세요), water, please
• hana deo juseyo (하나 더 주세요), one more, please
• igeo juseyo (이거 주세요), this one, please
• menyupan juseyo (메뉴판 주세요), menu, please

Pointing at a photo on the menu and saying igeo juseyo works almost everywhere, so you can order a full meal without knowing a single dish name. Leaving juseyo off, by contrast, can make a request sound abrupt.

A mini conversation you can copy

The guide gives a short script for a restaurant visit. The staff member asks how many people are coming, and you answer du myeongieyo (두 명이에요), meaning two people. Then you ask for the menu and place the order with a number: bibimbap hana, gimchijjigae hana juseyo, which means one bibimbap and one kimchi stew, please. When you are done, gyesanhae juseyo (계산해 주세요) asks for the bill.

Some practical points from the guide: in many restaurants you press a call button on the table instead of waving, and in a casual place you may pay at the counter by the door. Free water, side dishes (banchan) and refills are common, so it is fine to ask politely.

Replies you will hear back

Staff often answer faster than you expect, so it helps to recognize a few short replies. Eoseo oseyo (어서 오세요) is welcome. Jamsimanyo (잠시만요) means one moment, please. Pojang iseyo? (포장이세요?) asks whether the order is takeaway, and yeongsujeung piryohaseyo? (영수증 필요하세요?) asks whether you need a receipt. When you hear gamsahamnida (감사합니다), that is thank you, and you can say it back.

Two habits that make you easier to understand

Give every syllable about the same length. Korean has no strong stress, so there is no need to lean on one syllable the way English does. Also, keep your speech polite. Annyeong (안녕) is too familiar for a stranger, so use annyeonghaseyo (안녕하세요) instead, and remember that a quick ne (네) means I hear you, which is not always the same as agreement.

Korean word to remember

One more word worth keeping in your pocket is gwaenchanayo (괜찮아요). The word page translates it as it is okay or I am fine, and its example sentence is Jeoneun gwaenchanayo (저는 괜찮아요), meaning I am fine. The page notes that it can mean fine, no problem, or no thanks, so it also works as a polite refusal when a shop assistant offers something. Read the full entry on the gwaenchanayo word page.

You do not need all sixty phrases before you land. Start with juseyo, add the replies above, and keep the rest for later. The complete list, with Hangul, romanization and notes on politeness, is in the 60 essential Korean phrases guide on Korea Compass.

Korea Compass Notes is the blog of Korea Compass, a free guide to South Korea for first-time visitors.