메뉴판 주세요.
me-nyu-pan ju-se-yo
Menu, please.
메뉴판 = menu (the physical card). Most restaurants bring it automatically; this is for when they don't.
Restaurant Korean is much more pattern-based than tourist phrasebooks suggest. Once you know how to ask for the menu, order by pointing or naming a dish, request modifications, and get the bill, you're 95% of the way there for any casual restaurant in Korea.
Translate something specific →메뉴판 주세요.
me-nyu-pan ju-se-yo
Menu, please.
메뉴판 = menu (the physical card). Most restaurants bring it automatically; this is for when they don't.
이거 주세요.
i-geo ju-se-yo
I'll have this.
Universal pointing phrase. 이거 = this thing.
이 사람도 같은 거 주세요.
i sa-ram-do ga-teun geo ju-se-yo
Same thing for this person, please.
When ordering for the table.
매워요?
mae-wo-yo
Is it spicy?
Critical question. Korean food is spicier than the menu suggests. 매워요 = it's spicy. 안 매워요 = not spicy.
덜 맵게 해주세요.
deol maep-ge hae-ju-se-yo
Please make it less spicy.
May or may not work — some dishes (떡볶이, 부대찌개) cannot really be de-spiced.
XX 빼고 주세요.
XX ppae-go ju-se-yo
Please leave out XX.
Common subtractions: 고수 (cilantro), 양파 (onion), 마늘 (garlic), 견과류 (nuts).
물 좀 더 주세요.
mul jom deo ju-se-yo
Some more water, please.
Most restaurants have water self-serve at a station; this is for when there isn't one.
앞치마 있어요?
ap-chi-ma i-sseo-yo
Do you have an apron?
Korean BBQ and grill restaurants almost always provide aprons; ask if not offered.
계산해 주세요.
gye-san-hae ju-se-yo
Check, please.
Standard. In most casual restaurants you go to the counter to pay rather than waiting at the table.
따로 계산할게요.
tta-ro gye-san-hal-ge-yo
We'll pay separately.
따로 = separately. Increasingly common; cashiers handle it routinely.
Korean restaurants run on a different rhythm than Western ones. Side dishes (반찬) come automatically and refills are free — just ask 반찬 좀 더 주세요. You generally don't tip and you usually pay at the counter on the way out. Group meals expect group orders shared family-style, not individual plates. At BBQ places, the staff typically grills the meat for you the first time as a courtesy. Service buzzers at every table are normal — pressing the buzzer is faster and less intrusive than calling 'excuse me'.
Use Panor's free Korean rhetoric translator to translate phrases not on this page. The translator preserves cultural register (반말, 존댓말, 비격식체) and explains rhetorical patterns specific to Korean — particularly useful for K-pop lyrics, drama dialogue, and marketing copy where literal translation misses the meaning.