Basic Korean phrases that you should know in a restaurant -Part 1

We had been talking and discussing the basic Korean phrases that you need to know when you meet someone. And today, it comes to another part, which is when you order something in the restaurant. I would like to share with you some of the very common vocabulary and phrases that you can use whenever you visit a cafe or restaurant.

메뉴 주세요(meh-new chu-seh-yo)

First, it will be 메뉴 주세요(meh-new chu-seh-yo). It means can I have the menu, please? Every time you go into a restaurant, the first thing you need to do is for sure ordering something for your meal. Although most of the time you can find the menu on the wall, there are some shops where the menu is not available on the wall nor the table. So, in order to see what are foods available, you can use this phrase during your order in a restaurant or cafe.

주문할게요 (choo-moon hal-geh-yo)

So, after you had made your mind about what to eat, you need to place your order, right? But sometimes the waiter or waitress seems to be busy and they didn’t notice that you are going to place your order. So, what should you do and say now? You can say 주문할게요 (choo-moon hal-geh-yo) which means I am going to place my order. By saying this, the workers can know that you had done thinking what to eat and take your order immediately.

안 매운게 뭐예요? (ahn mae-oon-geh mwo-ye-yo?)

Also, Korea is always well known for its spicy food. Although it’s not spicy at all for me since I came from Malaysia, it might sometimes be spicy for you. Especially if you are a person who doesn’t really eat spicy food. If that is the case, then you can ask 안 매운게 뭐예요? (ahn mae-oon-geh mwo-ye-yo?) It means is there anything not spicy here? By saying this, the worker will know that you don’t eat spicy food and recommend you another food. Of course, you might not be able to understand what the worker says after this, but at least he will no longer recommend you other spicy foods.

맛있는거 추천해 주세요 (ma-sit-nen-gaw chu-chawn-hae chu-seh-yo)

Sometimes, you might be really confused if you don’t understand the Korean menu. Instead of keep thinking or Google translate them or screeching your head, you can actually ask for recommendations. Just say 맛있는거 추천해 주세요 (ma-sit-nen-gaw chu-chawn-hae chu-seh-yo). It means please recommend something nice and delicious to me. By saying this, the worker will introduce to you their restaurant representative food or food that is widely loved by the customers. Sometimes, the workers themselves might don’t even know what to recommend, but you can just try it out if you don’t know what to do, right?

이거 주세요 (ee-gaw chu-seh-yo)

Sometimes, you can’t really read Korean but you saw something you want. However, you don’t know how to pronounce the word and you must be really struggling with it. Instead of using only hand gestures that might cause misunderstanding, you can try to say 이거 주세요 (ee-gaw chu-seh-yo). While saying that, point to the food you wish to have and the workers will understand you very easily. This phrase is pretty useful because it means please give me this. And you can use it anytime and anywhere you want to.

Conclusion

So, these are the five phrases that I would like to introduce to you since they will help you a lot when you place your order in a restaurant. By using these phrases wisely, you can get to communicate with the workers smoothly and I am sure it can help you a lot in the future. If’s you find this article interesting and helpful, share it with your friends. For more articles like this, subscribe to KoreabyMe and read my other published articles on the site. You can follow me on Instagram too!