Are you joining a Korean family dinner or eating out with friends at Korean restaurants?
Here’s a real guide to Korean table manners that’ll save you from any awkward stares!
Quick Summary
- Try to avoid slurping or smacking in Korea.
- Keep your bowls down.
- Don’t poke around in shared side dishes with your chopsticks.
If you’ve read my other posts like this one, you probably know how serious Koreans get when it comes to food.
Dining in Korea is about food, sharing, and respect.
Let’s check out some unwritten rules.
1. Never stick your spoon or chopsticks upright in rice
Let’s start with a big no-no.
Sticking your spoon or chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice resembles a traditional ancestral ritual (jesa) offering made to the deceased.
It’s considered very bad manners and creepy at the dinner table.
Always lay your spoon and chopsticks side by side, usually with the cutlery on the far right of your bowl.
2. Please don’t bite into kimbap or ssam
This one might surprise you.
In Korea, when you eat kimbap or ssam (lettuce wraps), the rule is to eat the whole piece in one bite.
No matter how awkward or big it feels.
Biting it in half is frowned upon because it looks messy, especially with fillings falling out.
I love burritos, but please don’t eat ssam or kimbap like a burrito.
One bite. You got this.
3. Mix Bibimbap before you eat!
Bibimbap (비빔밥) is literally “mixed rice.”
It’s a colorful bowl of veggies, meat, egg, and gochujang over rice.
But you’re not supposed to eat each topping separately. That defeats the whole point.
You could eat it separately, but every Korean around you will be dying to tell you to mix it.
I know bibimbap looks pretty when it’s served, but you’re meant to stir it all up. You’ll love the delicious, spicy harmony.
4. No slurping or smacking
This is where Korean manners differ from some other Asian cultures like Japan or China.
In Korea, smacking (쩝쩝) or slurping (후루룩) is considered rude and ick, even when eating noodles or soup.
Many mukbang YouTubers slurp their noodles, but most Koreans in real life consider it inconsiderate.
Try to eat with your mouth closed and keep eating noises to a minimum, especially in formal settings.
5. Don’t poke around in shared side dishes with your chopsticks
Korean meals come with a ton of banchan.
Banchan is a little side dish that is shared by everyone at the table.
It might be tempting to use your spoon to scoop it up, but try to resist.
Using your spoon for communal dishes is seen as unhygienic. The spoon is reserved for rice and soup!
Instead, use your chopsticks, or if possible, the designated serving utensils.
If there aren’t any, use the clean end of your chopsticks, try to go straight to your target, and pick it up.
6. Wait for the oldest one to initiate the meal
Just like in many Asian cultures, showing respect for elders is ingrained in Korean life, including at the table.
The meal begins when the oldest person picks up their utensils.
No matter how hungry I get, I have to wait.
If you don’t, Koreans will quietly judge you, thinking you must’ve grown up without a proper upbringing.
7. Place rice and soup bowls properly
In a typical Korean table setting, your rice bowl goes on the left, and your soup bowl on the right.
On the right side of the soup bowl, the spoon goes on the left, and the chopsticks on the far right.
Don’t switch them around because they’re placed in the opposite direction for the ancestral ritual (jesa) table.
8. Keep your bowls down
In Korean dining, lifting your rice or soup bowl off the table is seen as bad manners.
You’re expected to leave it where it is and use your spoon to eat instead.
This rule goes back to the Joseon Dynasty when only beggars ate with their rice bowls in hand.
So today, holding your rice bowl while eating still carries that association.
It comes off as anything but well-mannered.
Bonus. End the meal with fried rice
I know this one has nothing to do with Korean table manners, but I wanted to share this unspoken rule that every Korean agrees on.
If you’re having Korean BBQ or eating a dish cooked at your table like dak galbi (spicy stir-fried chicken) or spicy stir-fried octopus, expect the last course to be fried rice (볶음밥).
Make sure to leave a few pieces of the meat, then you can simply tell a server, “밥 볶아주세요” (pronounced bap bbokkajooseyo), which means “Please stir-fry the rice.”
Where there’s leftover sauce or food bits in the pan, the server will toss in steamed rice, seaweed, and sesame oil (or sometimes kimchi) to create a crispy-bottomed masterpiece.
It’s the unofficial final act of the meal!
Eating in Korea is a fun experience, full of shared dishes and sizzling flavors.
Keep these table manners in mind, and you’ll enjoy Korean food to the fullest!
