Korean BBQ: Who Cooks, What the Side Dishes Cost, When to Ask for More

Korean barbecue is the meal most visitors most want to eat and most worry about getting wrong. The worry is misplaced — nobody is judging you, and staff will step in long before you ruin anything. But a few conventions are never written on the menu, and knowing them turns a nervous meal into a good one.

Who does the cooking

It depends on the restaurant, and you can tell within a minute. In many places a member of staff comes over with long scissors and tongs, lays the meat out, cuts it as it cooks and turns it. In others the raw meat arrives and it is yours to handle. Watch the next table. If staff are working the grills, let them — stepping in is not helpful and they are considerably better at it.

• Tongs and scissors are for the raw meat. Your chopsticks are for eating.
• Meat is cut on the grill with scissors rather than on a plate. This is normal and not a sign anything has gone wrong.
• Pork belly needs to be cooked through. Beef does not, and asking for it well done in a beef restaurant wastes the point of it.
• If the grill plate burns, staff will swap it. You can ask; they usually notice first.

The little dishes

A spread of small side dishes arrives before you have ordered anything. They are free, they come with the meal, and they are refillable at no charge. Asking for more of the one you liked is completely normal and is not chasing a freebie — it is what they are there for.

How to actually eat it

1. 1

   Wait for the meat to be ready

   Taking a piece too early is the only real mistake available to you. If staff are cooking, they will tell you when.

2. 2

   Build a wrap

   A lettuce or perilla leaf in your palm, a piece of meat, a dab of bean paste, a slice of garlic or a strand of spring onion salad if you want it.

3. 3

   Eat it in one

   The wrap is meant to be a single mouthful. Making it too big is a rite of passage and everyone does it once.

4. 4

   Finish with something starchy

   Toward the end, order cold noodles, a stew, or fried rice made on the same grill plate. This is the standard ending to the meal and a lot of the pleasure is in it.

Practical details

• You will smell of smoke afterwards. The extractor hood over the table is not decorative — pull it down close to the grill. Many places lend you a bag for your coat.
• Pay at the counter on the way out, not at the table. One person usually settles for the group.
• There is no tipping, and adding one causes confusion rather than pleasure.
• Water and often a barley tea are self-service from a dispenser by the door.
• Sitting on the floor is common in older restaurants. Shoes come off at the step.