Banchan refill etiquette in Korea is pretty simple: the basic side dishes that come with your meal can usually be refilled for free, as long as you’ve ordered a main dish. Anything listed on the menu with its own price is generally a separate order, so you’ll have to pay for more. There are a…
Chuseok in Korea is a little different from what you might expect if you’re visiting for the first time. You hear about the traffic, the packed trains, and all the businesses closing, but that doesn’t really tell you what Korean families are doing during the holiday. In 2026, Chuseok falls on September 25, with the…
Korean fried chicken history goes back further than the delivery boxes most people associate with it. And it didn’t begin with fried chicken. Some people in Seoul who are now in their forties or fifties still remember their fathers coming home with a whole chicken in a yellow paper bag. Back then, it was often…
Why Do Koreans Eat With Their Mouths Open, Slurping and Smacking? Wheoo-loop. Nyam nyam. Jjeop jjeop. Eating hot noodles without blowing on them first isn’t easy for anyone. But that combination of sounds — the slurping, the smacking, the open-mouth chewing — is something that grates on a lot of visitors, especially people who grew…
Korean Breakfast – What Do Koreans Really Eat in the Morning? I used to think Korean breakfast was some elaborate spread with ten side dishes and a perfectly balanced rainbow of vegetables. Then I actually became a dad. Now my mornings look nothing like a Pinterest board, and honestly, that’s the real story nobody tells…
Korean Street Food Guide Korean street food isn’t just a quick snack option. It’s woven into daily life here, from school pickups to late-night walks and market shopping trips. As a Korean, I often notice visitors approach these food stalls the wrong way, missing half of what makes the experience actually work. So here’s a…
Korean Side Dishes – What Are All Those Little Banchan Bowls? I’ve watched plenty of foreign friends sit down at a Korean restaurant for the first time and freeze completely. Before the main dish even arrives, five, six, sometimes eight little bowls show up out of nowhere. Nobody explains anything. They just stare at them,…
Korean Convenience Store Culture I’ve watched a lot of foreign friends walk past a Korean convenience store without a second thought, assuming it’s just chips and gum like back home. Then I watch their face change completely the first time they actually step inside a CU or GS25 at midnight and see a line of…
Korean Foods Every Foreigner Should Try in Korea I’ve taken more foreign friends out to eat in Korea than I can count, and I keep noticing the same pattern. They stick to the “safe” dishes from travel brochures, order the mildest version of everything, and miss half the little rituals that make these foods actually…
Korean BBQ Guide-What Is It and How Do You Eat It? I’ve taken plenty of foreign friends to Korean BBQ for the first time, and it’s almost always the same scene. They sit down, see a grill built right into the table, watch raw meat get dropped in front of them, and just freeze. No…
