Korean Dining Etiquette

Are you entertaining friends from abroad?  Seoul Hot Pot Korean Restaurant in Bellevue should make any of your South Korean visitors feel at home.  For your own part, though, you may wish to brush up on a few Korean dining customs in order to properly impress your table.  Take a quick look through these simple pointers, and you’ll knock the socks off of your foreign friends.

  • The most important rule to remember is to show respect for your elders.  At the dinner table, this means that the oldest person sits first, the oldest person starts eating first, and nobody leaves until the oldest person is done.  Of course, this also means that the oldest person generally pays; younger diners will generally show gratitude by picking up the bill for coffee, dessert, or the like later one in the evening.

  • When drinking in much of Asia, it is customary not to fill your own glass.  Always wait for somebody else to fill you up, and be vigilant for a neighbor of yours who needs a refill.

  • There is a certain order to observe when eating your food.  In Korea, you traditionally taste your soup before moving on to the rice and other foods.

  • When you are done eating, put your food and chopsticks back in their original positions.  Do not leave your chopsticks standing up in food, as this is offensive in many Asian countries.  Make sure your spoon is clean, as it is considered rude to leave food stuck on your spoon.

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