Easy Korea Guide

  How to Eat at Korean Restaurants: Ordering, Side Dishes, Water, and Local Etiquette Eating at local restaurants is one of the most enjoyable parts of traveling in Korea. Korea has so many delicious foods, such as bibimbap, Korean barbecue, kimchi stew, cold noodles, tteokbokki, and kalguksu. But if it is your first time visiting a Korean restaurant, you may feel a little confused at first. You might wonder: “How do I call the staff?” “Can I get water by myself?” “Are side dishes free?” “Is it okay to eat alone?” “How do I order from a kiosk?” “Do I need to tip?” Korean restaurants have many customs that may feel different from restaurants in other countries. Some things are very normal for Koreans, but they can be confusing for foreign travelers. In this guide, I will explain how to order food, how water and side dishes work, whether solo dining is okay, how to use kiosks, how to avoid spicy food, how to pay, how to choose a good restaurant, and basic restaurant etique...

  Which transportation card should foreign travelers use in Korea? If you are visiting Korea for the first time, you may start wondering about transportation cards even before you arrive at the airport. “Should I buy a T-money card?” “Is WOWPASS enough?” “Seoul Climate Card offers unlimited rides, so is that the best option?” Korea may seem to have many different transportation cards, but the basic idea is not difficult once you understand the purpose of each card. The easiest way to understand the difference is to look at the image below. This image is not meant to show a strict mathematical relationship between the three cards. In other words, it does not mean that Seoul Climate Card is completely included inside T-money , or that T-money is completely included inside WOWPASS . Instead, this image is a simple visual guide to show how each card is generally used and how broad its usage can be. Here is the basic idea. WOWPASS : An all-in-one card for foreign travelers t...