8 phrases you need at a Korean barbecue restaurant
A Korean barbecue place is loud, fast, and run on a handful of fixed exchanges. You order meat by the portion, somebody takes charge of the tongs, the grill plate gets swapped when it blackens, and the side dishes keep coming for free as long as you ask. Knowing the eight lines below is the difference between pointing at the menu and actually joining the table.
Everything here is polite 요 speech addressed to staff or to the people you are eating with. Staff are usually called with 저기요 (excuse me) or, at many places, a bell on the table.
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삼겹살 2인분 주세요.
samgyeopsal i-inbun juseyo.
Two portions of pork belly, please.
Literally: Pork belly, two person-portions, give.
Meat is ordered in 인분 (portions), and most places will not serve one; two is the minimum even if you are alone. Numbers here are Sino-Korean: 일인분, 이인분, 삼인분. Swap in 목살 (pork neck) or 갈비 (short ribs).
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제가 구울게요.
jega guulgeyo.
I'll do the grilling.
At a Korean table someone owns the tongs, usually the youngest person or the host. Offering is good manners, and if an older Korean waves you off, let them; taking the tongs back is the one faux pas here.
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이거 다 익었어요?
igeo da igeosseoyo?
Is this cooked through?
Literally: This, all ripened?
Pork has to be fully cooked, and 익다 covers both 'cooked' and 'ripe'. Ask it of whoever is grilling; staff at busy places will sometimes come over, flip your meat, and answer without being asked.
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불판 좀 갈아 주세요.
bulpan jom gara juseyo.
Could you change the grill plate?
Literally: Fire-plate, a little, change and give.
When the plate blackens the meat starts to taste of char, and asking for a fresh one is completely normal, not fussy. 좀 (a little) is the softener that turns a demand into a request.
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상추 좀 더 주세요.
sangchu jom deo juseyo.
More lettuce, please.
Lettuce, perilla leaves (깻잎), and the side dishes (반찬) are refilled free, and nobody minds you asking. 김치 좀 더 주세요 and 마늘 좀 더 주세요 (garlic) follow the same shape.
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쌈 싸 드릴까요?
ssam ssa deurilkkayo?
Shall I make you a wrap?
Literally: Wrap, wrap and give (to you)?
A 쌈 is lettuce around meat, garlic, and 쌈장 sauce, eaten in one bite. Making one for someone else is affectionate; it is what parents do for children and what people do on a date. 드리다 is the humble 'give', which keeps it polite.
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공기밥 하나 추가요.
gonggibap hana chugayo.
One bowl of rice, to add.
Literally: Bowl-rice, one, addition.
추가 (addition) plus 요 is how orders get called out mid-meal at a loud table; nobody builds a full sentence. 된장찌개 하나 추가요 for the soybean stew, 냉면 하나 추가요 for the cold noodles that finish a barbecue.
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소주 한 병 주세요.
soju han byeong juseyo.
A bottle of soju, please.
Literally: Soju, one bottle, give.
Bottles are counted with 병, glasses with 잔. If you are with Koreans, pour for others and let them pour for you, holding your glass with two hands when someone older pours; it is the one piece of etiquette everyone will notice.
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Almost every line is built from the same two endings: 주세요 (please give) for anything you want brought, and 요 tacked onto a noun for anything you want added. Learn the nouns (고기 meat, 밥 rice, 물 water, 반찬 side dishes) and you can order at any restaurant in Korea with the grammar from this page.