Tips for eating alone in Seoul?
I'm travelling through Seoul by myself right now. I've heard that it's uncommon for people to eat alone here, and many restaurants makes dishes for 2, etc.
Any strategies for eating alone here? Are certain types of places better bets?
In fact, any suggestions for eating in Seoul would be appreciated. Just had my first meal which was slightly difficult as there was no English menu, pictures or English speaking waitstaff but I perservered and was rewarded big time! I've now memorized the Hangul for sundubu so should be set for a while anyway. 순두부!
But any suggestions for eating alone, or figuring out what to get on a menu would be appreciated. I don't have problems eating anything, so should I just ask the waitress to pick for me?
By Lina
on Nov 12, 2009 01:44 AM
View »
Video
Hey Lina,
I recognize this post is a little old so you're probably not in Korea any more - just curious, how did it all go? Were you traveling for business or fun?
I used to eat alone all the time in Korea and it works better in some places than others - stuff like BBQ is tough, Chinese food or boon-sik/pocha type eateries would work fine.
If I had seen the post earlier I would have come met up with you! haha
Permalink | Reply
Sorry, I am just seeing this now. Eating in Korea alone wasn't the easiest. Luckily, I found people to eat with me about half the time. Sadly, they weren't as excited eaters as me!
I traveled to Gwangju because I heard it was the food center of Korea, and it was particularly difficult there. One restaurant didn't want to seat me because I was 1 person (which doesn't make sense, because I had to order the 2 person dishes, anyway, so seating me alone didn't result in any loss of profit for them). I waited for them to seat 5 groups who came in after me before they would seat me.
Overall, eating in Korea alone was less than ideal for two reasons. Many dishes are priced for two people, so you must order for two. The other is that Korean culture does not seem to find eating alone acceptable, so I got some bad vibes.
That said, I love Korean food so much that it was all worth it. I was really glad that I went, although next time I'd try and learn a little more Korean first!
Permalink | Reply
Aww man, I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. I guess a lot of korean meals are served family style and don't work right for single diners.
I just read the duck stew post on your blog...wow! It's just a fantastic story...
I'll be following your travels on your blog. :)
Permalink | Reply