Korean Table Manners

Although there is no prescribed order for eating the many dishes served at a traditional Korean meal. Many Koreans start with a small portion of soup before eating the other dishes in any order they wish.  Koreans generally do not pick up their rice or soup bowls, but leave both on the table and eat from them with spoons, in stark contrast to the Chinese and Japanese customs. Side dishes are eaten with chopsticks.

Bad manners include blowing one's nose at the table, picking up chopsticks or spoon before the oldest person starts the meal, chewing with an open mouth, talking with food in one's mouth, sticking chopsticks or spoon straight up in a dish, stabbing foods with chopsticks, picking up food with one's hands (with certain exceptions), using spoon and chopsticks at the same time (when you intend to use one of them, you should to put the other one on the table), making a sound when chewing foods or clicking a bowl with a spoon or chopsticks, stirring rice or soup with a spoon or chopsticks, stirring shared side dishes to select what you want to eat, removing a certain spices or ingredients from shared side dishes, being careless of coughing and sneezing to the persons on the same table (If you have a cough or have a fit of sneezing, you should turn your head to the side and put your hand on your mouth.), finishing your meal faster or slower than the others at the same table (you need to keep pace with them), using toothpicks with the mouth open and leaving them on the table. Obviously, this information is for educational purposes only, and in informal situations these rules are often broken.

Though diners do not need to finish all the shared food that was provided, it is customary to finish one's individual portion of rice. Banchan dishes are intended to be finished at each meal, so they are presented in small portions and replenished as they are emptied. It is acceptable to ask for refills of any of the side dishes, some of which are shown below.