The drawer, the button, the water jug: serving yourself at a Korean table

In many Korean restaurants, nobody will bring you a spoon, pour your water, or stop by to ask how the meal is going. The table is set up for you to do these things yourself. The clues are small: a drawer, a button, a printed sign near the door.

The drawer at the edge of the table

Spoons and flat steel chopsticks are often kept in a shallow drawer built into the side of the table, or in a lidded box on top of it. Feel along the table's edge before you ask. Napkins sit in a dispenser close by, sometimes fixed to the wall next to the menu.

Water is on you

A sign reading 물은 셀프 (mureun selpeu, "water is self-service") means the water purifier or the jug in the fridge by the counter is there for you. Steel cups usually wait in a small sterilising cabinet with a blue light inside. Side dishes are refilled at no charge, and where there is a 셀프바 (selpeu-ba, a self-service bar), you refill them yourself.

The button, and the word that replaces it

A small button on the table, often labelled 호출 (hochul, "call"), sounds a chime and shows your table number on a display near the kitchen. Press it once and wait. Where there is no button, raising a hand and saying "yeogiyo" (여기요, "over here") is the usual way to call staff, and no one will find it rude.

물과 수저는 테이블 옆에 있어요.

Paying on the way out

The bill usually stays on your table, sometimes clipped to its side. When you leave, take it to the counter by the door; if there is no slip, give your table number. Staff rarely bring the card reader to you, so there is no need to wait to be served the check.