Home Delivery Service in Korea
Talk to anyone who lives in Korea, or anyone who has spent time here in the past, and ask them to list the top 5 things about living in Korea. I guarantee that in any top 5 you will hear the term “Beh-Dal” (배달) or in other words: the fact that you can get all types of food delivered to your door at all times of the day.
Yes, despite the fact that wherever you live in Korea you will likely have a number of nice restaurants within walking distance from your home, most restaurants in your neighbourhood will also offer free delivery. This means that if you also have cable TV and a high speed internet connection, there’s no reason to ever leave your house.
Here are some key things you should know to make the most out of this awesome service.
1. Explore your neighbourhood and collect as many delivery menus as you can
Photo by Dushan and Miae / CC BY-SA 2.0
Sometimes you will find delivery menus stuck inside elevators or in other random places in your apartment building, but the best way to ensure that you have covered the field in terms of restaurants that deliver to your home is to simply walk around your neighbourhood, go into every restaurant you see and politely ask for their delivery menu. Some places will simply have menus stacked on the counter but most of the time you have to ask – if you’re not confident with your Korean just say “Beh-dal menu?” and they’ll understand.
2. Your fridge is not only good for keeping food fresh, it is also functions as a menu board
Once you’ve done the rounds in your neighbourhood, you should end up with a fridge that looks something like this:
3. Know what’s available – don’t just order fried chicken every night
Once you have your menu board set up, become acquainted with the many varieties of food available. Here are the main categories of food generally available for delivery:
Chicken (치킨): Learn all you need to know about Korean Fried Chicken here.
Photo by thatwelike / CC BY 2.0
Pizza and other Western food (피자,양식): You will most likely have a Pizza Hut, Mr Pizza or other similar pizza chain in your area. If you’re lucky, there might even be a burger joint or a pasta restaurant near you that also delivers.
Korean food (한식): Kimchi stew, bibimbap, rice cake soup – all your classic Korean favourites.
Photo by avlxyz / CC BY-SA 2.0
Korean snack food (분식): If you just want a cheap snack you can get street food like tteokbokgi, kimbap or ramyun delivered too.
Photo by m-louis / CC BY-SA 2.0
Chinese food (중국식): One of the most popular things that Koreans will order for home delivery is Jja-jang-myun/짜장면 (noodles in black bean sauce) and is the classic dish to order-in when mum wants a night off. Watch any Korean drama and at least once you’ll see the characters hungrily ripping off cling-wrap from plastic bowls and pigging out on these saucy noodles.
Japanese food (일식): Deep fried pork cutlet (Don-katsu, 돈까스) or even sushi if you’re wanting a bit of a splurge.
Photo by kristacher / CC BY-SA 2.0
Late night drinking food (야식): Nothing like bossam (braised pork belly) or jok bal (braised pig’s feet) to complete a night in with friends and a few bottles of Soju.
Photo by sellyourseoul / CC BY 2.0
McDelivery: This deserves a category of its own. Believe it or not, in most areas of Seoul the good people of McDonalds will deliver soggy fries and burgers straight to your door – you can even order online!
Photo by Julie Facine / CC BY-SA 2.0
4. But I don’t want to miss out on the side dishes I get when I eat out!
Don’t worry, all the side dishes you’d usually get in the restaurant will be delivered too so you won’t miss out on your kimchee, yellow radish or miso soup.
Photo by ewen and donabel / CC BY 2.0
5. No minimum spend for free delivery
The majority of places won’t charge you anything for delivery, no matter how little you spend. But you might get a dirty look and some attitude from the delivery man if all you order is one 2,000Won kimbap.
Also, if you order a lot they generally throw in a little freebie like a can of drink or extra side dishes.
6. Ordering is easy… even if you can’t speak Korean
Doing things over the phone in Korea can be intimidating for foreigners, but please don’t let this stop you from ordering delivery because it’s actually incredibly easy. Just call the number and as soon as they pick up, go ahead and list the items that you want to order (no need to say hello or explain that you want to order delivery – they will know exactly why you’re calling). Then they’ll ask you for your address (joo-soh/주소) and maybe your phone number (jeon-hwa-bon-ho/전화번호). Simple. They’ll be at your door within 20 minutes and you pay them in cash – the delivery guys always have plenty of change on hand.
Alternatively, you can use the app YoGiYo:
YoGiYo will automatically detect your location. All you need to do is choose a category, then choose a restaurant, and put the items you want to order in your cart. On checking out all you need to do is type in your address and phone number, and you can choose to pay by either cash or card. YoGiYo is great because it lists a lot of 24/7 options but the downside is that it only includes the big restaurant chains and none of the tiny ahjumma-run restaurants in your area. Also, there is a minimum spend for most of the places on YoGiYo.
7. No clean up necessary
These days, some restaurants will use disposable bowls and plates to deliver their food which you will need to dispose of yourself, but most places will still deliver food in regular servingware. Once you’ve finished eating there’s no need to wash the plates or even dispose of the leftovers, all you have to do is gather all the non-disposable bowls, plates and cutlery and leave them outside your door and the delivery guy will just pick it all up later.
And to finish off, a word of caution: while Korean home delivery service is one of the best things in the world, it’s also highly addictive and may result in substantial weight gain!
It’s so easy to live in Korea though !! :)