For those heading to Seoul on a solo trip, one of the things you may be most excited about is eating Korean food! You may also have heard that restaurants may not cater to solo diners or you may get turned away at restaurants.

I solo-traveled to Seoul, and amongst being nervous about everything – language barriers, getting lost, cultural differences – the possibility of getting turned away from restaurants did not help my anxiety. That being said, I had a great trip and from my experience, it turned out I had nothing to worry about with eating solo.

In Korean culture, up until a few years ago, eating alone at restaurants wasn’t common because eating out is a social activity. However, eating alone is much more common now. As a result, a new phrase has coined for the phenomenon: 혼밥 “honbap”, which combines 혼자 “honja” (alone) and 밥 “bap” (rice/meal/eating).

At places like food courts, fast food restaurants, and convenience stores, no one is going to care if you are eating alone. That being said, you should not be restricted to those as there is also a ton of good food in restaurants you should miss out on.

You should target restaurants that serve dishes intended to be a single serving. These include:

• Kimbap 김밥 (Nearly all places that sell kimbap are casual restaurants that it is totally acceptable to eat alone at. Chains like 김밥천국 will have other options besides kimbap on the menu).
• Bibimbap 비빔밥
• Soups (tofu stew 순두부찌개, jjampong 짬뽕)
• Noodles (makguksu 막국수, naengmyeon 냉면, black bean noodles 짜장면) 
• Rice + protein dishes (덮밥) at Korean-Chinese restaurants
• Restaurants that use a main kiosk ordering system

Most single-serving meals of the dishes above will be around 8,000-12,000 won (with the exception of kimbap, usually 4,000-6,000 won). Western food is always more expensive. You can use the price to give a good indicator of whether it’s intended for 1 serving or not.

❗️BBQ restaurants/anything with a grill where you cook the food in front of you, will require at least 2 servings minimum because of the cost required to power the grill. If you try to go to a BBQ restaurant by yourself, they may turn you away. However if you are brave enough, you can try to eat there by ordering 2 portions – use Korean or translate on your phone to convince them that you are willing to purchase 2 portions.

There may be a few BBQ restaurants that specifically cater to solo diners, though you will need to specially search for these as they are not common.

❗️If the menu says “2인분 이상 주문가능“ for a certain dish, that means you must order at least 2 servings. This is usually for some soups or meat dishes (닭갈비) that are cooked in a large pot. Avoid those and look for the individual sized pots, like this perilla tofu stew (들깨순두부):

Fried dishes like fried chicken or sweet and sour pork (탕수육) are almost always sold in a large quantity intended for 2 servings, though you should have no problem ordering this by yourself (it will just be priced higher than single servings, 17,000+ won per order). 

Some other tips I have are:

• Go to restaurants on off-peak hours, such as 1 hour before/after peak lunch (peak lunch: usually 12-1) and 1 hour before peak dinner time (peak dinner time: starts at 6pm). For dinner, I recommend you go early because locals tend to get off work late (and eat late).

• Even at restaurants with 2-person tables that sell single-serving dishes, you may still get turned away if they are popular with lines out the door because they can profit more off parties of 2. Either avoid these restaurants or go very off hours (after 1 for lunch).

• Have backup options in the same area in the event you get turned away (or the restaurant is closed despite Naver saying it should be open. Happened to me many times 🥲)

I was never turned away from any restaurants, though I also did not go to any BBQ restaurants, try to order 2 person sized dishes, or go to any famous restaurants. The food standard in Seoul is pretty high, so don’t limit yourself only to the restaurants you read about in travel guides. You can read more in my Naver Guide.

For tactical restaurant information, such as “Do you seat yourself? Where do you pay?”, see my Korean Restaurant & Cafe Etiquette Guide.

What about cafes?

It’s totally normal to go to cafes by yourself, as many locals often go to cafes alone to work/study. Just be sure to find a table before you order, especially at busy cafes.

Recommended spots for solo dining

In the screenshot above, you’ll see that’s a delicious dolsot (hot stone) bibimbap spot with solo dining seating. The name is 한석화, located near 상수 Sangsu station (Hongdae area).

If you are vegetarian, you can also check out my vegetarian food guide to Seoul, all of which are solo dining friendly (includes some spots that have both vegetarian and meat options).