banchan

Korean Restaurant Etiquette: What Nobody Tells You Before You Go

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A table set with multiple small dishes and shared plates

Korean restaurant etiquette involves a handful of conventions that nobody explains, because everyone here grew up with them. Most of them are the opposite of what you would expect coming from a Western restaurant, and getting them wrong tends to make visitors more cautious than they need to be. The Side Dishes Are Free, and … Read more

Banchan: Why Korean Meals Come With So Many Side Dishes

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Several small dishes of vegetables and kimchi arranged on a table

You sit down at a Korean restaurant, order one dish, and within two minutes the table is covered in small plates you did not ask for. Six of them. Sometimes twelve. Nobody explains what they are. These are banchan, and the first thing worth knowing is that they are free, refillable, and not a starter … Read more