How to eat Korean BBQ, from first cut to fried rice.

Six steps

The order of a Korean BBQ night.

1. Order in portions, in wavesMenus are priced per portion (1인분). Many places ask for at least two to light the grill. Start with two or three and reorder — for four people, expect around four to six portions plus a closer.
2. Start unmarinatedPlain cuts go first: samgyeopsal (pork belly), moksal (pork neck) or paper-thin chadolbaegi brisket. Korean pork is unseasoned on purpose; you season each bite yourself.
3. Grill until golden, then cutFlip pork when one side is golden, not black. Snip it into bite-size pieces with the scissors right on the grate so it finishes evenly.
4. Change the plate, then go marinatedBefore galbi or other marinated meat, ask staff for a new grill plate (bulpan). Marinade sugars burn fast on a used one.
5. Build a ssamLettuce or perilla leaf in your palm, a piece of meat, a dab of ssamjang, a slice of garlic and some scallion salad. Fold it and eat it in one bite.
6. Finish with a closerFried rice made on the still-hot grill, cold buckwheat noodles (naengmyeon) or a doenjang stew. In social settings, skipping the closer can feel like ending the night early.

Cheat sheet

The cuts, and how to eat each one.

Order this first

A first round for two, and for four.

• For two: two portions of samgyeopsal, one of chadolbaegi while the belly cooks, then decide on galbi.
• For four: two samgyeopsal, one moksal, one chadolbaegi — then a wave of marinated galbi after the plate change.
• Always: one bottle of something to pour for each other, and a closer ordered for the table, not per person.

The little dishes

Banchan: free, refillable, part of the meal.

The small plates that land before the meat — usually kimchi, pickled radish, seasoned bean sprouts and a few others — are banchan. Staple ones are free and refillable: ask your server, or help yourself if there is a self-service bar. A specialty side might cost extra, and the menu will say so.

Lettuce and perilla leaves for wrapping usually come too. Use the kimchi on the grill: a few pieces cooked in the pork fat is one of the quiet joys of the night.

At the grill

Grill and table manners.

• Who grills: traditionally the youngest at the table; among friends it rotates. At premium beef places staff often grill, so wait to be invited before reaching for the tongs.
• Tongs: one pair for raw meat, another (plus the scissors) for cooked. Ask for a fresh set if they get mixed up.
• Drinks: never pour your own. Pour for others with two hands, refill an older person’s glass first — once it is empty — and receive with two hands.
• Calling staff: press the bell on the table, or raise a hand and say “jeogiyo.”
• Paying: in Korea you usually pay at the counter on the way out, and tipping is not customary.

In the Philippines

Samgyupsal night, the all-you-can-eat way.

In the Philippines, “samgyupsal” — often just “samgyup” — means the whole Korean BBQ night, and the all-you-can-eat grill format has been a staple for more than a decade. The same rules make it better: unmarinated first, change the plate before the sweet stuff, and order in small waves so nothing burns while everyone is busy wrapping.

Keep the night

Snap the table before the first round hits the grill.

By the second round the table is chaos, so take one photo when the raw platters and banchan first land. PlateDiary cuts every plate out into its own save, files the night under that place, and lets you add who came — Joon, Bea and the friend who always grabs the scissors — on the companions row. Add the bill, or scan the receipt, and next time the place page shows your usual there. If your group splits it, our bill-splitting guide has the fair ways to do it.