Korean BBQ guide: cuts, how ordering by the serving works, grilling and lettuce wraps

By the Real Korea 101 editorial team · Published November 13, 2026 · Sources checked November 13, 2026

Short answer: At a Korean BBQ restaurant you order meat by cut, usually by the serving (인분, inbun), and grill it at your table. The most common pork cut is samgyeopsal (pork belly); classic beef choices include galbi (short ribs, often marinated) and chadolbagi (thin brisket). Korean rules require restaurants to show meat prices per 100 grams, and if they also show a per-serving price, they must state how many grams one serving is. You eat the meat on its own, dipped in sesame oil with salt or ssamjang, or wrapped in lettuce or perilla leaves.

Common Korean BBQ cuts and their official English names

Korean menus often add English names, and many restaurants take them from official lists. The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) publishes English names on its VISITKOREA food pages, and the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries released a standard English menu list for Korean dishes in 2009, prepared with the KTO and with romanization advice from the National Institute of Korean Language. The two do not always match, so the same dish can appear under different English names.

On VISITKOREA's food pages you will also find beef cuts that appear on menus at beef BBQ restaurants, including 치마살 (chimasal, sirloin flap), 토시살 (tosisal, hanging tender) and 제비추리 (jebichuri, beef neck chain). For a wider list of dishes beyond BBQ, see our Korean food list with official English names.

Two naming notes. First, "galbi" means ribs, so check whether the menu says 소 (so, beef) or 돼지 (dwaeji, pork). Second, 양념 (yangnyeom) means seasoned or marinated, and 생 (saeng) means fresh or raw, so 생삼겹살 is fresh pork belly rather than a seasoned version.

How ordering by the serving works

Korean BBQ menus usually price meat by the serving, written 1인분 (il-inbun, "one person's portion"), and you say how many servings you want, such as 삼겹살 2인분 (samgyeopsal i-inbun, two servings of pork belly). How many grams a serving weighs is up to each restaurant, which is why the price list matters.

Annex 17 of the Enforcement Rule of the Food Sanitation Act sets the rule for restaurants. On the price list, meat such as bulgogi and galbi must be priced per 100 grams. For meat that is cooked before serving, the restaurant may show the weight before cooking. If it also wants to show a per-serving price, it must show the weight of one serving next to it. The rule's own examples are:

• 불고기 100그램 ○○원 (1인분 120그램 △△원): bulgogi, price per 100 g (one serving 120 g, price)
• 갈비 100그램 ○○원 (1인분 150그램 △△원): galbi, price per 100 g (one serving 150 g, price)

The same annex says the main ingredient and weight of the food served must not differ from what the price list shows. In other words, the per-100 g price lets you compare restaurants, and the serving weight tells you how much meat to expect.

How the grilling works

Korean BBQ is usually cooked at your table, on a grill over charcoal or on a flat iron plate. The KTO describes marinated beef galbi as grilled over charcoal or an iron plate, then cut into bite-sized pieces once cooked, and pork belly as grilled on a hot grill plate.

A typical sequence looks like this:

1. Let the grill heat up first. Thin cuts such as chadolbagi cook very quickly on a hot surface, as the KTO notes.
2. Lay the meat flat and do not crowd it. Thick strips of pork belly take longer than thin beef slices.
3. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Many restaurants provide tongs and kitchen scissors for cutting long strips on the grill; the KTO describes galbi being cut into bite-sized pieces once cooked.
4. Move cooked pieces to the edge so they stay warm without burning.
5. Ask for help if you are unsure. At some restaurants staff grill the meat for you; at others it is up to you. Staff can also change the grill plate if it gets charred.

Pork should be cooked through. If you are not sure whether a piece is done, cut it open and check before eating.

How to eat a ssam (lettuce wrap)

Ssam (쌈) means a wrap. The KTO describes eating grilled pork belly wrapped in lettuce or with garlic, and eating marinated galbi as is or wrapped in lettuce or perilla leaves, with garlic or ssamjang added to taste. Its page on ssambap (leaf wraps and rice) adds cabbage and napa cabbage leaves as other common wrappers.

1. Hold a lettuce or perilla leaf flat in one hand. Some people layer one of each.
2. Add a piece of grilled meat. Add a little rice if you like.
3. Top it with a dab of ssamjang, and sliced garlic or green chili if you want heat.
4. Fold the leaf around everything to make one bite and eat it in one go.

Making the wrap small enough to eat in one bite keeps it from falling apart.

Dips and sides you will see

• Sesame oil with salt (참기름 소금): the KTO names this as one way to eat pork belly, and the 2009 menu list describes samgyeopsal as dipped in a mixture of sesame oil and salt.
• Ssamjang (쌈장): the KTO calls it red chili and soybean paste. It is the usual paste for wraps.
• Garlic: the KTO mentions eating pork belly with garlic and adding garlic to galbi wraps.
• Stew and rice: BBQ menus often also list rice and stews such as soybean paste stew (된장찌개, doenjang-jjigae). The KTO notes that chadolbagi can also go into soybean paste jjigae.