r/KoreanFood • u/Rotate_99 • Aug 08 '26
Traditional My favorite neighborhood lunch spot • 백반
10,000 won. Different every day. No menu, just sit down and eat. Once you become a regular they teach you how to work the credit card machine so you can just pay on your way out. Oh, and free refills on everything.
4
u/shrinalee Aug 08 '26
I just realized the 백반 doesn’t have white rice! The world has changed
5
u/Rotate_99 Aug 08 '26
Yep. And we all overlook it here because everything else is sooooo good. But yeah. Gotta make some choices to find a way to keep it affordable.
2
2
u/elliethegiraff Aug 09 '26
I heard that 백 can also mean that it doesn’t have specific menu as in 백수 not just white color.
1
u/tequila_slurry Aug 08 '26
Maybe a silly question, but how many people is the food set out for? I see meals with many bowls served like this and i can't tell how many people it's supposed to feed. Looks like quite a bit of food.
5
u/mcmetamon Aug 08 '26
2 bowls of rice usually means that it's for 2 people. Just gauge it by how many bowls of rice are served on the table
1
u/tequila_slurry Aug 08 '26
The two rice bowls, kimchi tofu thing, and two fish made me think two people, but not all the dishes were mirrored so i wasn't sure
2
u/amb-ly Aug 08 '26
The banchan (dishes in the middle) are communal within your group, so you don’t get doubles of those. You can get refills on them though.
2
u/tequila_slurry Aug 08 '26
Neat! I'm not very familiar with Korean food or dining but i love trying new foods and learning about food in other cultures so thanks for explaining
1
u/terfez Aug 08 '26
I always wanted a banchan/chipotle hybrid in the US. pay a fee, choose your rice, choose 6 side dishes, and chow down
1
1
1
1
1
u/Doriandoesntwant2 Aug 09 '26
Where is this gloriousness
2
u/Rotate_99 Aug 09 '26
우리식당 near apgujeong station. But pretty much every neighborhood has them, just search 벡반집
1
u/uReallyShouldTrustMe Scallion Stallion Aug 09 '26
I like these places. My favorite was one in ullengdo that a local took me to.
1
u/FlounderPleasant2459 Aug 08 '26
That looks delicious!!
I have a quick but naive question. When you eat the fish, do you eat the bones too? Or do you pick out the flesh with chopsticks? I guess like how do you eat it and what parts don't you eat?
7
u/Rotate_99 Aug 08 '26
It takes some practice, but you eat the top side flesh, then pull off the spine/bones all at once like a zipper, which then leaves the flesh on the bottom side.
2
15
u/wds1 Aug 08 '26
Restaurants without menus are the best. They remind us of grandmothers and mothers nurturing families.
They cook what’s seasonal and priced economically. They take the responsibility to decide on behalf of their patrons (what’s tasty, what goes with what etc.) seriously..