When it comes to food delivery, South Korea is elite. There isn’t a place where they can’t deliver. Residences, parks, offices, schools, a random park in your school, you name it and they will deliver it to you. Most importantly, their service is astounding.
Ppali-ppali service
If you know Korea, you might have heard of their Ppali-ppali culture. You can also see this particular culture in their food deliveries. They are always on time or even earlier than the estimated time.
24 hours delivery service
In addition to that, in cities like Seoul, you can find stores that deliver 24 hours. Imagine having had a long day, missed your dinner and before you know it it is past midnight. Worry no more, because their delivery service has got you covered. However, not all stores offer the 24 hour delivery service. Even if they don’t you can always settle for anything from the convenience store! I’m telling you, you can rely on their convenience stores too.
Check out: One-Stop Convenience Store!
Delivery Apps
Here are the two most common food delivery apps in Korea. All the delivery apps mentioned however are unfortunately only available in Korean… they should really consider making an English version. If you have someone with you that can speak Korean, they can be of help. You can even ask help from any Koreans working at the hotel you’re staying in!
Yogiyo
This is the most common food delivery app. This is what the app looks like.
How to download?
You can download the app via apple store or google play store.
They offer variety of cuisines. The first picture of the fork and spoon on the top left has ‘all’ written underneath it means all types of cuisines is mixed there. The picture next (going right) to it is the chicken category. Korea is well known for their delicious fried chicken, and they offer variety of choices. The picture after that is pizza and western food, followed by Korean street food (ex. tteokbokki, kimbap) and lastly pork cuisines.
On the second row, from the left going right is all eat for one menus. This is a unique feature that can be found in Korea. They have this thing called “Honbab ( ํผ๋ฐฅ)” where you would eat a meal alone, and it’s not lonely or anything. Going to the right is Chinese food, Korean food, cafe and desserts and lastly Japanese food.
Baedal Minjok
How to download?
This app too unfortunately is only available in Korean. You can type in ‘Baedal minjok’ in Google and the app should appear for you to download. It’s better for you to type in in google first because sometimes it doesn’t appear at the app store or google play when typing in roman.
Baedal Minjok offers the same variety as Yogiyo, just organised differently.
How would the process be like?
This applies for both applications.
Let’s say you want to order chicken, all you will need to do is click on the chicken icon and it will direct you to so many chicken stores. After this step, I can’t really take you in the step by step detail because it can be different for every store and food cuisine. You will need someone who knows Korean for this one. After you’re done with browsing the menu and picking the food, it will direct you to the payment.
You can choose to pay by card or cash. In the case where they do not offer international cards, then you can just do cash on delivery.
Overall, I recommend you to try if you would like the experience of the fast convenient food delivery culture! Most of the food delivery applications offered aren’t exactly English friendly, but just get someone who can read and speak Korean around you and you’re set!
