How to order Korean barbecue without knowing what you are doing

A barbecue restaurant gives you a grill set into the table and raw meat to cook on it. Nobody cooks it for you, though staff will often come over to turn or cut things, particularly if they can see you are new to it. That is help, not criticism.

Meat is ordered by weight rather than by plate, usually in portions of 150 or 200 grams, and most places set a two-portion minimum. This is the single most common problem for a solo traveller — see our guide to travelling alone for the ways around it.

The order is per cut, not per person. Two people ordering two portions of pork belly are sharing the same pile of meat off the same grill, which is the entire social point of the meal.

Samgyeopsal is thick-cut pork belly, ungarnished, and it is the default barbecue in Korea by a wide margin. If you order one thing without deliberating, order that.

Moksal is pork shoulder, leaner and a little firmer. Galbi is ribs, usually marinated in a sweet soy mixture, and is the richer and more expensive choice. Beef options cost substantially more than pork and the gap is larger here than most visitors expect.

Marinated cuts burn faster than plain ones because of the sugar in the marinade. If you are cooking galbi, move it more often than you think you need to.

The small plates that arrive unbidden — kimchi, bean sprouts, pickled radish, salad, sometimes a dozen of them — are banchan, they come with the meal, and they are refilled at no charge. Asking for more of one you like is completely normal.

There is usually a bowl of raw garlic and sliced chilli to grill alongside the meat, a dish of coarse salt with sesame oil to dip into, and a leaf wrap — lettuce or perilla. The assembly is the meal: a piece of meat, a smear of ssamjang paste, some garlic, wrapped in the leaf and eaten in one.

Rice and stew are ordered separately and generally arrive towards the end rather than at the start. If you want rice with the meat, say so when you order.

You will smell of smoke afterwards. Many places have extraction hoods over each table and some provide bags for your coat; neither fully solves it. Do not wear something you need clean the next day.

Scissors are used at the table to cut meat, and this is normal rather than improvised.

The bill is usually settled at the counter on the way out, not at the table.

Barbecue restaurants are typically an evening meal and busy from around seven. Arriving earlier gets you a table without waiting.