How to order coffee at a Korean cafe? Useful Korean phrases to use at a cafe

South Korea’s cafe culture is very well-developed. You can find cafes with beautiful decorations and great food and beverages in basically every corner. For many tourists, stopping at a coffee shop is an integral part of the traveling experience. If you are nervous every time you order and don’t know what to say to get yourself a great cup of coffee, here are some useful Korean phrases that will make your next ordering experience at a Korean coffee shop super easy and smooth.

1. Taking order

주문 하시겠어요? or 주문 도와 드릴까요? or 주문 도와 드릴게요.
= Are you ready to order?
You can let them know the item you want. For example, you can say 커피 한 잔 주세요, which means “Please give me a cup of coffee.”
The structure of the sentence is:
Noun + Number + Counter + 주세요
Remember to use native Korean numbers here, which are 한나, 둘, 셋, 넷.. If you put them in front of counters, they become 한, 두, 세, 네..
If you want to order more than thing, you can say:
__ 하나랑 __ 하나 주세요 = Please give me __ and __.
This is a common phrase that is simpler and without counters.
Example: 자몽 에이드 하나랑 케이크 하나 주세요
= Please give me a grapefruit ade and a piece of cake.

2. Cold/ Hot?

차갑게 드릴까요? or 뜨겁게 드릴까요? or 아이스로 드릴까요?
= Would you like it cold or hot?
If you want your drink cold, you can say 아이스로 주세요.
If you want a hot drink, you can say 따뜻한 걸로 주세요.
If you want no ice, you can say 얼음 빼 주세요.

3. Size 사이즈

어떤 사이즈로 드릴까요? = Which size would you like?
Small size is 작은 거 or 스몰 사이즈.
Regular is the English word “regular,” which is 레귤러 in hangeul.
Large size is 큰 거 or 라지 사이즈.
For example, 큰거 주세요 = I would like the large size.

4. Special requests

If you want your drink unsweetened, you can say 시럽 빼 주세요.
If you want it less sweet, you can say 시럽 조금만 넣어 주세요.
If you want them to leave out the whipping cream, you can say 휘핑 (휘핑크림) 빼 주세요.
If you want an extra shot of espresso, you can say 샷 하나 추가해 주세요.
빼 주세요 means “please leave out …” and you can attach it to any nouns.

5. For here or to-go?

드시고 가세요? = Is it for here?
You can answer by simply saying 네 or 아니요.
여기서 마실 거예요 or (여기서) 마시고 갈게요 or (여기서) 먹고 갈게요 (*you can leave out the (여기서) if you want)
= For here, please
가져갈 거예요 or 가져갈 게요 or 테이크 아웃으로 주세요 or 테이크 아웃이요.
= For to-go, please

To summarize, it will look sometime like this if we put everything together.
라지 사이즈 아이스아메리카노 한 잔 주세요. 샷 하나 추가해 주세요. 테이크 아웃으로 주세요.
= I would like a large size iced Americano with an extra shot of espresso please.

You can express the same idea in many different ways in Korean, so feel free to choose and use any of the examples given above. Just pick one that you think it’s the easiest and that you can master. These are phrases that you might hear or use at a Korean cafe. Hope you can learn these useful phrases, and try to use them the next time you order at a Korean cafe~