How to order food delivery as a tourist in South Korea in 2024

Exploring South Korea as a tourist is an exhilarating experience, filled with vibrant culture, stunning landscapes, and of course, delicious cuisine. While dining out at local restaurants is a must, getting food deliveries are also an experience not to be missed! Regardless whether you are looking for a supper option in the comfort of your hotels, if you were inspired by the food deliveries shown in K-dramas and variety shows, or if you simply wanted to get fried chicken delivered to you for your picnic along the Han River - this handy guide will help you get your food delivered while in South Korea.

Food Delivery Apps in South Korea

South Korea has a very established food delivery network, and there are plenty of food delivery apps that are available in the market.

However, most of these apps require you to have a Korean phone number and a Korean personal identification number or ARC. That means that even if you had a local Korean number, you might not necessarily be able to create an account on those platforms. In addition, if your Korean number was from a tourist SIM, it is sometimes also not accepted.

Or some apps might simply only accept Korean-issued credit cards - which means even if you managed to get your account set up, you might not be able to go through with your order.

If you do not have an ARC, and a Korean-issued credit card, then consider using either Shuttle or G-market.

1. Shuttle

Shuttle is a very foreigner-friendly platform. Not only does it have an English interface, it also allows accepts international credit cards for payments. Registration does not require you to have a Korean phone number nor an ARC. While a phone number is required, you will be able to use your home phone number.

However, while Shuttle is foreigner-friendly, the selection on Shuttle is fairly limited. If you are in the Itaewon area in Seoul, you are likely to still have a fairly decent selection. But, if you are outside that area, your options are much more limited. Food delivery through Shuttle is also known to take a much longer time (averaging 1-2 hours).

2. G-market

G-market also has a food delivery service which you can order from. While an account creation on G-market requires you to have an ARC, it is actually possible for you to check out as a guest account. You do however need to have a Korean phone number for guest check-outs.

While payments via the app require you to have a Korean credit card, but you could try searching up options that accept payments on delivery. These options are much more limited, but if you search hard enough, you might be able to find a couple.

3. 배달의민족 (Baemin App)

[Updated 13 May]

Originally, Baemin app also required you to have a Korean number and identity verification. But they have very recently opened up the delivery service to accepting international phone numbers, and there is no need for identity verification!

International credit cards are also accepted for payments, making it much more convenient than having to pay cash-on-delivery. The only downside to Baemin app is that it is only avaialble in Korean interface, so you might need to make use of screenshots + Google lens to help you navigate the app if you can't understand the language.

What about the other apps like Yogiyo or Coupang Eats?

When doing your research, some common apps that you might have seen are Yogiyo or Coupang Eats.

Some guides might also tell you that you can use Yogiyo and request for cash payment upon delivery. While that is true and there are some (a very limited number) restaurants that accept cash payment, as of writing (in 2024), Yogiyo now requires an identity verification, which means that you will need an ARC.

With Coupang Eats, Korean-issued credit cards are required to make payment.

Alternative: Proxy Services

The good news is that there are proxy services available that can help foreigners and short-term visitors make a food delivery. These services not only help you with food delivery, but can also help you with other tasks that you might have difficulty doing as a foreigner — for example, making reservations on Naver.

Here are some of the services that you can consider.

Go Wonderfully

Go Wonderfully is somewhat like a personal assistant service. You can reach them through Facebook Messenger, Email, or Kakaotalk, and let them know what you need help with.

Rates are charged per-minute, so it depends on how much time they spend fulfilling your request.

However, they are only available from 10am to 8pm KST from Mondays to Saturdays, so if you are looking for assistance outside of those timings, it might not be possible.

Help Me Emo

Help Me Emo is a service that specialises in helping you get your food delivery ordered.

They accept requests primarily via Kakaotalk, through the account helpmeemo2. The rates for this service is very affordable, at a flat rate of KRW3,500 per order.

The service is available from 11am to 11pm KST daily.

Popular Food Delivery Menu Items

![l1ymbz3somb51.webp](https://cms.getnomad.app/uploads/l1ymbz3somb51_0187621d72.webp "Source: darkrealm190, Reddit)

There is a wide variety of food items you can get through delivery services, but if you are looking for some of the most popular delivery menu items, consider some of these:

• Korean Fried Chicken: Fried chicken is extremely popular in South Korea. There is an abundance of brands and joints that you can choose from, and they are a popular option for a late night snack in the comfort of your rooms.
• Korean-Chinese food: Korean-Chinese food is a very popular type of cuisine for food delivery, also because they are often open late into the night and a great option for supper. Some of the most popular dishes include Jajangmyeon, Jjamppong, and Tangsuyook. In the case of jajangmyeon, we actually think they almost always taste better delivered (rather than having it at the restaurant) - probably also because with delivery, the noodles are soaked in the sauce for a longer period of time.
• Gimbap: Gimbap is a great option for a snack or light bite. However, you usually have to combine your gimbap order with other food menu items due to minimum order requirements.

Stay Connected in Korea with a Nomad Travel eSIM

While satisfying your hunger pangs, stay connected in Korea with a Nomad travel eSIM for Korea. Nomad's eSIMs give you access to affordable data eSIMs in over 170+ destinations worldwide — including Korea.

Choose from a variety of local, regional, and global data plans, buy and install your eSIM before you fly, and connect to a mobile network within minutes of arrival. Running out of data mid-trip? Simply purchase an add-on in the Nomad app.

Whether you are going to Seoul, Busan, Jeju, or anywhere in South Korea, get a South Korea travel eSIM to help you stay connected during your trip.