Korean BBQ vs Yakiniku: What's the Difference?

If you've had yakiniku in Japan, a Korean BBQ table will look familiar at first: raw meat, a grill set into the table, chopsticks. Then the scissors come out, a basket of lettuce lands next to you, and ten small dishes you didn't order show up. Same family, different meal.

Same family, different branch

In Korea we don't even say "Korean BBQ." We say gogi-gui (고기구이), "grilled meat," or just "let's go eat gogi."

Yakiniku is Korea's cousin in Japan. After the war, many Korean residents of Japan sold grilled offal (horumon) at the black markets. The first yakiniku restaurants usually named are Meigetsukan in Tokyo and Shokudoen in Osaka, both opened around 1945–46, and both started as "Korean restaurants." The word yakiniku became the common name in the late 1960s, partly as a neutral label after Korea split into North and South.

You can still hear the Korean on a Japanese menu. Karubi comes from our galbi. The lettuce, sanchu, comes from our sangchu. Japan even has its own Yakiniku Day: August 29, because 8-2-9 reads ya-ki-niku.

The difference at a glance

How one bite happens

In Korea, a strip of pork belly goes on the grill whole. When it's golden, someone grabs the tongs and the scissors and cuts it into bite-size pieces right on the grill. Then you build a ssam: lettuce, maybe a perilla leaf, a piece of meat, a slice of garlic, a dab of bean paste. Fold it, one bite. The side dishes go in the wrap or on the side, however you like.

In Japan, you order a few small plates by cut: karubi (boneless short rib or belly), rosu (loin or chuck), tan (tongue), harami (diaphragm, like skirt steak), horumon (offal). You lay one or two pieces on the grill, flip them, dip each in sauce, and eat it with rice. Many people start with salted tongue and a squeeze of lemon. It's light, and salt doesn't scorch the grill the way a sweet sauce does.

One feels like a party, the other like a tasting. I love both, but I'll be honest: when I want to eat a lot of meat with friends, I want the Korean table.

Plain, marinated or dipped

People think Korean BBQ means sweet marinated meat. Some of it is. Yangnyeom galbi and bulgogi sit in soy sauce, sugar and garlic, and LA galbi is often marinated overnight. But the two things Koreans order most, samgyeopsal (pork belly) and good hanwoo beef, come to the table completely plain. You season them yourself with salt and sesame oil, bean paste, and the wrap.

Yakiniku goes the other way. The meat comes salted or lightly tossed in sauce, and the main flavor comes from the dipping sauce, a soy-based tare, after it's off the grill.

Free side dishes, or a menu of them

This is the one that surprises Koreans in Japan. At a Korean BBQ place, the lettuce, perilla leaves, garlic, bean paste, kimchi and scallion salad usually arrive free with the meat, and you can ask for more. Some places charge for special items, but the basics are on the house.

At a yakiniku place, kimchi, namul and lettuce are on the menu, with prices. Korean friends visiting Japan always ask why the kimchi costs money.

Rice now, or rice later

In Japan, a bowl of white rice next to the meat is standard. Grilled karubi on rice is the whole point for a lot of people.

In Korea, rice often comes at the end. When the meat's done, you order naengmyeon (cold noodles), or doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew) with rice. Plenty of Koreans eat rice with the meat too, but in my house, and in Daegu generally, rice in the middle of the meat means you're doing it wrong. More on that in the hanwoo guide (opens in a new tab).

Who grills

At most yakiniku places, you grill your own pieces on a grill you share with your table. Solo yakiniku, one small grill per person, is a newer thing in Japan, from the last ten years or so.

In Korea, at a lot of places the staff will start the meat for you, flip it and cut it. At nicer beef places they'll often grill the whole thing. At a cheap pork place, they might put it on and walk away. Either way, you're allowed to ask.

In Seoul, eat the Korean one

You can find Japanese-style yakiniku in Seoul. But you came here for the scissors, the lettuce and the free kimchi. Start with the two guides in our Korean BBQ series:

• Hanwoo: how to order Korean beef BBQ (opens in a new tab). Grades, cuts in American terms, and why your first night should be at a place where the staff grill.
• Samgyeopsal and Korean pork BBQ (opens in a new tab). Pork belly, Jeju black pork, kimchi in the fat, and what to order after.

If you'd like a guide for your first one

Small-Group Night Food Tour in Seoul with Korean BBQ

• Good for: a first or second night in Seoul, solo travelers, anyone who wants the BBQ etiquette explained.
• What you eat: pork belly or soy-marinated pork barbecue with side dishes, then a traditional pub, a street-food stop and dessert in Ikseon-dong. About 3.5 hours, starts at Anguk Station.
• Know before you book: it's a tasting tour across four stops, not a full BBQ dinner, and tips aren't included.

Your first night

Find a busy samgyeopsal place. Let the meat go on whole, cut it with scissors, wrap your first bite. Eat the free kimchi without guilt. Then order the cold noodles, and tell me if that's not better than rice on the side.

Useful links

• Yangnyeom galbi (opens in a new tab) (Korea Tourism Organization)
• About Korean food (opens in a new tab) (Korea Tourism Organization)