Online ordering for Korean restaurants and takeaways

Build the menu around the choices, not just the dishes

The usual problem with a Korean menu online is that it's written like a list of dishes, when customers are really ordering a set of choices. Here's how to turn that into options a kitchen can read.

Korean fried chicken. Make portion size the item, for example "Fried chicken, half" and "Fried chicken, whole". Then add required option groups:

• Cut: bone-in or boneless.
• Sauce: original (no sauce), soy garlic, yangnyeom, honey butter, or whatever you actually make. Set a minimum of one. For a half-and-half box, set a maximum of two and say "choose up to two" in the group name. Chefzi doesn't have a dedicated half-and-half builder, but a group with a minimum and maximum does the job.
• Spice level: your own scale, in words the kitchen uses. "Mild / medium / hot / Korean hot" works better than a number customers have to guess.

Required groups mean the order can't be sent without an answer. That's the difference between a ticket that says "wings" and one the fryer can act on.

Bibimbap. If you serve it in a hot stone bowl (dolsot) in the restaurant, decide whether that dish travels. Most kitchens make delivery bibimbap a separate item in a sealed bowl, with its own price and a note on how the egg is cooked. Don't use one item with a "for delivery" option. A separate item stops the kitchen pulling a stone bowl for a courier bag.

Noodles and stews. Ramyeon, japchae, jjigae and naengmyeon behave differently in a box. Hot broths need a sealed container. Cold noodles need the ice or broth packed separately. Use the item description to say what the customer is getting ("broth packed separately, pour over noodles"), so the photo and the delivery match.

Banchan and extras. Sell extra kimchi, pickled radish, rice and sauces as add-on groups rather than separate items buried at the bottom of the menu. Customers add them at the moment they're choosing the main dish.

Lunch boxes (dosirak) and group orders. If you take office lunch orders, set a pre-order lead time for the location so orders for later in the day arrive with enough notice. The lead time is set per location, not per dish. When a component runs out, mark the item out of stock instead of phoning customers back.

Sauces, crunch and the journey

Fried chicken loses its crunch in a closed box faster than almost anything else on a delivery menu. The fixes are operational, not software:

• Vented boxes, and the chicken packed last.
• For saucy styles, many kitchens offer "sauce on the side" as a free option. Add it as an option in the sauce group so it prints on the ticket.
• Pickled radish and drinks go in a separate bag, so the cold items don't steam the hot ones.
• Keep your own delivery area tight enough for the fryer. Delivery zones let you set a fee, a minimum order and a delivery time for each zone, so the far edge of town can have a longer quoted time instead of soggy chicken.

Rice safety when you cook ahead

Korean menus lean on rice for bibimbap, fried rice, kimbap and every set meal. The FSA's Safer Food Better Business guidance for caterers covers this because cooked rice is a known risk. Spores from harmful bacteria can survive cooking and grow if rice cools slowly.

The FSA's safe method is:

• Either keep cooked rice hot, or chill it as quickly as possible, within one hour.
• Spread it on a clean, shallow tray, divide it into smaller portions, or cool it in a clean colander under cold running water. Never leave it to cool in the rice cooker, steamer or pan.
• Keep chilled rice covered in the fridge and use it within 24 hours, or throw it away.
• Reheat it to a safe temperature throughout before serving.

Fried rice and kimbap made with yesterday's rice depend on that chilling step being done properly.

Allergens: soy, wheat, sesame and the fish in the kimchi

Korean cooking uses several of the 14 allergens that food law requires you to declare, often in ingredients customers don't think about:

• Soy: soy sauce, doenjang, gochujang and tofu.
• Cereals containing gluten: many soy sauces and some gochujang contain wheat. So do noodles, mandu wrappers and fried chicken batter.
• Sesame: sesame oil and seeds on almost everything.
• Egg: the fried egg on bibimbap, egg in batters and some noodles.
• Fish and crustaceans: many kimchi recipes use fish sauce or salted shrimp. A vegetable side can still contain fish, and a customer might not expect it.
• Peanuts and tree nuts: in some sauces and garnishes.

Recipes vary, so treat that list as a prompt to check your own supplier labels, not as a statement about any product. For online orders, the FSA says allergen information must be available before the customer pays and again when the food arrives, and its advice is to give it in writing at both stages.

On Chefzi, write a "Contains:" line in each dish description so it shows before checkout. Put an allergen sticker or a printed allergen menu in the bag. If your kimchi is made without fish, say so plainly. Don't call a dish vegan or allergen-free unless you control cross-contamination. Our guide to allergen information for online orders has the full checklist.

The dining room: barbecue tables and QR orders

Korean barbecue restaurants are usually booking-led, because tables with grills are limited and turn slowly. Chefzi's table reservations let a guest request a table online, and you confirm it. There's no card deposit on a booking, so on busy nights a quick confirmation message or call is the way to cut no-shows.

Once guests are seated, QR table ordering lets them add another round of meat or banchan from their phone. The order reaches the same app as your online orders.

Your own site next to the apps

Delivery apps help new customers find a Korean takeaway. The cost is commission, on average up to 25% per order. You can change that starting figure in the commission calculator. Your own ordering page is for people who have already tried you and come back.

Help them find it with a menu card in every bag that has a QR code. Our guide to how to move regulars off Just Eat covers this step by step.

If you run a fried chicken shop that isn't Korean, the chicken shops page fits better. For other East Asian menus, see Thai restaurants, Vietnamese restaurants and sushi.

What Chefzi gives a Korean restaurant

• An ordering website for collection and delivery, mobile-optimised and built for search, with the menu as text. You can use it on your own domain, and that connection is live in the portal, or embed it on a site you already have.
• Required option groups with a minimum and maximum, for sauces, spice levels and extras.
• Orders in the Chefzi app on a phone or tablet you already own (Android now; the iOS app is included when it launches). The app rings until someone accepts or rejects the order. If the device drops offline, Chefzi sends a text and then calls.
• Delivery zones with a fee, minimum order and time for each zone. Collection hours and delivery hours are set separately.
• Table reservations and QR table ordering.

Chefzi includes a built-in browser till (Chefzi POS), in beta, at no extra cost, with kitchen display, split bills, cash drawer and Z reports. Card sales at the counter go through your own external card terminal and are recorded on the till. Chefzi doesn't sell kiosks or courier integrations; your restaurant’s own branded app (Android & iOS) is included. You deliver with your own drivers. See what Chefzi does not do.

Keep the next order

One plan at £39 a month per location, ex VAT: ordering website, your own branded app (Android & iOS), EPOS till, kitchen screen, SMS and email marketing (GDPR compliant) and loyalty rewards. 0% commission ever, no setup fee, free migration and one month free.

Chefzi is £39 a month per location billed annually (£49 if billed monthly), excluding VAT, with your own domain, your own branded app (Android & iOS) and everything else included. There's no setup fee and no commission. See Chefzi pricing.

Get started · Book a call

Frequently asked questions

Can customers choose a sauce and spice level for Korean fried chicken?

Yes. Set the sauce and spice level as required option groups, so the order cannot be placed without them. A group can have a minimum and a maximum, so 'choose up to two sauces' works for a half-and-half box. Chefzi has no dedicated half-and-half builder, so set it up as options.

Should I sell hot stone bibimbap for delivery?

Most restaurants keep the stone bowl for dine-in and sell a delivery version in a sealed bowl, with the egg and sauce packed to travel well. Make them two separate items with their own names and prices, so the kitchen ticket is never ambiguous.

Which allergens come up most in Korean dishes?

Check every supplier label, but soy, cereals containing gluten (wheat in many soy sauces and pastes), sesame, egg, and fish or crustaceans in some kimchi and sauces are common in Korean recipes. For online orders, the FSA says allergen information must be available before the order is placed and when it is delivered.

Can guests book a table for Korean barbecue?

Yes. Chefzi includes table reservations: a guest requests a table and you confirm it. There is no card deposit on the booking. Dine-in guests can also order by scanning a QR code at the table.

What does Chefzi cost for a Korean restaurant?

Chefzi is £39 a month per location billed annually (£49 if billed monthly) with everything included. Prices exclude VAT. There is no setup fee and no commission on orders.

Sources