Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cdninkorea]

I was at an Italian restaurant in Itaewon tonight- I don't remember the name of it, but it's down the street from Hard Rock Cafe on your left, above Kraze Burger and a French restaurant. Spy Club is in the basement and Hollywood Grille is above it.

Anyway, the food was really good and the service was nothing short of superlative. The whole experience was so good that I debated with myself whether to tip or not; on the one hand, tipping isn't customary in Korea. On the other hand, it was Itaewon, and the restaurant is owned by Italians, not Koreans. Are tips customary in Italy? Is Itaewon a special case when it comes to tips?

Do you tip at restaurants in Itaewon?

[tzechuk]

Actually, tipping does take place in Korea by Koreans - my ex-brother in law always tipped when he lived in Korea.

I don't tip restaurant, but I do tip hotel folks when they carry my bags up to the room...

[bassexpander]

Yet another tipping thread.

[Hyeon Een]

Hmm.

I want to go with "No"

I'm a regular at what must be the best Bulgarian restaurant in Korea (Zelen), and when I say that I should qualify it by saying that is also possibly the best restaurant in Korea when one considers value-for-money. I don't tip there. Since my waiters are usually young white Bulgarian guys maybe they want a tip. I'd want one if I was them. But I don't give them because I'm Koreanized. Tips are for Europe and North America. Nowhere else.

[cdninkorea]

[richardlang]

I second Zelen in Itaewon.

[Janny]

I used to always tip in Korea when the service was good. Then twice I got this strange look...kind of a condescending, laughy, "are you nuts" look. So I don't tip anymore.

...unless someone has really gone out of their way. Then I think they're probably doing it because I'm a foreigner and they know foreigners to tip. They get the money, and I'm happy to give it. They deserve it, whatever their intentions were.

I for one LIKE the idea of tipping. It motivates servers to do a good job.

[scorpiocandy]

My adult students also don't tip or even know much about tipping.

When I try to tip some will take it (even expect it) and others will refuse.
I've come to the conclusion that people who work in areas with a higher concentration of foreigners (especially military) will just take the tip and not think about it.

Whereas if they deal mostly with Koreans and non-military foreigners who actually know that tipping isn't the done thing here, the tip is a werid thing.

[Xuanzang]

I wouldn`t tip when the meal itself is a pretty penny and there`s a 10% VAT on top.

[frankly speaking]

Tipping to me is like making beggars out of people. Why should your salary be based on what someone decides to give you. I think that if they get an hourly wage, then don't tip.

When I first came to Korea, I tipped someone and they actually got upset. The explained that tipping is somewhat like saying here is the last won you'll get from me. I don't know if that is entirely true but that was what I was told. occasionally I will tip a taxi driver but that is only when it is a few hundred won and I don't want to wait for him to fumble to find the coins.

I have never fully understood the custom of tipping in the first place. Why does the waiter get a tip and not the cook or the dishwasher? I know someone that is a waitress and makes 50,000 USD a year and the cook at t he same place works even more hours and makes only about 30,000. I don't quite understand it.

[itaewonguy]

[quote="cdninkorea"]was Itaewon, and the restaurant is owned by Italians, not Koreans. Are tips customary in Italy? quote]

the restaurant you went to is named LA TAVOLA
use to be called ANTONIOS..


and no in Italy people don't tip...

are you sure the restaurant is owned by Italians? I thought it was owned by koreans.. maybe it was sold recently..

[pentheus]

[thurst]

it's my understanding that europeans don't tip, so the fact that it's an italian restaurant shouldn't make you feel bad. and realistically the only reason tipping is necessary in america is bcuz waiters' get paid slave wages on the hour, i'm assuming that's not the case here so there's no reason to tip.

[morrisonhotel]

Let me correct the above posts, if I may. Europeans do tip, but it isn't the culture as it is in the US/Canada. A small tip, 10% or 12%, is more than adequate.

[Triban]

There is already a 10% VAT on top, so why tip more?