Detailed Gluten-Free Restaurant Card — South Korea

Grill it yourself and Korea opens up

Korean food is rice-based, which helps, but soy sauce (ganjang) and gochujang — both usually wheat-containing — run through almost every dish. My anchor meal is Korean BBQ where I grill unmarinated meat myself with a salt and sesame-oil dip, plus plain rice and a custom bibimbap with no gochujang or soy. Seoul’s international districts have a growing gluten-free scene. I carry tamari sachets and this card everywhere.

What’s on the card

• A clear explanation of celiac disease (셀리악병) in Korean, so the kitchen treats it as medical
• What I can’t eat and where gluten hides: ganjang in banchan, marinades, and dipping sauces; naengmyeon noodles that are almost always cut with wheat; fish cake (eomuk) in soups and side dishes
• What’s usually workable: unmarinated samgyeopsal or plain galbi grilled yourself, and bibimbap made without gochujang and without soy sauce — egg, vegetables, sesame oil only
• The kitchen questions — including “Does this contain ganjang or gochujang? Both usually contain wheat” and a clean-grill-grate request

What’s in the travel companion (page 2)

• How I pick restaurants: 글루텐프리 on menus (most common in Itaewon, Hongdae, and Gangnam), grill-it-yourself KBBQ as the most controllable meal, and a caution that temple and vegetarian restaurants still use soy sauce and wheat-based mock meats
• Dishes worth ordering (kimchi — verify no wheat in the paste; grilled fish — verify no soy glaze), shopping notes (San-J tamari at international marts, Schär at expat supermarkets), and the label words to spot: 밀 = wheat, 보리 = barley
• If you get glutened: the yakguk (pharmacy) phrase in Korean, 119 for an ambulance, and the 24/7 English-language Korea Travel Hotline at 1330

The honest certification picture

South Korea has no celiac association and no local gluten-free certification — reading ingredient labels is on you. 글루텐프리 appears on some imported and specialty products, and certified GF goods are mostly imports carrying GFCO or EU marks. In restaurant kitchens, nothing is certified — that’s the gap this card covers, in Korean.

Format

Instant download: 2-page PDF, printable or phone-ready.

This card helps communicate your dietary needs. It does not guarantee a gluten-free meal or eliminate cross-contact risk. Always use your judgment, and when in doubt, do not eat. Not medical advice.