5 Best Food Delivery Apps in Korea

There are times when you are too exhausted from a long and stressful day at work to cook by yourself, don’t feel like going out grocery shopping for lunch because it is raining, or simply hate the thought process of deciding what to eat. No worries, Expat Guide Korea has got you covered. South Korea offers a wide range of amazing food delivery apps to choose from, with extensive nation-wide service coverage. The language barrier should no longer stop you from partaking in the joy of the Korean food delivery culture because I have prepared a basic guide to Korea’s best food delivery apps. 

You might also like: Apps You Need for Living in Korea

1. Baedal Minjok (Or Baemin) - 배달의 민족 

Language: Korean only

Area Coverage: Nationwide

Business hours: 24 Hours (Each store has its own operating hours)

Link: iOS / Android (5,000 won discount on first order with referral code PXU00XIS)

Baedal Minjok - or more commonly known as Baemin - is South Korea’s leading and widest-reaching food delivery app loved both by Korean locals and expats. Baemin operates 24 hours a day, allowing you to order breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even midnight snacks. You will be surprised to find the number of restaurants and cafes around your neighborhood registered with Baemin as well as daily-changing coupons you can download on the app, and this is why I have become a heavy user of this particular delivery app. Once you place an order, Baemin gives you ETA and tracks your food in real-time until the rider delivers it to your door. 

In addition to its food delivery service, Baemin recently launched a new service called “B Mart (B 마트).” B Mart is an independent grocery delivery service that delivers a wide range of products, including instant food, snacks, home meal replacements, and even vegetables in around 30 minutes. 

If you are the kind of person who doesn’t mind a three-minute walk, Baemin provides takeaway options, too. By using “Baemin Order (배민 오더),” you can pre-order your meals and drinks at one of your favorite local restaurants and cafes. Once your order goes through, you will receive a notification with an estimated time, and all you have to do is go pick them up at the designated time and you can beat the queue. 

2. Yogiyo - 요기요

Language: Korean only

Area Coverage: Nationwide

Business hours: 24 Hours (Each store has its own operating hours)

Link: iOS / Android

Yogiyo is another leading food delivery app in South Korea, which operates 24 hours a day. Once you’ve set up an account, all you have to do is follow your intuition and decide what you would like to eat. On the Yogiyo app, you will see that products are categorized by food types such as “Chicken,” “Korean Food,” and “Franchise,” easing your decision-making process. If you live by yourself, perhaps you might have a sorrowful experience of trying to reach the minimum order for delivery and giving up eventually because it is just too much for one person. One of the food categories on Yogiyo provides a list of stores that offer single-serving meals for one person, with their minimum order requirements being as low as around 7000 won - 8000 won. As with Baemin, Yogiyo offers coupons that change daily and weekly for all users, so please keep an eye out for them. 

One of the features that distinguishes Yogiyo from its counterparts is its membership called “Super Club (슈퍼클럽).” While you can use Yogiyo for totally free, you can join the Super Club at a monthly fee of 9,900 won. With the membership, you can get 3,000 won off any order you make with Yogiyo: that is, you only need four orders a month on Yogiyo - or one food delivery every week - to get your money’s worth. 

3. Coupang Eats  - 쿠팡이츠

Language: English & Korean 

Area Coverage: Seoul, Yongin-si (Suji-gu, Giheung-gu)

Business hours: 9 am to Midnight (Each store has its operating hours)

Link: iOS / Android (10,000 won coupon with this link)

Perhaps, many of the expats have enjoyed the amazing next-day delivery with Coupang, but did you know that the South Korean e-commerce leader now delivers food to your door too? You can download various coupons on Coupang Eats and see real-time tracking once your food is on the way. The current business hours are between 9 am-midnight, but the customer center stays open until 1 am to deal with any troubles you might experience. 

Launched in mid-2019, Coupang Eats is a latecomer to the industry, and its coverage is still limited mainly to Seoul. However, Coupang Eats has successfully joined the food delivery game by distinguishing itself from the crowd. One of the notable features of Coupang Eats is that its main target customers include both Korean locals and expats. If you tend to experience difficulties with Korean, Coupang Eats is a great and safe place to start learning South Korea’s food delivery culture as the service is available both in Korean and English. Coupang Eats keeps alive its parent company’s tradition of speedy delivery, with the estimated delivery time of its partner restaurants being 20 - 30 minutes on average. Last but by no means least, Coupang Eats is wallet-friendly. While the average delivery fee is as small as 2000 won - 3000 won, it is not hard to find your local restaurants that offer food delivery for free. 

4. Shuttle Delivery - 셔틀

Language: English & Korean 

Area Coverage: Seoul (See Shuttle’s Area Map), Pyeongtaek-si, Busan

Business hours: 11 am to Midnight (Each store has its own operating hours)

Link: iOS / Android

Shuttle Delivery offers another safe bet for expats in South Korea. Shuttle is an English-friendly food delivery business that is designed to help foreigners who tend to have issues with Korean. Unexpected troubles can happen in any food delivery industry - delayed delivery, wrong orders, and accidents just make you feel anxious. But, you can have peace of mind as you will get a phone call from Shuttle’s experienced English-Korean bilingual team in case of such troubles. Shuttle’s food delivery service currently operates from 11 am to midnight. 

Shuttle is still a growing business, and its area coverage in Seoul is currently limited to highly-populated areas, such as Yongsan-gu, Seodaemun-gu, Seocho-gu, Gangnam-gu, Mapo-gu, and Jung-gu. However, the company in recent years has extended the business to include some parts of Gyeonggi Province and Busan, honing in on the further expansion of its network in the future. 

As CEO Jason Boutte expresses, Shuttle seeks to be the best, not the cheapest, by paying close attention to customer experience and satisfaction. Shuttle’s business model is founded on three principles - offering premium value, becoming a trendsetter, and listening to customers. Those ideas have allowed Shuttle to come up with innovative services that make it stand out from the crowd. For instance, Shuttle accepts various modes of payment methods that others don’t, including Bitcoin and US dollars. 

5. Official Apps or Websites of Restaurants 

(McDelivery App - iOS / Android)

(Burger King App - iOS / Android)

Some restaurants have their own apps and websites that you can use to have your meals delivered to your door. Usually, they are mega-franchises that everyone knows, such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, and Lotterria to name a few. Of course, most of these places are registered with the food delivery apps that I introduced above, but using their official apps and websites does have some exclusive benefits.

McDonald’s, for instance, has its own food delivery app called McDelivery (맥딜리버리). While you can use other Korean apps like Baemin and Yogiyo to order products from McDonald’s, McDelivery comes in both Korean and English. Or in the case of Domino’s Pizza, ordering from their official website might give you massive discounts if you, for instance, have a mobile phone plan from a company that is partnered with Domino’s. In my case, my phone plan with KT gives me 20% off any purchase at Domino’s, which is an exclusive benefit you cannot receive on other third-party apps. 

Last Tips - Getting Your Korean Address Right

To get your food delivered to your place, you need to know your address correctly. This sounds odd, but I bet many of the expats who have lived in South Korea long enough have struggled with the Korean address system that has frequently changed in the past few years. 

Generally speaking, a Korean address would look like this: ___ City (시), ___ District (구), ___ Street Name & Number (+ Apartment name and room number if you have one). Knowing your 5-digit postal code comes in handy because typing the number on food delivery apps helps auto-fill most of your address. You can find your postal code by following this link.

For Small Restaurant and Cafe Owners in Korea

Delivery food seems to be the route many restaurants and cafes are headed, considering the current pandemic has taken a significant toll on several types of businesses in Korea. Get in touch with the above-mentioned delivery apps to set up a food and drinks delivery system.