"Customer, Spoon Replacement Costs 500 Won" Consumer's Surprise at Hot Place

"500 Won for Spoon Replacement/Addition" Listed on Menu
"Do They Discount 500 Won If You Take a Spoon?" Controversy

A restaurant has appeared that charges 500 won for replacing or adding a spoon. Most netizens responded with disbelief, saying, "If you take my spoon, will you discount the fee?"

On the 22nd, a post titled "A trendy bar these days that even charges for spoon replacement" spread across multiple online communities. The author, Mr. A, shared that he recently visited a restaurant in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, saying, "It had been a while since I last went, but the menu had changed, and there was no flexibility."

[Image=Online Community]

Mr. A first expressed discomfort at the 'hot place' restaurant. He wrote, "Two people came in 30 minutes before the kitchen closed, but they were seated in the middle of a long table, even though there were remaining seats, because 'someone else might come to the three-person table.' It was basically like sharing a table with the next table."

He continued, "What was most shocking was that they charged extra for forks and spoons," adding, "It felt strange because it kept happening repeatedly." Along with this, he posted a photo of the restaurant menu that stated 'Spoon replacement/addition 500 won.'

Netizens who saw this reacted with comments such as, "If you drop it four times by mistake, do you get charged an extra 2,000 won?", "If I bring my own spoon, will they discount 500 won?", and "Will they start charging for restroom use too?"

Additionally, recently in the food service industry, places demanding 'tips' have been increasing. On the 18th, a post on an online community claimed, "A cafe in Yeonnam-dong started asking for tips," saying, "'Would you like to tip the hardworking staff?' they asked, then showed a tablet PC with options for 5%, 7%, and 10% tips."

Tip box placed in a domestic restaurant [Photo source=Online community archive]

There was also a sighting that a famous domestic bakery had a 'tip box' containing cash at the counter. As negative public opinion grew, the bakery stated, "Tip boxes were placed at each franchise store for display purposes," and "We removed all of them to avoid misunderstandings."

Furthermore, on social networking services (SNS), posts widely circulated that in a hair salon in Gangnam, Seoul, it has become a trend for customers to offer bread, desserts, and other items to hair designers as a gesture for good service.

However, consumer reactions to such additional charges are generally negative. Unlike the United States, where food prices and service charges are separated, in Korea, service charges are included in the food price under the Food Sanitation Act, leading to evaluations that requesting tips is inappropriate.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.