The order of the evening, what to wear, how payment works, what the language barrier looks like in practice, and how to get home.
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Venue licence categories are defined by Korea's Food Sanitation Act (law.go.kr), and the minimum age of 19 comes from the Juvenile Protection Act.
Ask what today's conditions can get you
The prices here are a baseline. Tell us your budget and we will look for a place that fits it.
Send your conditionsYou are shown to a room, drinks and a fruit-and-snack tray arrive, and the bill is settled at the end.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Arriving | You are shown to a room. There is no bar and no queue. |
| The table | Drinks and a fruit-and-snack tray arrive. Table service begins. |
| During | Nothing is settled as you go. Extra bottles are added to the one bill. |
| Extending | Say so before the booked hours run out, not after. |
| Leaving | The bill is presented once, at the end. Card is fine almost everywhere. |
There is no ordering at a bar and no running tab you check as you go. The room is yours for the hours you booked, and everything that arrives during it goes onto one bill at the end.
If you want to stay longer, say so before the booked time runs out rather than after. Extending is normal; extending after the room has been promised to someone else is not always possible.
Shorts and sandals are the usual refusals. Beyond that, most venues are less strict than their reputation.
There is almost no dress code. Avoid shorts and slippers and you are fine; a suit is never required.
A collared shirt and closed shoes will get you into anything on this site. The higher tiers appreciate a jacket without requiring one.
Each type sets its own minimum group and its own rule for staying on. Worth reading before you book rather than after.
| Type | Smallest group | Extending |
|---|---|---|
| Karaoke (가라오케) | Easy to book from two people | If you extend, the hourly TC is charged again per hour. The room-and-drinks charge stays the same unless you open another bottle. |
| Hyper Public (하이퍼블릭) | Two to four people is the usual size | If you extend, the hourly TC is charged again per hour. The room-and-drinks charge stays the same unless you open another bottle. |
| Jjeomo (쩜오) | Mostly small groups of two to four | If you extend, the hourly TC is charged again per hour. The room-and-drinks charge stays the same unless you open another bottle. |
| Ten Cafe (텐카페) | Mostly small groups of two to four | If you extend, the hourly TC is charged again per hour. The room-and-drinks charge stays the same unless you open another bottle. |
| Ten Pro (텐프로) | Used for small business-entertaining parties | If you extend, the hourly TC is charged again per hour. The room-and-drinks charge stays the same unless you open another bottle. |
| Ilpro (일프로) | Used for small business-entertaining parties | If you extend, the hourly TC is charged again per hour. The room-and-drinks charge stays the same unless you open another bottle. |
| Shirt Room (셔츠룸) | Two to four people is common | If you extend, the hourly TC is charged again per hour. The room-and-drinks charge stays the same unless you open another bottle. |
| Public (퍼블릭) | Many venues also take larger groups | If you extend, the hourly TC is charged again per hour. The room-and-drinks charge stays the same unless you open another bottle. |
If it is your first visit, the types with looser group minimums give you more room to change plans.
Card is accepted almost everywhere and the bill is settled once, at the end of the evening.
If the total is not what you expected, ask for it split into its parts. That means the room charge, the hourly fee with the people and hours it covers, any extension, and the service charge. The request is routine and venues are used to it.
Foreign cards work at most venues but not all. If it matters, ask when booking rather than at the end of the night.
Expect little English inside the room. Booking through someone who speaks both is the difference between a smooth evening and a confusing one.
Most venues have no English-speaking staff on shift. This is manageable, since the evening does not require much conversation with staff. What does require it is agreeing the price and the hours in advance, and that is the part worth handling before you arrive.
We take booking questions in English on Telegram and confirm the terms with the venue in Korean before you go.
These are venues that sell drinks, a room and table service. Nothing beyond that is on offer.
Anyone telling you otherwise is either misinformed or trying to sell you something that is not legal here. That is worth knowing before you go rather than after, because the venues themselves are unambiguous about it.
The subway stops around midnight. Taxis are available afterwards but demand outruns supply between one and three in the morning.
| Option | What to know |
|---|---|
| Subway | Stops around midnight. Plan around it rather than hoping. |
| Taxi | Available all night, but hard to find between one and three in Gangnam on weekends. |
| Walking | In Gangnam most hotels are within twenty minutes of the main venue streets. |
| Staying nearby | Booking a room in the same district is often cheaper than the late-night journey out of it. |
Decide this before you start. In Gangnam on a Friday, a taxi at two in the morning can take half an hour to find, and the walk to a hotel is often shorter than the wait.
Friday and Saturday evenings fill early, and the higher tiers are booked rather than walked into.
For a weekend evening, two or three days ahead is comfortable. Midweek, the same day is usually fine. Tell us the district, the number of people, the time and the budget, and we will tell you what is open.
Not always, but on weekends walk-ins are often turned away. For a first visit, book and you will not be left standing at the door.
By card or cash at the end, to the venue directly. Ask for the bill to be split into room, TC, extension and service charge if anything looks off.
Tell us on Telegram or KakaoTalk. We book, brief the venue, and stay reachable while you are there.
Most open around 18:00 and run past midnight; several in Gangnam run until early afternoon the next day. Hours are on each venue card.
Ask what today's conditions can get you
The prices here are a baseline. Tell us your budget and we will look for a place that fits it.
Send your conditions