Banchan is actually one of the key reason why I enjoy Korean food.
To be honest, not many people I know that dislike it.
Most people I know goes crazy when they see loads of different variety of small portion dishes served in front of us.
To me, this is like a mini version of the Manchu Han Imperial Feast.
It’s especially happy to see the table filled with food, and it is most interesting when you never know what will be served as it really depends on what the restaurant made for the day.
Banchan are normally served in the middle of the table before the main course come and are meant for sharing.
They are served according to number of 3 cheop, 5 cheop, 7 cheop, 9 cheop or 12 cheop, with cheop referring to the small side dishes.
For most of the Korean BBQ restaurant that I visited, they normally serve me with 7 or 9 cheop, while those single meal diner would normally serve 3 cheop. Apparently the more cheop served, the more luxury or higher class the cuisine is.
😊 I guess now I know if the restaurant is high class or not looking at the number of Banchan dish served.