Restaurant reservations

Want to grab a hot Korean restaurant? A deposit table, a Blue Ribbon spot, or a long lunchtime queue? You’ll hit the same step on every big app: to book or join a waitlist, you have to prove your ID with a Korean phone check (본인인증), and that needs a Korean phone number. Some apps also run only in Korean and take deposits only in Korean money.

Here’s the useful part: for many restaurants you can do it yourself. CatchTable Global lets you sign up with Google, Apple, or email, with no Korean number. Switch the language to English or Chinese, and pay deposits with a foreign card. We name it, link it, and tell you what to watch for: foreign cards only, deposit-refund tiers, same-day booking windows, and alerts that come by email or push instead of KakaoTalk.

The one question that decides everything

First, check this: is your restaurant on CatchTable, or Tabling-only?

• On CatchTable → use CatchTable Global and you can usually do it yourself.
• Tabling-only → there is no Tabling Global app. CatchTable Global won’t cover it, no matter what the listicles say. The only thing you can do on your own is the tablet at the door (type in a foreign number, then tell staff), which is no good for booking ahead.

When doing it yourself stops working (a Tabling-only restaurant, a slot gone in seconds, a deposit card that won’t go through, or a queue run in Korean), Toyoni books, changes, or waitlists it for you. We do it for you and we stand behind it, unlike the grey-market 代排 proxies travelers keep warning each other about.

How do I book restaurants in Seoul with a foreign phone number?

Search the restaurant’s name on CatchTable Global first. It signs you up with Google, Apple, or email, so a foreign phone number is fine, and deposits take a foreign card. If the restaurant runs its queue on Tabling instead, there’s no global app to switch to. Here’s the choice in one table: