Want to book a Korean restaurant on CatchTable but you have no Korean phone number?

Want a hard-to-get Seoul restaurant on CatchTable but the app won’t even let you sign up? This is the most common thing that stops foreigners from booking a table in Korea. The good part: there are two CatchTable apps, and which one you downloaded decides whether you can do it on your own.

What stops you

The Korean CatchTable (캐치테이블, app.catchtable.co.kr) is a Korean-only app made for locals. To sign up and use it, you have to do 휴대전화번호 본인인증 (Korea checks your real ID through a Korean phone), which pulls your CI/DI, birthdate, and 내/외국인여부 (whether you’re Korean or foreign). That’s 본인인증, and to do it you need a Korean phone number in your name. On top of that the whole app is in Korean only. Short-term visitors can’t finish it. Residents can only finish it once an ARC is linked to a Korean line.

There’s no region lock here and no phone call to make. The one thing in the way is the ID check on the Korean app.

Try CatchTable Global first

For restaurants that joined, CatchTable Global (listed as “CATCHTABLE: Book Restaurants” on iOS/Android) skips the phone, the ID check, and the Korean-only screens:

• Sign up with Google, Apple, or email. No Korean phone number needed.
• Switch the app to English or Chinese from the top corner.
• Pay restaurant deposits with a foreign card.

For listed restaurants, Global bookings usually go through fine. But know these things before you count on it:

• The deposit step takes foreign cards. Global is built for foreign cards. If one card gets rejected at the deposit, try a second card brand before you decide the booking failed.
• Deposit refund rules are strict. Usually you get a full refund if you cancel two days out, a partial refund one day out, and nothing same-day or for a no-show. Check the restaurant’s own terms before you pay.
• Some hot tables open same-day in a short window. They can open at a set time (say a 9am same-day waitlist, or monthly slots that open on the 1st), and they sell out fast.
• Set up your alerts. CatchTable sends alerts through KakaoTalk by default. If you don’t have it, turn on in-app push and leave a working email so confirmations and waitlist calls reach you.
• Not every restaurant is on Global. It only shows restaurants that joined, so some spots and time slots live only on the Korean app.

To search by restaurant name and find Tabling-only places, see the dining guide.

When doing it yourself won’t work

Get someone to do it for you (a Korean friend you trust, or Toyoni) when:

• the restaurant or time slot is only on the Korean app, not on Global;
• it’s a hot slot that opens and sells out in seconds (a timed same-day waitlist or a monthly release you need grabbed the second it opens);
• the deposit step rejects your foreign card and no card clears;
• you need to change, cancel, or manage a waitlist on a Korean-only screen.

For the waitlist apps that hit the same wall, see Tabling.

How Toyoni helps

We check whether your restaurant is on CatchTable Global and tell you the right app to use. When Global can’t cover it (the table is only on the Korean app, the slot sells out in seconds, or the deposit won’t clear), we book, change, cancel, or join the waitlist for you and send you the confirmation as proof. It’s the safe, checked way instead of grey-market proxy booking: you get a real booking, not a gamble.