We eat every day, so dining with your Korean friends or talk about Korean food is a great way to engage in a conversation in Korean. This post will talk about how to say, “It’s delicious,” “It’s spicy,” and “It’s not spicy.” in Korean.

My friends enjoy eating Korean food. Some of them think the hotter is the better, especially when they eat 김치 (Kimchi) and 떡볶이 (a spicy rice cake dish), and some are still acquiring a taste for spicy Korean food. Since some of my non-Korean friends can eat spicier food than me, they sometimes like to tease me that I am a fake Korean. We enjoy eating delicious Korean food and sharing a good laugh together.

If you like to eat Korean food or indulging yourself in Korean TV shows, the following simple expressions will become very useful to you.

How can you say, “It’s delicious.” in Korean? 맛  means taste, and 있어요 (the basic verb form is 있다) means to exist/to be in Korean.

• 맛있습니다. (formal)
• 맛있어요. (polite)
• 맛있어. (informal)

How can you say, “It’s very delicious.” in Korean? By adding “아주 (very)” or “많이 (very)” to 맛있어요, you can show even more appreciation for your food.

ex)

• 아주 맛있어요. (polite)
• 많이 맛있어요. (polite)

If you want to sounds like a native, you can also use the Korean slang expression, “끝내줘요,” which means “It is the best/awesome.”

How can you say, “It’s spicy” in Korean?

• 맵습니다 .(formal)
• 매워요. (polite)
• 매워. (informal)

By adding “아주 (very)” ,“많이 (very)”, or “조금 (a little bit)” to the above expressions, you can express the degree of the spiciness.

ex)

• 많이 매워요. (It’s very)
• 아주 매워요. (It’s very)
• 조금 매워요. (It’s a little bit)

If you are like some of my friends who enjoy very spicy Korean food, you can also say,

• 안 매워요. (It’s not spicy.) 맛있어요. (It’s delicious.)
• 안 매워요. (It’s not spicy.) 괜찮아요. (I am okay.)

* Placing a “안” in front of a verb is one of the ways to make a negative sentence in Korean.

I hope you will be able to use the above expressions when you enjoy Korean food with your friends next time.

감사합니다! (Thank you!)

***Related Vocabulary***

1. 김치 (Kimchi)
2. 떡볶이 (a spicy rice cake dish)
3. 맛 (taste)
4. 있어요 (the basic verb form is 있다)
5. 맛있습니다. (It’s delicious.) – formal
6. 맛있어요. (It’s delicious.) – polite
7. 맛있어. (It’s delicious.) – informal
8. 아주 (very)
9. 많이 (very)
10. 조금 (a little bit)
11. 아주 맛있어요. (It’s very delicious.) – polite
12. 많이 맛있어요. (It’s very delicious.) – polite
13. 끝내줘요 (It is the best/awesome.) – polite
14. 맵습니다. (It’s spicy.) – formal
15. 매워요. (It’s spicy.) – polite
16. 매워. (It’s spicy.) – informal
17. 많이 매워요. (It’s very spicy.) – polite
18. 아주 매워요. (It’s very spicy.) – polite
19. 조금 매워요. (It’s a little bit spicy.) – polite
20. 안 매워요. (It’s not spicy.) – polite
21. 맛있어요. (It’s delicious.) – polite
22. 괜찮아요. (I am okay.) – polite