Food is essential for sustenance and reflects a country’s identity, making it crucial to identify the cultural needs for effectively localizing Korean food. This study surveyed 825 adults from four continents (eight countries) to examine their preferences, familiarity, and attitudes toward Korean food. Significant correlations(p< .001) were found between the familiarity and preference for Korean food, with variations observed across continents. Among the representative Korean food items, the average preference score was 4.67, and the purchase/recommendation intention score was 4.88. Seven items received above-average ratings (e.g., gogi-deopbap and kimchi-bokkeumbap), while some items showed high liking but low purchase/recommendation intention (e.g. dak-jjim and galbi-jjim). In addition, items such as gimbap and tteokbokki had high purchase/recommendation intention but low liking, and kimchi and vegetable foods etc. received low liking and purchase/recommendation intentions. In terms of the preferred meat according to the cooking method and seasoning, beef respondents preferred grilled · stir-fried and soup·stew·hot pot cooking methods, while pork or chicken respondents preferred grilled · stir-fried and frying methods. Soy sauce was the most preferred seasoning for all meat responses, followed by red pepper paste. These research findings provide fundamental data for developing Korean food products, segmented by continent.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the sensory properties and consumer preference of Korean menu for different cooking water. Mineral water (MW) and bottled water (BW) were used as cooking water. Sensory attributes were derived by qualitative evaluation, and preference tests were conducted using the duo-trio test and 9 point likert scale. Mechanic properties were also evaluated. For the sensory attribute, properties such as tough, greasy, glossy, salty were derived when cooked with MW. For consumer preference, overall taste, aftertaste, and degree of sticky of bap were significantly higher in MW than in BW (p<0.05). The preference for the rich flavor of sagol broth (p<0.05) was significantly higher in MW than in BW. Preference for taste and flavor of omija-hwachae was higher than BW (p<0.01). In the mechanical properties test, food material boiled with MW showed higher property for cohesiveness and gumminess (p<0.05). In conclusion, cooking water with high calcium and magnesium content has been evaluated to enhance the palatability of Korean menus such as bap and sagol broth, and thus it is considered that various Korean menus can be applied. This suggests that dietary calcium and magnesium intake can be increased by using cooking water with a high calcium and magnesium content.

Tis study was an attempt to systematically analyze the characteristics of modern Korean food styling using the menu image photos of the Michelin Guide Seoul 2020 restaurants. The first sampling was conducted on the 27th of March 2020 and the second on the 27th of October 2020. A collection of images on the web and 442 photographic cases obtained by a search through theoretical background literature and research papers were studied by a qualitative analysis method. First, the food styling contents were analyzed and based on that, the food styling characteristics of the menus of 11 restaurants in Korea including the contemporary restaurants were considered. The analysis revealed several aspects of Korean food styling. First, food styling appeared to have three major characteristics: color, shape, and container styling. Color styling was further subdivided into single color/similar color, color contrast, source type, and accent color type. The shape/formative styling was classified into figure type, shape type, accessory type, and garnish type, and container styling was categorized as container color type, container shape type, and container material type. Second, the modern Korean food color styling characteristics of Michelin restaurants were categorized in the order of monochromatic/similar type, sauce type, accent color type, and color contrast. In the formative styling category, it was categorized in the order of shape type, small piece type, garnish/garnish type, and figure type. In container styling, container material type and formative type accounted for the major portion of the category. The food styling characteristics of the modern Korean menu were systematized and image examples were presented visually. Please use it as food styling educational material or personal food styling skill.

The purpose of this study is an application of Lee’s Menu Engineering (LME) method for menu analysis on the eight kinds of pizza selected from 17 kinds of pizza served by an Italian restaurant near by the Keimyung College University campus. The eliminated nine items were in the third quadrant or below the trend line. The LME method is more efficient than generally used methods such as the Miller, Kasavana & Smith, Uman, Pavesic and Merricks & Jones method. The LME method comprises reference lines and four quadrants created by x, y axes and its average values. The x and y axes comprise the sales ratio (MM%, percentage of the Menu Mix) and the weighted contribution margin (WCM%, percentage of the Weighted Contribution Margin) respectively. The obtained results are such that total sales increased by 1.59% from 58,747,200 won to 59,684,000 won, despite the decrease in sales volume. Total contribution margin also increased from 35,248,320 won to 35,810,400 won. The trend line also shows from y=0.9147x (R2=0.703) to y=0.9944x (R2=0.9893). These results indicate that the LME method is superior in practical applications.

Low sodium (1,300 mg) containing menu items and recipes applicable to institutional food services were developed while maintaining taste and nutrition contents. These developed recipes were used in a total of 258 dish items, including 39 onedish meals, 43 guk or jjigae (soups or pot stews), 59 meat or fish side-dishes, 94 vegetable side-dishes, 9 jeons (pan-fried dishes), and 14 kimchis or pickles. A total of 90 menu items using 258 dishes were categorized into one-dish menu items or Korean dining table-setting items. They were re-sorted to soup or pot stew containing or not containing items. The protein content was significantly higher in one-dish menus than in Korean dining table-setting menus (p<0.05), whereas the energy, carbohydrates, lipids, and sodium did not differ significantly between them. Menus including guk showed no significant differences in energy, carbohydrates, lipids, or sodium when compared with menus not including guk. For practical application of these developed low sodium menu items for institutional food services, education manuals for nutrition should be developed, and networks among governmental agencies, institutional food services and research institutions should be established.

In the context of Sunday brunch evaluation, this research found that US participants perceived a menu price with 15% customary tipping as less expensive than the same price with a 15% mandatory service gratuity. In addition, they expressed greater intent to patronize a restaurant when it is under voluntary tipping than when it is under a corresponding mandatory service gratuity. More importantly, the results showed that participants’ use of surcharge information and perceived surcharge fairness acted in parallel and with similar strengths as mediators of the relationship between surcharge policy and menu price perception. However, the relationship between surcharge policy and patronage intent was fully mediated by participants’ perceived surcharge fairness. The findings of the present research have important implications for the US food service industry as a growing number of restaurants have adopted mandatory service gratuity in place of voluntary tipping in recent years. Although the decision to switch to mandatory service gratuity is mostly driven by concerns about internal customers such as employee compensation, this research suggests that it may have a negative impact on external customers in terms of menu price perception and patronage intent. Consequently, restaurants, especially those targeting price-sensitive clientele, should think twice before jumping on the mandatory gratuity bandwagon.

The Korean buffet restaurant, which was developed by combining the Korean food and a buffet, allows a large menu to be enjoyed at a reasonable price and has become popular with men and women, young and old, and become a new type of eating out. This study examined the effects of the waiting time management and menu quality on the customer satisfaction and re-visit intention in a Korean buffet restaurant to help quality improvement and development of Korean buffet restaurants. The customer satisfaction and re-visit intention only had a significant effect on the staff attitude toward waiting time. Hygiene, sensory factor, and variety of menu quality were significantly related to customer satisfaction and revisit intention, respectively. In addition, satisfaction with food and service had a significant effect on the re-visit intention and customer satisfaction. Therefore, it is important to establish a virtuous cycle structure that will improve the re-visit intention by satisfying customers through waiting time management and menu quality for the development of Korean buffet restaurants.

Despite growing interest in Korean foods, South-east Asian consumers’ perception and acceptance of Korean foods have not been well elucidated. This study was conducted to understand South-east Asian Muslim consumers’ perception and acceptance of Korean foods and the association with their food neophobia level. Ninety-three Muslim consumers (mean ages 25.2, men 35.5%, women 64.5%) from Malaysia (72%), Indonesia (16.1%), and Singapore (11.9%) rated their degree of food neophobia as well as recognition and acceptance of representative Korean menu items. Background data such as duration of stay and Korean food consumption habits were collected. Overall, participants perceived Korean foods positively (4.04 on a 5-point hedonic scale). Most well-recognized Korean foods were gimbap and bulgogi, whereas less-known spicy foods such as ojingoe deopbap were most liked among items that were actually consumed. A neophobic group rated Korean foods less favorably than neutral and neophilic groups (p<0.05). Future studies are required to identify whether or not South-east Asian Muslim consumers’ food neophobia is formed under the influence of religious regulations or reflect individual consumers’ personal traits.

Obesity has become a major health concern among the public, and menu labeling was mandated in many countries several years ago as an intervention to reduce obesity. Although the pursuit of healthy foods is apparent, research indicates that majority of restaurant customers do not use nutritional information for menu selection. The present study investigated customer attitudes and behaviors regarding menu labeling; specifically, the relationships among customer motivation, attitudes, menu label use, and healthy menu selection. Data were collected from a survey of 509 restaurant customers in South Korea. The findings indicated a positive effect of motivation on attitudes, menu label use, and healthy menu selection, respectively. Attitudes also positively influenced menu label use and healthy menu selection. Regarding the relationships among the variables in the proposed model, the strongest relationship was found between menu label use and healthy menu selection. In addition, attitudes serve as a mediator in the relationships between motivation and menu label use, and between motivation and healthy menu selection. Menu labeling use also mediates between attitudes and healthy menu selection. These findings can help governments or industries improve customer use of menu labels and therefore help reduce public obesity. This study is valuable in that it investigates restaurant customer use of menu labels since the menu labeling initiatives were mandated several years ago. It is academically important in that it examines various customer attitudinal and behavioral variables together regarding menu labeling.

The past decades showed an increase in the number of meals consumed away from home. Restaurants could therefore play a pivotal role in improve diet quality by offering healthier food on their menus (Glanz and Hoelscher, 2004). One of the instruments that restaurants can use to increase healthier food intake is by making use of portion size. When people are served larger portions, they eat more (Steenhuis & Vermeer, 2009). In this study, we investigate the effectiveness of increased portion sizes of vegetables and lower portion sizes of meat (or fish) in a restaurant setting. Three restaurant locations from a restaurant chain in the Netherlands were selected for a field experiment. A cross-over design was used in which each restaurant was randomly assigned to a sequence of two conditions (i.e., intervention and control condition). In the intervention period, portion sizes of vegetables on plates were doubled (150 grams versus 75 grams) and portion sizes of meat and fish were cut on average with 12.5%. Consumption was calculated by subtracting the residues from the plates from the average served amount. Additionally, p3rticipants received a questionnaire in which a number of questions were asked, i.a., about their satisfaction with the meal and restaurant. In total, 536 participants in the control condition and 470 participants in the experimental condition were obtained. Vegetable consumption was higher in intervention weeks (M = 115.5 grams) than in control weeks (M = 61.7 grams; p < .001). Meat consumption was lower in intervention weeks (M = 183.1 grams) as compared to control weeks (M = 211.1 grams; p < .001). Finally, satisfaction with the restaurant visit did not differ between intervention weeks (M = 4.27) and control weeks (M = 4.35; p > .05). The results are robust given that we found the same effects across the three restaurants. An important implication of this study is that portion sizes could indeed be used as an effective instrument in stimulating healthy consumption behavior without affecting customer’s satisfaction.

This study aimed to identify the effects of health-related menu choice attributes on customer behavioral intentions at wellbeing restaurants and analyze the moderating effects of food involvement and trust, which can influence customer preference and their intentions to visit well-being restaurants. This study designed a survey, and 351 respondents who have eaten at well-being restaurants completed the questionnaire. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to identify underlying dimensions related to health-related menu choice attributes, food involvement, and customer behavioral intentions toward well-being restaurants. The three factors regarding health-related menu choice attributes and the three factors related to food involvement were identified. In order to test the relationships between health-related menu choice attributes and behavioral intentions as well as to investigate the moderating effects of food involvement and trust, hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Results indicated that the three factors of health-related menu choice attributes were significantly and positively related to behavioral intentions. Among food involvement factors, dining environment and cooking were significantly related to behavioral intentions toward well-being restaurants. Trust had a significant influence on behavioral intentions. Results showed that food involvement and trust could moderate the effects of health-related menu choice attributes on behavioral intentions toward well-being restaurants.

Restaurants implement menu labeling to provide nutritional information to customers in an attempt to help customers select healthy menu items. Considering the increase in food-away-from-home consumption, the purpose of this study was to identify motivators and barriers in restaurant customers regarding use of menu labeling. Data were collected from a survey on restaurant customers in Seoul, Korea. The findings of this study indicate that customers used menu labeling for health reasons. However, barriers to using menu labeling were identified as small font size, difficulty in locating nutritional information display, and difficulty in interpreting nutritional information. In addition, they also suggested expanding the scope of menu labeling for restaurants by including chain restaurants with less than 100 units. The findings of this study offer strategies for the government to improve menu labeling practices for customers.

This study aimed to develop a new commercialization model for theindustrialization of head family food as a gentry families' complex food culture product. We tried to develop a head family food and propose a city sightseeing style's head family product by interviews with 'Hakindang' as the center, the head house of the Suwon Baek clan, and Injaegong group in Jeonjoo. Hakindang (in Jeonju) was confirmed as an improved model Korean-style house in the enlightenment period and the twentieth style modern head family as emerging capitalist. Hakindangsupported independence war funds in the Japanese colonial era and was widely known as gate of filial piety in Jeonju. Representative seasonal foods of Hakindang include pan-fried sweet rice cake with flower petals in the spring, hot spicy meat stew and polypus variabilis in summer, hanchae in autumn, and napa cabbage kimchi with salted flatfish seafood in the winter. When parents-in-law had a birthday, there were party noodles, sliced abalone stuffed with pine nuts, brass chafing dish, fish eggs, slices of blilde meat, and matnaji. Daily, there were mainly salted seafood, slices of raw fish, grilled short rib patties, braised fish, baked fish, syruped chestnut, grilled deodeok root, bean sprouts, radish preserved with salt, dongchimi, soy sauce-marinated horseshoe crab, butterbur, perilla seed stew, salted clams, raw bamboo shoot, agar, fried kelp, etc. The most basic virtue of the head family is filial duty, and they developed mosim dining as a representative food of Hakingdang's head family. The mosim menu is composed of 65% carbohydrates, 20% protein, and 15% fat because it is table for parents-in-law like more than 75 years old. The sensory evaluation showed a chewy texture that is easily swallowed.

The purpose of this study was to analyze Hanwoo usage in restaurants and to develop menus of lean cut Hanwoo. Restaurant served customers Hanwoo menus, with the exception of broiled or roasted meat, mainly to provide various menus to customers (4.14), due to customer needs (3.87) and utilizing stocks (3.59). On the other hand, the reason for not providing Hanwoo menus, with the exception of broiled or roasted meat was manpower shortage (3.63), lack of popularity (3.58), low profit (3.29), preservation of Hanwoos’ original flavors (3.28) and complex cooking methods (3.22). Concomitantly, the restaurant owners’ intentions to apply new menus with lean cut Hanwoo was 73.4%, showing an interest in developing new menus and recipes using lean cut Hanwoo suitable to the changing owner awareness of customer health and trends. This study has established a standard for developing cooking methods and developed menus according to classified recipes for lean cut Hanwoo, based on the survey of restaurants' current status of using Hanwoo and the owners' opinions. 20 menus using lean cut Hanwoo (rump or shank) were developed by 1st and 2nd cooking experiments, and in-depth interview of experts-groups. Of these, 12 menus suitable for the restaurant were finally selected based on the results of consumer's evaluation using JARS. Structured recipe flow diagram and recipe instructions were developed for future semi-processed or processing foods. Diverse recipe methods using lean cut Hanwoo were obtained from the study, however aggressive public relations work is required for promoting the developed menus.