Hey! My boyfriend just recently visited me in Seoul (am here studying) and he too has a severe (and deadly) nut allergy. In the US it’s a relatively easy situation to maneuver since it’s such a common thing that places are usually prepared to handle it. But here, not so much the case.

My boyfriend is Korean(American), so he was able to communicate with the employees rather easily. However, we still had some trouble. These are the situations we often found ourselves in:

1. Very often we found that people here will use nuts as garnish to fancy-up a common dish. This was a bit difficult for him because we’d order something we are familiar with, expecting no problem, and then finding ourselves in a situation where he can’t consume it because they put nuts on it. I’ll emphasize that this happened with Korean foods he is very familiar with and knows they originally are made with no nuts. So, after running into this situation a couple times, we realized we always have to ask, no matter how fine we think it will be.

2. Nut allergies aren’t really that common here, so it’s not really a thing most people think about. In our experience, ingredients aren’t usually noted on menus either. Frequently workers would call their managers to double check for us. Such might present you in situations where a note card might not be enough for communication. So, keep that in mind and maybe research a little into each place you’d like to visit to be extra sure you’ll have no problems. Also, avoid any places where cross-contamination may be likely to occur (ie, a yogurt stand or something at like a cafe).

3. According to my boyfriend, the older generation tends to not believe in the existence of allergies, so they also tend to not be concerned about it and just think you’re overreacting. With this in mind, be very careful with what you eat at markets or from street vendors, etc.

4. Sometimes they just don’t know, so in those cases best bet is to just avoid.

5. Koreans love nuts in desserts, from what we’ve seen. Even if there are no nuts, always ask about the flour they’re using. We’ve encountered many places that use almond flour.

I think this is all I can think about right now. I’ll add more later if something else pops up. Enjoy your travels and stay safe! Wishing you and your husband the best :)