Lunch for 27 Came to 600,000 Won. The Diner Who Paid Never Gave a Name.

On Oct. 15, a group of 27 people sat down for lunch at a large barbecue restaurant in Incheon, South Korea. When it was time to pay, a customer who had already left had settled the whole bill and had added seven servings of beef tartare to the order.²³

The group was made up of users and staff of the Jemulpo-gu Hanmaum Community Welfare Center, including people with disabilities. The diner never gave a name, so the center had no way to thank them.²⁵

A city tour with a lunch stop

The group was on an Incheon City Tour of the Cheongna area. Their stops included the Dream Park wildflower garden at the Sudokwon landfill site and Cheongna Lake Park, and then lunch at a barbecue restaurant in Incheon’s Seo-gu district.²³⁵

A bill that was already paid

A restaurant employee told the volunteer accompanying the group that a customer who had just left had paid for the whole meal.²⁴

The group’s own meal came to 410,000 won (about $290). The stranger also added 190,000 won (about $130) worth of raw beef, the seven servings of beef tartare, bringing the total to 600,000 won (about $420).²³⁴

All the staff were told was that the person wanted to do something meaningful after seeing a group from a welfare facility eating together.²⁴

According to reports, the restaurant owner said the stranger came in from time to time, and the restaurant gave the diner a bottle of wine as thanks. Good News Network reports the owner had also already discounted the group’s bill.¹⁶

Looking for someone to thank

The volunteer who accompanied the group, Kim Gwan-taek (52, according to Korean reports), described the day this way in Yonhap’s report, as carried by Seoul Economic Daily:²³⁵

“It was a warm experience I will never forget.”

Kim also said, as Good News Network reported, “What we received was not just a meal.”¹

Yonhap News Agency first reported the story on Oct. 19. Seoul Economic Daily, SBS, JKN and Incheon-in then picked it up.²³⁵

The diner has not been identified. Good News Network quoted Kim as saying:¹

“I hope the gratitude of all 27 of us reaches that person.”