Catch Table Deposit & Cancellation Policy: Will You Get Refunded?

What the Catch Table deposit actually is

Not every booking on Catch Table Global asks for money upfront. Deposits only apply at reservation-only restaurants: fine-dining spots, tasting-menu places, and the kind of Michelin or "black and white chef" restaurants that get flooded with no-shows. On the app it's usually labeled as a deposit or reservation fee. In Korean it's called 예약금 (yeyakgeum).

The point is simple. It stops 노쇼 (no-show), a real problem for small restaurants that hold a table and then watch the guest never arrive. If you're still deciding how to book at all, How to Book Restaurants in Korea: Catch Table, Naver, Walk-Ins covers the setup basics. This guide only covers what happens to your money after you've booked.

How much a restaurant can hold

Each restaurant sets its own deposit amount. There's no single published cap from Catch Table itself, so the figure swings a lot by venue: a casual tasting counter might hold a flat ₩10,000-20,000 per seat, while a multi-course fine-dining table can ask for far more. Treat any specific percentage you see quoted online as a rough guide, not a rule. The exact amount always shows on the booking screen before you confirm and pay, and that number is the only one that matters for your reservation.

At most places the deposit is deducted from your final bill when you show up and eat. It isn't an extra charge on top of the meal. Some restaurants instead refund the deposit separately after your visit rather than folding it into the bill. Check which method a restaurant uses if the receipt math looks off.

The cancellation deadline: two different clocks

This is the part that trips up foreign diners most, because the deadline isn't the same everywhere. As of this writing, Catch Table's structure splits into two broad tiers:

• Reservation-based restaurants (the fine-dining, course-menu type that actually requires the deposit): full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours before your seated time.
• General restaurants: full refund if you cancel at least 1 hour before your seated time.

Miss that window and the refund shrinks or disappears, depending on the restaurant's own tiered policy shown at booking. Policies like this get revised, so don't assume the numbers above are frozen. Open the app and read the specific restaurant's cancellation terms before you pay. It's the only document that actually controls what you get back.

What happens on a no-show

Simple: the deposit is forfeited. No exceptions built into the system for forgetting, missing a subway transfer, or a change of plans discovered too late. If you know you can't make it, cancel the moment you know. Even a cancellation inside the penalty window sometimes recovers a partial refund. A flat no-show recovers nothing.

Will the refund actually land on a foreign card

Yes, in nearly every case that follows the rules above, but it isn't instant. Refunds to foreign-issued cards typically post in 3 to 5 business days. That's the window most diners report, and it lines up with what Korean payment processors generally quote for cross-border card refunds.

A few things slow it down further. Weekends and Korean public holidays don't count as business days, so a Friday cancellation might not show movement until the following week. Your card may also show the refund as a new credit line rather than a reversal of the original charge. Don't expect the original transaction to vanish from your statement; look for a separate "refund" or "credit" entry instead. If your bank applies dynamic currency conversion, the refunded amount in your home currency can differ slightly from what was originally charged, since exchange rates move between the charge and the credit.

If more than a week passes with nothing showing, don't wait it out. Check the reservation's status inside the app first, then contact Catch Table's support through the app if the cancellation shows processed but no refund posted. Keep the in-app cancellation confirmation screenshot. It's the proof you'll need if your bank asks for a transaction reference.

How to cancel a Catch Table booking

1. Open the app and go to your reservation under "My Reservations" (or the equivalent tab).
2. Tap the booking you need to cancel.
3. Select the cancel option and confirm. The app shows the applicable refund amount before you finalize it, based on how close you are to the deadline.
4. Save the confirmation screen. It shows the timestamp of your cancellation, which is what determines your refund tier if a dispute comes up later.

Do this from a connected phone, not from memory of the restaurant's rules. If you're relying on hotel Wi-Fi and about to head out for the day, grab a Korea eSIM before you leave so you can cancel the moment plans change, not two hours later when you're back near a router. A missed deadline by minutes is still a missed deadline.

Reading the fine print before you pay

Every restaurant's specific terms sit on the booking screen, and they override anything general written here. Some fine-dining restaurants require full pre-payment rather than a partial deposit, with correspondingly stricter cancellation windows, sometimes 48 or 72 hours. If you want the wider picture on card acceptance and fees in Korea, How to Pay in Korea as a Tourist: Cards, Cash and Apps is worth a read before your trip.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and JCB all work for Catch Table deposits as a foreign visitor. If yours gets declined at checkout, it's more often a bank's fraud flag on an unfamiliar overseas merchant than a Catch Table problem. A quick call to your card issuer usually clears it.