A phone reservation: number systems, clarification, and special requests

Read-back: "네, 4월 24일 목요일 여섯 시 반, 다섯 명 맞습니다. 일 인당 삼만 원인 것도 확인했습니다."

Number-system reasoning:

• Date (24일) → Sino-Korean (이십사 일). Dates, money, phone numbers, minutes and addresses all run on Sino-Korean.
• Hour (6시) → native Korean (여섯 시). Native numbers govern counting hours. "육 시" would be understood but marks the speaker as non-native or deliberately official.
• Minutes (30분 or 반) → Sino-Korean (삼십 분). Hence the mixed but entirely normal "여섯 시 삼십 분". "여섯 시 반" is the natural spoken shortcut and shows you caught the colloquial register.
• Headcount → native Korean (다섯 명/다섯 분). Counters 명 and 분 take native numbers for 1-99. 분 is the honourific counter; since one of the five is your host sister and the group includes people you are treating, 분 is warm and safe. Note that in very formal or official announcements ("행사에 오 명 참석"), Sino-Korean appears with 명 - a further reason to prefer 분 here: it is unambiguously right.
• Price → Sino-Korean (삼만 원). Never native with currency.

Judgement: repeating the details back is not a comprehension check on yourself - it is the only reliable check on them. Numbers are the single most common phone-booking failure, and mixing the two systems is the diagnostic that you actually understood rather than guessed.

Clarification first, requests second, in one turn: "죄송한데요, 단체석이 어떤 자리인지 다시 한번 설명해 주시겠어요? 그리고 한 분이 채식을 하는데, 고기나 액젓 없이 가능한 메뉴가 있을까요? 마지막으로 그날이 생일이라 혹시 디저트를 따로 준비할 수 있는지도 여쭤봐도 될까요?"

Design choices:

• "죄송한데요" opens with the apology before the imposition, which licenses the request. "뭐라고요?" or "못 알아들었어요" locates the failure in your listening and stalls the transaction; "다시 한번" locates it in the noise on the line, which is also true here.
• "설명해 주시겠어요" - the -시- marks the staff member as the one who will explain; 주시다 is correct because the favour flows from them to you. 드리다 would be wrong here.
• Bundle the requests. A single turn respects that the staff member is holding a booking screen; three separate calls-back are worse for them.
• "가능한 메뉴가 있을까요?" asks an open question about the menu, not a yes/no about the restaurant's willingness. "채식 메뉴 있어요?" invites "어려울 것 같아요"; the open form invites them to solve the problem.
• 액젓 is named. "채식" alone is ambiguous in Korea - many dishes considered vegetable still use fish sauce or 멸치 육수. Naming the constraint prevents a wrong answer.
• "여쭤봐도 될까요" - humble 여쭤보다, since you are asking an employee but the request benefits a third party.

If they answer 단체석 with a feature you still do not recognise, do not guess: ask "그럼 일반석과 어떻게 다른가요?"

Phrase: "아, 죄송한데 한 가지만 더 여쭤볼게요. 삼만 원에 디저트도 포함된 건가요? 아니면 따로 주문해야 하나요?"

Why this shape:

• ". . . 포함된 건가요?" is a confirmation question (확인 질문), not an information question. It signals that you already believe something and need it checked - which is what you actually need, since "삼만 원이고요" may or may not have settled it.
• Offer the alternative in the same turn ("따로 주문해야 하나요?"). A yes/no question about inclusion can be answered "네" and still leave you unsure. Forcing the second branch onto the table makes a one-word answer informative.
• "한 가지만 더" signals the end of the questions, which is what makes a fourth request acceptable to someone holding a queue.

If the answer is still unclear (e.g. "그건 그날 상황 봐서요"):

• Do not keep pressing on the phone. Confirm what you have ("네, 그러면 그날 다시 여쭤보겠습니다"), and convert the uncertainty into a hedge you control: bring a small cake yourself, or arrive ten minutes early and ask at the counter.
• If the dessert must be pre-ordered, that is a deadline, so ask explicitly: "언제까지 말씀드리면 될까요?" - an unclear answer with no deadline is the real risk, not the missing dessert.

Closing line for the call: "네, 그럼 4월 24일 여섯 시 반, 다섯 명으로 예약 부탁드립니다. 감사합니다. 잘 부탁드립니다." Repeat the numbers once more at the close - this is the sentence the staff member writes down.