Open-kitchen pork course restaurant near Magok Station: Don Tamguso

Pork casual dining near Magok Station in Seoul

Ahead of the weekend, we wanted a fun date, a cozy course meal to set the mood, so we went looking for a date-night restaurant near Magok Station that serves a variety of dishes centered on pork in an omakase style, and that's how we found this place~

We went to Don Tamguso, a pork casual-dining restaurant. Detailed explanations of every dish, kind and attentive service, delicious pork dishes, and a romantic atmosphere perfect for a date — this restaurant made today's date a success.

Where Don Tamguso is, reservation seatings and seats

Today's restaurant, Don Tamguso, was located not far from Magok Station~

Lunch runs on a 2-seating system and dinner on a 5-seating system, while weekends and holidays run on 3 seatings — good for booking freely at whatever time you want~

Photos of the dishes hung outside let us peek at what was coming, so we walked in full of anticipation~!

It's run as an open kitchen, so it was fun watching the cooking process and browsing the various liquor storage too. Watching the dishes that would soon be ours being cooked right in front of us was really enjoyable~

The restaurant had a variety of seats — table seats where you get to watch each dish being cooked before it's served right to you, and rooms optimized for group dinners and family gatherings. Since watching the cooking process is part of the fun, I'd recommend the seats in front of the kitchen for a couple's date~

What the dinner course at Don Tamguso includes

We visited during dinner hours, so we tried the dinner course~

• Dinner 5.8 × 2

Chestnut mushroom velouté and autumn fruit salad

First came a richly concentrated chestnut mushroom velouté.

The nutty, deep flavor of chestnut and mushroom was well concentrated, and I loved the creamy yet slightly thick texture. The topping on top gave a crispy touch, adding a nice point to the texture~

Next came a refreshing salad combining seasonal autumn fruit, vinegar, dried persimmon, orange, basil, apple, and prosciutto. The sauce was served as a foam, so the tanginess wasn't too sharp — it felt soft, with light yet deep acidity and flavor, which was impressive. With just tart fruit it could have felt like too much tang on tang, but the dried persimmon and other elements added a mellow sweetness that paired beautifully with the vinegar — a really delicious salad~

Shiitake lasagna, shio koji tenderloin and spice-rubbed pork belly

Next came a shiitake mushroom truffle ragu lasagna~ Using shiitake mushrooms instead of lasagna sheets, this lasagna let the mushroom's juicy flavor spread fully through the mouth rather than filling you up with pasta, which made it even more delicious and enjoyable while working through the many courses~ The ragu sauce was richer and more concentrated than the usual, and it was excellent~

Next, flames from the grill caught our eyes and ears~

And soon, today's main dish arrived.

Pork tenderloin aged in shio koji (fermented rice malt salt) came out grilled, along with a tomato salad and German-style sauerkraut.

The tenderloin was bursting with juice and the surface was perfectly seared — truly the ideal grilled tenderloin~ Even though the heat had reached evenly through the meat, it was still moist, and juice burst out with every bite — I really enjoyed it.

The tomato had its skin cleanly removed, and its refreshing, sweet flavor cleanly reset the palate and helped a lot in going back for more tenderloin, which was a joy. The sauerkraut also had a Korean-style reinterpretation, tasting familiar like a homemade pickle with a sweet-and-sour crunch, and it paired perfectly with the grilled pork tenderloin~

Next came the spice-rubbed oven-roasted pork belly. The flashy garnish of fennel, cumin, and Sichuan pepper gave a shifting flavor with every bite, which was fun.

I expected it to taste quite salty, but the seasoning level was just right — enough to bring out a pleasant savoriness without being too salty — and eating it with the minari (water dropwort) salad gave a nutty, refreshing, good flavor~

Choosing between the jambon burger and Wando abalone risotto

For the choice dish, we could pick between the signature burger and the signature risotto. We each ordered one and shared~

First, the signature burger — a delicious-looking burger with the Don Tam brand cutely stamped(?) onto the bun, filled with house-made jambon, carrot rapé, and fennel. The thick house-made jambon was generously packed in, and it paired really well with the carrot rapé, giving a juicy, full jambon flavor that I really enjoyed~

The signature risotto with Wando abalone was...

the fried banpungnamul (glehnia root) was also crispy with a light texture, which was enjoyable

and the chewy abalone paired with the nutty, rich risotto, plus the pop of barley grains gave a fun difference from the usual risotto~

Triple berry panna cotta to finish

To finish, a house-made dessert came out — panna cotta topped with a triple berry compote. The deep milk flavor blended with the fresh tanginess of the triple berries, wrapping up the meal cleanly~ We enjoyed it thoroughly~!

Between the romantic atmosphere and the open kitchen letting us watch the cooking process, enjoying a pork omakase built dish by dish felt sweet and joyful, and getting to try such creative pork dishes made the meal satisfying and the date a success.