Private room Korean grill restaurant in Mapo, Seoul: Usu

My boyfriend and I visited Usu (우수) while looking for somewhere to have dinner and talk quietly for our 500-day anniversary. I liked that every seat was in a separate room, and we ordered the 90g Dinner B Course.

How do you get there from Gongdeok Station, and is parking available?

Usu is on B2 of the Lotte Castle President Shopping Arcade at 109 Mapo-daero. It is connected to Exit 2 of Gongdeok Station, which made it convenient to reach by public transit. At the time of my visit, I was told parking was free for three hours with no limit on the number of vehicles. Corkage was also free.

Is it a quiet space for an anniversary dinner?

Every seat is in a private room, so I liked being separated from the other tables. I thought it would suit anniversary visits like ours, as well as family gatherings or formal meetings between families where there is a lot to talk about.

Before entering our room, I could see the open kitchen. Seeing the cooking space out in the open gave me a sense of trust.

Inside, there was a display case with ingredients used in the course, along with a fairly large wine cellar. I also liked the wine selection.

What does the Dinner B Course begin with?

We ordered the 90g Dinner B Course. Before the food arrived, they showed us the ingredients that would be used for our meal in a display case.

The first dish was u-gye jinjuk, a thick porridge made with Korean beef bone and chicken broth. It included scorched rice, a green-onion crust, shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, and white wood-ear mushrooms. The rich broth and soft texture made for an easy start.

When I noted in the reservation details that we were visiting for our 500-day anniversary, we each received a glass of sparkling wine that day. It was not sweet, so it went well with the food.

Next came three bite-sized dishes. Each had different ingredients and combinations, which made trying them one by one enjoyable.

The first, a bulgogi sandwich, paired brioche with Korean beef bulgogi, mushroom duxelles, and truffle cream cheese sauce. It combined the familiar flavor of bulgogi with something different and melted softly in my mouth.

The second was brick pastry filled with grilled scallop, aburaga, apple, onion, and lily bulb cream sauce, topped with gamtae powder. This was also soft, and I wished I could have had a larger portion.

The third was a gimbugak (crispy fried seaweed rice cracker) topped with fried abalone-innard rice and sweet shrimp, finished with yuzu sauce. I liked all three enough to wish they did not come only one piece at a time.

Which pre-main-course dishes stood out?

A shiitake mushroom and zucchini dish followed. I do not usually like shiitake mushrooms, but this one had a strong shrimp flavor and reminded me of menbosha (fried shrimp toast), so I enjoyed it. I especially liked the peanut tofu sauce with chamnamul oil.

The yukhoe gamtae included fried scorched rice, chorogi pickle, house-made aioli, and a cured egg. It was fun to roll it in gamtae, and I found it flavorful without any fishiness.

At the time of my visit, the tilefish dish was served at dinner but not in the lunch course. Grilled tilefish and mullet roe were placed over barley and chamnamul rice, then covered with neungi mushroom broth. The plate was warmed too, so I could eat it hot.

Tteokgalbi (Korean grilled beef patty) was also served only at dinner at the time. The tender patty came with celeriac purée, shiitake duxelles, white balsamic sauce, basil oil, and crushed pistachios. I liked how the different textures and flavors came together.

Just before the main course came jeonbok osaek chijamyeon, abalone five-color gardenia noodles. I mixed black-sesame julienned radish, bracken fern, shiitake mushrooms, seasoned chamnamul, perilla leaf, and abalone with gamtae dressing and mustard-garlic sauce. I especially liked the bright flavor and the combination of vegetables and sauces. The seasoning throughout the course suited my taste, and these noodles stayed with me enough that I wished for a full bowl.

How is the main Korean beef served?

The main course was 1++ Korean beef grill with a Korean beef seaweed soup set.

A personal brazier was set up, so we could grill the beef ourselves to the doneness we preferred.

How did dessert finish the anniversary meal?

Dessert consisted of corn ice cream with corn cream cheese, apricot, corn crumble, and sponge cake. Its sweet and tangy flavors were a good way to finish the course.

Jasmine tea was served as a palate cleanser. There was not much of it, but one cup was enough to refresh my mouth.

For our 500-day anniversary, we also received a cream cheese dried-persimmon roll and a sweet dessert. I think one was chestnut terrine, though I do not remember its exact name.

I was satisfied with this as an anniversary dinner because we could talk in a separate room while eating a succession of dishes. The bright flavor of the abalone five-color gardenia noodles and the Korean beef we could grill to our liking were especially memorable.