Pork tasting menu in under an hour near Magok Station: Don Tamguso

An unusual pork-themed omakase..! I went to a Magok date-night spot haha. I went with a friend.. and every other weekend guest besides us was clearly on a date?!! I figured once I get a boyfriend, I'll be first in line to come back to this Magok date spot.. anyway, let me get on with the post~~

Where Don Tamguso is, plus booking and parking

Don Tamguso is a pork-course specialty restaurant on Magok-jungang 6-ro in Gangseo, Seoul. Free parking is available, and since the courses come out all at once by time slot, I'd recommend reserving ahead and arriving right on time.

This is <Don Tamguso>, the Magok date-night restaurant

There's a photo posted right at the door showing the hours and the omakase menu that comes out. Weekday and weekend hours differ so check before you go~ Since courses come out all at once by time slot, I'd really recommend reserving! You need to time your arrival right.. to eat everything piping hot haha. Free parking is available too!!!

Bar seats at the open kitchen and a room for groups

The inside of Don Tamguso is spacious and clean, with bar seating running along the open kitchen. There's also a huge room further in, so I figured groups could enjoy the course menu together too!

As each dish in the course comes out, they explain it right here and set the plate down for you haha. This was my first time at an omakase like this, and the explanations were fun too.. and the food was delicious, so it really did feel like the perfect Magok date-night spot

The 58,000-won dinner course plus 19,000-won wine pairing

Don Tamguso's dinner course is ₩58,000, and the wine pairing is ₩19,000. My friend and I each ordered the course plus the pairing.

Since we'd reserved, they gave us a paper with my name printed right on it! Open it up and it shows the food descriptions and the drinks menu

• Dinner course ₩58,000 x2
• Wine pairing ₩19,000 x2

This is what we ate

There are 7 dishes total, and for the last one you choose between a burger or a risotto. It's casual dining centered on pork, but after tasting it I thought, ah, this is what fine dining feels like. Let me introduce them one by one~~

The wine pairing starts with a white

My friend and I also ordered the wine pairing to go along with it! They give you two glasses total, a white and a red

We start light with the white~~ It had a fragrant quality, with something like a floral note rising up at the finish — a really pleasant wine. I was supposed to save some until the red came out.. but it was so good I kept sipping and finished it quickly ^^;;haha

What comes in Don Tamguso's 7-course dinner?

Chestnut and mushroom soup

A soup with a chestnut and mushroom base, topped softly with fresh cream!

Warm~ and with the familiar taste of mushroom paired with chestnut's soft sweetness, it was perfect as a starter.. The mild flavor of fresh cream hit right at the finish, making it such a pleasant soup

Salad with omija (Korean magnolia berry) foam

Next up is the salad. The foam looked so elegant and just so pretty haha. This salad in particular was refreshing and paired really well with the white wine. I think that foam was made from omija (schisandra berry).. something tangy and fresh

The dried persimmon, orange, and apple were sliced perfectly bite-sized, and the chewy texture of the dried persimmon that popped up now and then was so good~~ chewy. A hint of basil drifted through too, so fragrant haha. There was also some unusual aroma passing through, and it turned out to be prosciutto!! I could taste so many different flavors and aromas, so I really focused while eating haha

Shiitake mushroom lasagna

Time for the lasagna. Every time a dish came out, the plating was so pretty.. and the food itself was pretty, so my heart kept fluttering...

Shiitake mushrooms were layered on top and bottom, with white ragu sauce, mozzarella, and ground meat inside!! The shiitake aroma wasn't strong, and the rich, deep flavor of the smoky sauce filled my mouth, with the mushrooms staying chewy.. truly delicious ㅠㅠ

Main 1: grilled shio koji pork tenderloin

The first main course I'd been looking forward to arrived! It's pork tenderloin grilled with shio koji, served together with choucroute, sometimes called German kimchi!! They also drizzled truffle oil made in-house right over the top

Wow.. I've never had such delicious pork tenderloin in my life hahahahaha. The doneness and juiciness were amazing.... plus the truffle aroma.. to me tenderloin was always just tonkatsu meat, but after eating this.. I've fallen for it hahaha. Even the truffle scent.. just perfect ㅠㅠ

Con carne rigatoni with nachos

After the first tenderloin dish, pasta came out next! It's rigatoni pasta where you can really taste the rich con carne sauce! The aroma alone was so exotic that for a moment it felt like I'd gone abroad haha

That con carne sauce paired really well with the nachos too, kind of an upgrade from the pasta

Piled onto the nachos like this, it was crispy yet blended so well together, such a delicious dish hahaha. The pasta was cooked to a surprisingly perfect doneness.. it was amazing... not overcooked, not undercooked!

Around this point they bring out the red wine haha. They said it pairs well with the main dish coming up next!!

Main 2: pork belly with hwajiao pepper and cumin

This is the second main dish, and it's pork belly!! Surprising, right hahaha. Thinly sliced pork belly served with minari (water dropwort), seasoned with spices like hwajiao (Sichuan pepper), cumin, and maybe fennel?

The pork belly was soft and chewy with a hint of smokiness added, and the spices hit every so often, making the flavor, aroma, and texture all interesting at once hahaha. I ate this one so happily...

Choose your finish: jambon burger or abalone barley risotto

The final dish of Don Tamguso's course is a choice between a burger and a risotto. I picked the burger and my friend picked the risotto!

It was a small burger packed with jambon ham and arugula. The sauce was so good... I thought if this were sold as a single item I could eat it every day hahahaha

I stole some of my friend's risotto too.. It's a barley risotto topped with a whole Wando abalone!! On top was banpungnamul (glasswort), lightly fried it seemed, which was such an interesting touch

I really loved the chewy, springy texture of the barley.. and the cheese flavor came through rich too.. but somehow it also felt Korean at the same time haha. It felt like such a delicious risotto.. eating something this good put me in such a great mood, so I really recommend this as a Magok date-night spot. You've gotta date in a good mood.. for the food to taste even better~~

Dessert and the verdict: a full course in under an hour

The finale is a pudding topped with blueberry compote. They told us not to stir it, just scoop and eat!

Even the dessert went down so smoothly~~ It wasn't too sweet but had a gentle, pleasant clean finish. I think we ate for maybe just under an hour? but the flow from the first dish to the last was so well composed that it was really satisfying

This is a Magok date-night spot where you can experience proper fine dining. Free parking is available too, and you can taste dishes made by a chef trained at Le Cordon Bleu, one of the world's three great culinary schools, along with an executive chef with a background at a top-tier hotel! It's casual dining that doesn't feel like a splurge.. so you can enjoy it in a good mood~ Would also be great for an anniversary!!