Daegu tuna restaurant: bluefin set and homemade sushi at Jongno Darang

Today, I visited Jongno Darang, a great tuna spot on Jongno in Daegu. The name instantly brings tuna to mind and is so pretty, too—so let’s get into this story for anyone looking for distinctive, fresh tuna sashimi in Daegu.

Jongno Darang exterior and hours

Jongno Darang · 46-1 Jong-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu · Hours 15:00–01:00

This is the exterior of Jongno Darang, a well-known tuna spot in Daegu.

A post introducing Darang’s good-value course menus is displayed outside this Daegu Jongno restaurant and tuna spot.

An atmospheric interior unlike a typical tuna restaurant

The interior has quite a different atmosphere from an ordinary tuna sashimi restaurant. Since it is on Daegu’s trendy Jongno, the decor feels a little more atmospheric. I photographed the tables with individual partitions, and they come in configurations for six and four people.

Here is another table style. The clean, stylish chairs seem to make the atmosphere even nicer for guests.

The display cabinet inside was decorated with a variety of sake and drinking glasses. Those tiny cups are so pretty.

Ordering the bluefin tuna platter

This is the menu selection at Darang, a Daegu Jongno restaurant and tuna spot. Along with the course menus introduced outside earlier, there are à la carte options. There is also a wide range of alcohol, which will be right up the alley of anyone who enjoys a drink. We ordered the size bluefin tuna platter (₩90,000).

Sides served with the tuna

As soon as we ordered, we were served gim (roasted seaweed) for wrapping the tuna and a small dish of sesame oil sauce, an essential companion for tuna.

Garlic, rakgyo (pickled scallions), pickled chili peppers, pickled ginger, and baek-kimchi (mild white kimchi) came out to enjoy with the tuna. I personally think this baek-kimchi is an absolute must with tuna :)

Each person also received steamed egg topped with shiitake mushrooms and crab meat. The soft, wobbly steamed egg was mild and delicious.

A salad came out as well. The ingredients were so fresh, and the soy sauce-based dressing was not overly sweet, so it was exactly to my taste.

This is herring roe tofu, which the owner provided as a complimentary service. The special combination of fresh herring roe, cucumber, tofu, and chili pepper was a flavor I had never experienced before—it was a whole new world.

Mild bluefin tuna with no fishiness

At last, the bluefin tuna we ordered arrived. Can you see that color? You can already tell how fresh it is from the color alone. It had a pale pink hue with white tuna fat marbled throughout. I photographed it together with all the sides served with the tuna platter.

I topped the tuna with radish sprouts, wrapped it in gim, and took a bite. It was so, so much better than I expected that I was genuinely surprised. There was absolutely no fishiness, and I could taste the mild, nutty flavor of premium tuna.

Homemade tuna sushi

Seasoned rice was also served so we could make our own tuna sushi. The moment I put wasabi and tuna on top of the rice, gave it a quick dip in soy sauce, and took a bite, the tuna melted in my mouth and paired perfectly with the pleasantly firm rice.

Finishing with seafood ramen and pleasantly firm noodles

After finishing all that delicious tuna sashimi, we ordered seafood ramen separately. As someone who believes ramen noodles should be pleasantly firm, the noodle texture was exactly my style, so I enjoyed the finish just as much.

I can confidently say this is a tuna restaurant that will satisfy food lovers looking for fresh tuna in Daegu. Enjoy the cooler weather and make sure to visit Darang on Daegu’s Jongno at least once.