Gongdeok Korean restaurant birthday dinner with lettering dessert: Usu

For my birthday, I wanted a slightly special dinner with my sister, so we finally went to try a Korean beef omakase I'd always wanted to visit.

Usu Gongdeok serves a course of dishes built around hanwoo (Korean beef) alongside a variety of seasonal ingredients. Dining in a private room, plus the birthday lettering dessert and printed photos they gave us, makes this Gongdeok favorite one I'd recommend for a celebration 🥩💛

Where is Usu Gongdeok, and what are its hours?

• Location: 109 Mapo-daero, Basement 2, Unit 201, Lotte Castle President Complex, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: 11:00–22:00 (break 15:00–17:00), open every day

Usu Gongdeok: private rooms only and 3 hours of parking

Usu Gongdeok is located in the basement level 2 of the Lotte Castle President complex. Parking was available, which made it easy to visit by car, and what I loved most was the private setting!

With all-private-room seating and up to 3 hours of parking with no limit on the number of cars, it was easy to eat at a relaxed pace. Since corkage is free, bringing your own wine would be great too, haha.

Because you can dine in a fully separate space, I'd recommend it for a birthday, a meal with parents, a family gathering, or an anniversary date.

What comes with the Dinner B Course 90g at Usu Gongdeok?

The menu we chose was the Dinner B COURSE 90g.

Dinner B Course 90g: the full lineup

• Hanwoo-and-crab porridge
• Four bite-sized dishes
• Shiitake, shrimp, and zucchini
• Hanwoo yukhoe with sea lettuce
• Jeju tilefish
• 1++ hanwoo tteokgalbi (grilled beef patty)
• Abalone five-color gardenia noodles
• Personal-grill 1++ hanwoo chef's selection
• Seasonal fish pot rice
• Bansang (side-dish spread)
• Dessert

Before the meal properly started, they showed us the hanwoo and various ingredients we'd be having that day. The moment the drawer opened and that vividly marbled beef appeared, I already felt properly taken care of — perfect for a Seoul Korean-course restaurant, haha.

Since we'd booked to celebrate a birthday, they gave us sparkling wine too. It paired well with the whole course.

Beef-and-crab porridge and four bite-sized dishes

The first dish was hanwoo-and-crab porridge (우·게 진죽), which warmed us up from the inside. Made with beef and crab stock, it had a deeper savory flavor than ordinary porridge.

It went down smoothly and cleanly, so it didn't weigh down the course that followed, and it left my stomach feeling settled. I liked that from the very first course, they didn't cover up the ingredients' natural flavors.

Next were the four bite-sized dishes, which I wanted to photograph the moment I saw them. Using a range of ingredients — hanwoo bulgogi, sweet shrimp with fried seaweed, scallop and clam, lobster — each was formed into a bite-sized piece. They also kindly explained each dish in detail ☺️

Personally, the plating was so pretty that this course really felt like a birthday celebration meal.

Sweet shrimp with savory abalone-liver rice, salty pollack roe and seaweed with tangy yuzu sauce, and a fusion taco with plump sous-vide lobster, tomato, onion, and smoky gochujang mayo — the range was impressive!

Each had a completely different texture and flavor, so it was fun tasting them one by one — I spent the time amazed that Korean ingredients could be presented so elegantly 😋

Shiitake with shrimp and zucchini, plus hanwoo yukhoe with sea lettuce

Next came the shiitake, shrimp, and zucchini dish. The rich shiitake mushroom paired well with the mild peanut sauce. A whole thick shiitake was placed on top, and its chewy, moist texture really came through. Vegetable-and-seafood dishes kept appearing between courses so the whole meal never felt too heavy.

The hanwoo yukhoe (beef tartare) with sea lettuce caught my eye visually right away. Vividly red beef yukhoe sits over rice, meant to be eaten with the sea lettuce (gamtae).

You wrap it from right to left 😋 The yukhoe was tender and savory, and the ocean aroma of the gamtae brought its flavor fully alive. Wrapped and eaten in one bite, you could taste the rice, yukhoe, and gamtae in sequence — personally one of the dishes I remember most!

Jeju tilefish and 1++ hanwoo tteokgalbi (beef patty)

The B Course also included Jeju tilefish. Golden and crisp outside, moist inside — I loved the fish's own clean flavor.

Tilefish really can't taste bad ,,😋 They poured over an agaricus mushroom broth, and eating it with barley-and-chamnamul (wild herb) rice was so good. A taste I want again 🥹😋✨

Then came the 1++ hanwoo tteokgalbi. True to its 1++ grade, the meat's flavor was on point 👍🏻 Very tender, and with the sauce, we finished it in no time.

The outside was grilled to a mouthwatering finish while the inside kept its juices, so it got more savory with every bite! With the sauce and accompaniments, it was basically its own main course.

Five-color gardenia noodles topped with a whole abalone

And then a dish I really loved — the abalone five-color gardenia noodles. The abalone piece was bigger than I expected, which was satisfying.

The abalone's distinctive plump yet tender texture really came through, and eating it with the clean noodles felt refreshing after the meat dishes, resetting my palate. The abalone wasn't just a thin garnish either — a whole piece was placed on top, enough for a full mouthful.

1++ hanwoo grilled on a personal charcoal brazier, chef's selection

And finally, the main event I'd been waiting for! The personal-grill 1++ hanwoo chef's selection. This was actually the biggest reason I wanted to try a Korean beef omakase in the first place…♡

Even after already eating several dishes, seeing the hanwoo made me excited all over again. The marbling alone was gorgeous, and once grilled the juiciness and richness were clearly on another level. Being able to grill it to just the right doneness on the personal grill meant I could fully taste each piece 😋

Seasonal fish pot rice, banchan spread, and birthday seaweed soup

The B Course also comes with a seasonal fish pot rice and bansang. ⭐️ Strongly, strongly recommend the pot rice!! ⭐️ I didn't know pot rice could be this good — they show you the pot first, then it comes back out as part of the bansang for you to eat.

Finishing the course with warm pot rice and seaweed soup left me feeling like I'd had a truly hearty meal. And since it was seaweed soup eaten on my birthday, it felt extra special. :)

Birthday lettering dessert and the photo-printing service

They even prepared a birthday lettering dessert ♡ They wrote a birthday message on the dessert itself. If you're booking for a birthday or anniversary, I'd definitely recommend leaving a note 💛

Having a little event like this at the end of the course really brought out the birthday mood,,,🤎 And it didn't stop there — they printed out photos taken during the meal and gave them to us as a gift, which was so touching…!

If you're looking for a Seoul Korean-course restaurant or a Gongdeok Korean beef omakase for a birthday, a meal with parents, or an anniversary date, Usu Gongdeok is the place 💛 I was satisfied enough that I'd love to come back for our next special occasion 🥰