Gongdeok Korean beef dinner with a self-extinguishing grill: Usu
Usu is an all-private-room hanwoo (Korean beef) dining restaurant on basement level 2 of the Lotte Castle President commercial building, right in front of Exit 2 of Gongdeok Station in Mapo, Seoul. The writer came with her mom, who was craving beef, and ordered the Dinner B course 90g at 109,000 won, which opens with a smoking wooden "showing box" presenting the day's ingredients and ends with a charcoal grill that shuts off by itself once the meat is done. With quiet rooms that make conversation easy, Usu suits family gatherings or a formal first meeting between two families in Seoul.