Gongdeok in-law meeting restaurant with sea bream pot rice: Usu

A place I found while wanting to step away from the fast pace of everyday life and fully focus on good food and conversation with someone precious — Usu in Gongdeok. From a course built around premium hanwoo (Korean beef) and seasonal ingredients to a quiet, private space, I went to experience firsthand what kind of 'special' Usu is talking about ✨ I'll calmly introduce what kind of occasion this place suits — a Seoul restaurant for meeting the in-laws, an anniversary spot, or a year-end gathering.

Where is Usu Gongdeok, and what are the parking and corkage terms?

Usu Gongdeok is a KOREAN GRILL DINING restaurant at 109 Mapo-daero, B2 201, Lotte Castle President Complex, Mapo-gu, Seoul, directly connected to Gongdeok Station Exit 2. Hours are daily 11:00-22:00 with a break time from 15:00-17:00, and reservations can be made through Naver and Catch Table.

• Parking: first 3 hours free regardless of number of cars
• When parking, you must use the complex parking lot, not the hotel or officetel parking lot
• Corkage: all alcohol allowed, corkage free

Since Usu is corkage-free for all alcohol, I prepared a bottle of Riesling to bring along in advance, but oops... make sure you don't forget yours!

Inside Usu's private room and the meaning behind the name

Usu explains that its name refers to the season when snow melts into rain and life begins to sprout from frozen ground. That meaning felt natural throughout the space — materials evoking stone and earth, paired with wood interiors carrying the grain of trees grown from that ground. It felt like the story of Usu, starting from nature and leading into life, was captured within the space itself.

The calm texture of stone blends with warm lighting for an overall atmosphere that's comfortable yet deep. Add the private room setup, and true to a good room restaurant, I could focus completely on the meal itself at Usu.

Usu course prices and why we chose Dinner B

We chose the Dinner B course, and it was so generously composed that by the end of the meal I was completely full. Besides Course B, there are various courses at more approachable price points too.

Lunch ranges from A at ₩39,000 to B at ₩59,000, C at ₩79,000, and Signature at ₩99,000, with additional menu options to choose from — good for picking something that fits your taste and budget.

The seasonal ingredient showing at the table

Usu's performance of neatly arranging and presenting the seasonal ingredients used in today's course right before your eyes. The ingredients in the wooden box looked so impressive that I was captivated from the ingredient showing alone. Take a look... ✨✨✨

Centered on 2+ grade premium hanwoo, the ingredients also included abalone, sweet shrimp, shiitake, tilefish, sea bream, lobster, and even caviar and truffle.

Even though it's called a hanwoo dining restaurant, the focus isn't only on hanwoo dishes — from dining dishes using hanwoo to seafood dishes highlighting seasonal ingredients, there's a lot of variety to enjoy, which is a big merit of Usu.

First course: ugyejinjuk, beef and egg rice porridge

The first course, Ugye Jinjuk, opens 🤍 A bowl with broth deeply simmered from hanwoo bone stock and chicken stock, subtly scented with shiitake at its center. The rich broth spreads smoothly in the mouth with a gentle mushroom aroma rising up, opening the meal calmly.

What are the four bite-sized dishes at Usu?

True to fine hanjeongsik (Korean course) dining, four neatly arranged bite-sized dishes. Every single one is so beautiful.

They may look simple and tidy, but the ingredients and effort that go into finishing a single plate in fine dining are never simple. Delicately combining several ingredients and adding a long time and care, I could really feel the depth of Korean cuisine where multiple layers of flavor come together even in one bite.

Scallop and clam brick pastry

The first of the bite-sized dishes: scallop and clam brick pastry. Grilled scallop with aburaga, clam cream sauce, apple and onion, and gamtae (sea lettuce) powder — the crispy, shattering brick pastry and the plump texture of the scallop hit first, then the clam cream sauce and the faint gamtae aroma layer in, unfolding a new layer of flavor even within a single bite.

Bulgogi brioche sandwich

A delicate combination of hanwoo bulgogi, mushroom cell, and truffle cream cheese in a bulgogi sandwich brioche. It's a small, one-bite size, but the moment you bite in, the flavor of hanwoo bulgogi mingles with mushroom and truffle cream cheese for a definite impact packed into a small bite.

Fried abalone innard rice with sweet shrimp

Fried abalone intestine rice and sweet shrimp placed on grilled gim (seaweed) brushed with pollack roe, finished with yuzu sauce. Grilling the gim, frying the abalone intestine rice, topping with sweet shrimp, and creating a matching sauce — every step of the process is truly delicate. Usually people stop at abalone intestine rice, but the idea of frying it crispy into an entirely different texture was so impressive.

Combining each ingredient in new ways to create a distinct culinary experience in a single bite — isn't this exactly the charm of fine dining?

Lobster taco

The last bite: lobster taco. Sous-vide lobster, tomato, and onion in a tortilla made with squid ink and black sesame, paired with a smoky gochujang mayo sauce. The lobster's plump texture combined with the spicy, savory gochujang mayo and the freshness of tomato and onion felt like a familiar taco taken in a completely new flavor direction. With Usu's delicate combinations, I got even more excited for what the next dishes would look like 💓💓💓

Shiitake shrimp, zucchini and hanwoo yukhoe

Next came shiitake shrimp and zucchini. A plate of plump shrimp and fragrant shiitake mushroom paired with zucchini, tofu, and wood ear mushroom.

The deep, rich aroma of shiitake spreads subtly among the plump shrimp, while the zucchini has a moist texture and gentle sweetness — each ingredient's charm stays intact. A savory peanut-tofu sauce blends in smoothly, and chamnamul (wild chervil) oil adds one more layer of fragrant flavor.

Hanwoo yukhoe (Korean beef tartare) with handmade aioli sauce, fried nurungji (scorched rice), chosukjam (Chinese artichoke) pickles, and cured egg, meant to be wrapped in gamtae. The yukhoe is smooth-textured and clean-tasting, while the rich, savory aioli anchors the flavor, then the crispy fried nurungji bites in to boost the savoriness and texture once more, with the chosukjam pickles and gamtae backing it up for a salty, refreshing finish.

Nicely wrapped, court lady-style.

Jeju tilefish and 1++ hanwoo tteokgalbi

Jeju tilefish. Golden-grilled tilefish has a distinct savory flavor from the first bite, with flesh that flakes apart fluffily. Paired with rice mixed with barley and chamnamul, the nutty flavor of barley and the fresh scent of chamnamul flow naturally alongside the tilefish, and the moment neungi mushroom broth is added, a deep mushroom aroma wafts up gently.

The 1++ hanwoo tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty) had a soft, deep meaty flavor with celery purée adding a fresh, light touch, cutting the heaviness while keeping the flavor alive. It was soft and juicy, dripping with juice — sadly the gif quality broke. . . 🥲

Abalone five-color chilled chajimyeon noodles

Abalone five-color chajimyeon has abalone, chamnamul, perilla leaf, shiitake, fernbrake, and black sesame julienned radish neatly layered over yellow gardenia noodles. Each ingredient's aroma and texture felt slightly different with every bite — a familiar noodle dish presented with real delicacy.

Sea bream pot rice with a personal grill hanwoo tray

The seasonal pot rice to go alongside the beef makes its entrance. I recently attempted sea bream pot rice at home and failed spectacularly, so when my partner and I saw this one, we gasped, 'Yes, this is what pot rice is supposed to look like!' 😂 They showed us the finished pot rice first, took it back to mix the rice and sea bream evenly, then, as the next course — the table setting — was prepared, served this pot rice alongside it too.

The personal grill 1++ hanwoo omakase-style spread and table setting arrive. Sea bream pot rice with a seaweed soup generously packed with beef would already be enough for a full meal, but with a personal grill on top, we could grill the hanwoo to our liking and enjoy it alongside the pot rice. Sizzling away at our own pace and preference.

Warm sea bream pot rice with a savory, melt-in-the-mouth piece of grilled hanwoo (this really is a beef restaurant!!!), and with the rich seaweed soup alongside, it was a table setting that let me fully feel the hearty charm of Korean food.

Corn ice cream dessert and jasmine tea

The final dessert was also unmistakably Usu. Corn ice cream with corn crumble and peach paste, plus bread shaped like moss and stone. It wasn't just a prettily plated dessert — it felt like the image of nature Usu wants to show was unfolded onto one plate, offering fun to look at as much as to eat. Best of all, my partner, who isn't really a fan of corn, took one bite and said 'this corn flavor is really good,' and finished it in no time 😮

Even a cup of tea wasn't simply served plain. After finishing the jasmine tea that carried its own story, I discovered that even the ice had absorbed the jasmine aroma right down to the last piece — this kind of attention to detail right to the very end makes it impossible not to fall for the place.

What kind of occasion suits Usu Gongdeok?

What I felt from start to finish throughout the meal is that Usu is a place where I truly felt what 'the fine dining experience' means — from the performance completed right before your eyes, to the delicacy in handling every single ingredient, to combinations that reinvent familiar ingredients in new ways.

So to answer the question I raised in the title: Usu, which was overwhelming from the very start of the meal, stayed fully perfect right to the end. For occasions where the food matters as much as the space and atmosphere — meeting the in-laws, an anniversary, or a family gathering — I recommend Usu, the hanwoo dining restaurant.