Geomdan course restaurant date with fig salad and plum sorbet: Matgim

We've been together a long time now... usually we keep it low-key, just grab food and coffee, but this time I wanted to dress the date up a bit, so I went looking for somewhere a little different. That's how I found "Matgim"!

It's a place in Geomdan New Town where you can get an omakase-style course at a reasonable price, so I had to check it out.

Why Matgim works as a date spot in Geomdan

• Omakase-style course for ₩35,000
• Unusual, distinctive menu items
• Generous portions
• Great atmosphere for a date or a blind date
• Friendly service
• The fun of a course menu that changes every month

Matgim hours and parking

Matgim is open Mondays and Wednesday through Sunday from 18:00 to 24:00, with last order at 23:00, and closed Tuesdays. Parking is supported for 2 hours at the Megabox building lot.

Inside Matgim: the room and the counter seats

You can see right into the interior from outside, and it already looked like it had great vibes. I got a little excited before we even walked in!!

Sure enough, the mood inside was even better haha. As the kids say these days, total "good vibes." It's cozy, so it was perfect for talking during a date.

Most of the seats are counter seating, with one 4-person table as well.

Sitting at the counter, you can see straight into the kitchen and watch the chefs prep the food. The kitchen was spotless, which stood out to me!! Seeing it firsthand built a lot of trust.

There's also a wine display on one side of the space, and you can apparently pick out a bottle you like by looking at it directly — wine lovers would really enjoy that!

And the music playing in the restaurant matched the mood so well... even before eating, even without a drop of alcohol, I was already a little drunk on the atmosphere haha.

Matgim's course menu: 35,000 won or 50,000 won

Matgim's menu is very simple — because true to its name, "matgim" means literally "leaving it to" the chef. It's a course format where the chefs bring out dishes in sequence, omakase-style.

There are two options, a ₩35,000 course and a ₩50,000 course, and we went with the ₩35,000 course that day!

The ₩35,000 course lineup as of September '26 looked like this.

Drinks at Matgim: white wine and a strawberry mint seasonal ade

Before the actual meal started, drinks came out first — a glass of white wine and a seasonal ade! As of my September 2026 visit, the seasonal ade was strawberry mint. This was genuinely delicious haha, my partner kept stealing sips of my ade instead of drinking their own wine?!

Course 1: fig and tofu cream cheese salad

The Matgim course officially began. The first dish was the fig and tofu cream cheese salad. Right from the first bite it had this upscale feel... I'd never had tofu cream cheese before, so it was new to me, but it turned out to be nutty, soft, and way more delicious than I expected! There was also something on top that looked like jamón, and that was tasty too.

The dressing had a bright, yuzu-forward flavor that paired well with the soft tofu cream cheese. Loading a spoon up with fig, tofu cream cheese, and dressing all together and eating it —

Wow, this is so good......

— it was a genuinely great start!

Course 2: Matgim's signature grilled baby cabbage

The second dish was grilled baby cabbage. Apparently this is Matgim's signature dish! I was actually a little worried about this one, though... because I'm not really a fan of cabbage haha. So I was quietly thinking, "Hmm... will this actually be good???" And then — what do you know — it was SO good!!!!!!!!!

Grilling the cabbage makes it completely sweet and soft. And the sauce here is genuinely insane..... I can't even explain what flavor it is, but the sauce itself is incredibly good. The sweet, soft cabbage and the sauce go so well together... seeing is believing, just come to Matgim and try it yourself haha.

After eating it, I understood exactly why it's the signature dish. The fact that I, someone who doesn't like cabbage, enjoyed it this much made it an especially memorable dish.

Course 3: tripe tacos topped with cilantro

Third was tripe tacos. With a typical taco you'd expect beef, pork, or chicken, but here they unusually use tripe. And cilantro on top, too! Which brought me to yet another obstacle haha — I can't really handle cilantro because of the smell. I briefly considered asking them to leave it off, but then again, this is "Matgim" — leave it to them, right? So I decided to trust the chefs and eat it as it was.

Ohhh...... glad I did. The chewy texture of the tripe, the sauce, and the cilantro went together surprisingly well!!!! Weirdly, the cilantro smell I usually hate barely bothered me at all. The distinct flavor of the tripe blended with the sauce and it was just plain delicious;;;;;; I really enjoyed this one too....

Course 4: daily pasta, beef shank white ragu

The fourth dish was the daily pasta, and the one served that day was a white ragu pasta made with beef shank. Instead of regular spaghetti, they used tarifoline noodles, so even the shape of the pasta was a bit different!! This was really good too. There was a ton of meat in it, so it was pretty filling by the time I finished. The white ragu sauce blending with the meat was really lovely.

When the chef presented this dish, he told us he made it because he 'wanted to' — and somehow that felt cool to hear...... He seemed like someone who genuinely loves cooking, presenting a dish he personally wanted to make to guests, which made it even more memorable. It felt like real sincerity toward the food, if that makes sense...??

Course 5: sous vide pork tenderloin steak

The fifth dish was pork tenderloin steak.... apparently pork tenderloin cooked sous vide. It came with a pesto-style sauce made with several herbs, plus a cauliflower sauce, mustard seeds, and pickled garlic scapes. This was also amazing;;;;; because it was cooked sous vide, the meat was incredibly tender — if you didn't tell me it was pork, I honestly wouldn't have guessed, it was that soft and unusually delicious.

It was surprising to get this kind of texture out of pork tenderloin, and the herb sauce and cauliflower sauce were both genuinely delicious... mixing and matching them with the meat changed the flavor each time, which made it a fun dish!!

Dessert: plum sorbet

Finally, the last dish — plum sorbet for dessert. On top of the plum sorbet was something like Shine Muscat grape jelly. My mouth is getting tired of saying "delicious" over and over...

I could taste bits of actual plum flesh and skin in the sorbet, which made me think they really did use real plums to make it. It was cool, tart-sweet, and perfect as a final dessert — it left my mouth feeling completely refreshed!

How much food do you get for 35,000 won?

Honestly, with an omakase-style meal I usually assume that lots of small courses means "it'll taste good but I won't actually get full." Turns out I didn't need to worry about that at Matgim at all;; the portions are seriously generous... By the third or fourth dish I was already pretty full, but the food just kept coming haha. Still, it was all so good I couldn't stop.... so I pushed through to the end. I had no idea a ₩35,000 course could leave me this full and this satisfied.

Is Matgim worth it for a date in Geomdan New Town?

With the cozy atmosphere, food that was consistently delicious, and friendly chefs, this was exactly the kind of spot we needed for a date we wanted to make a little special. I especially loved that for ₩35,000, you get this much variety and leave completely full!

If you want a slightly special meal on a date, Matgim is worth checking out as a Geomdan New Town dining bar with an omakase-style course. If you're someone who enjoys trying new food, you'll have even more fun with it! If you're looking for a distinctive course meal in a great atmosphere, I recommend Matgim as a Geomdan New Town dining bar with an omakase-style menu. I'm curious about the course in other months too, so I'd love to go back!!