Daegu tuna restaurant: chawanmushi-to-ramen course at Jongno Darang

Jongno Darang (종로다랑) is a tuna spot in Jongno, Daegu. It serves top-grade bluefin tuna in a clean, generous course, and the roomy, tidy space makes it a good pick for group gatherings too.

• 📌 46-1 Jongno, Jung-gu, Daegu
• ⏰️ 15:00 ~ 01:00

What are the atmosphere and the wait like at Jongno Darang?

Jongno Darang is a brand-new tuna restaurant in Jongno, Daegu, open for less than six months. My tuna craving came back in no time, and this is where I ended up: Jongno Darang.

When you walk in it feels a bit narrow, but keep going and the space opens up like this. The seats are wide too, so it's comfy.

On weekends there's a wait through the Tabling app, so I'd recommend getting there right at opening.

What's on the menu at Jongno Darang?

Jongno Darang serves only bluefin tuna (참다랑어) as its tuna sashimi, and the main menu is the bluefin course.

It's not only bluefin: you can also go half-and-half with large flounder, and if you mostly want tuna, you can order à la carte.

What comes first in the ₩100,000 bluefin course for two?

I came at 7pm and ordered, of course, the bluefin course for two (₩100,000). It starts with some light little dishes.

There's soft chawanmushi (savory steamed egg custard), my favorite style of steamed egg, plus a fresh salad, and a herring roe tofu dish I'd never seen before.

For the herring roe tofu, you wrap tofu, cucumber and herring roe in seaweed like this. The salty, umami-packed roe goes so well with the mild tofu. It's addictive, and you keep reaching for more.

Next came yakisoba. The fried egg arrives runny, which is a perfect 100 points. Once you smell it, you can't wait for the tuna to show up.

After that, steamed abalone with its innards. The abalone is chewy, obviously, but the rich innards are no joke.

Which cuts come with the bluefin sashimi at Jongno Darang?

The sashimi plate in the Jongno Darang bluefin course is loaded with only the good cuts: akami (lean red meat), otoro, chutoro and so on, and the bluefin highlight, the navel cut (배꼽살). I was picking at them one by one when the star of the day appeared. It's only bluefin, and that deep red look is insane.

The tuna essentials, wasabi and radish sprouts, are there too, and they even give you sushi rice. Oddly, the soup that comes out is a dakgomtang (chicken broth) soup.

It looks way too good not to drink, but I couldn't go overboard, so we settled on a highball.

How did the bluefin taste?

I took a bite with wasabi, and it doesn't get chewed, it really melts, and the rich, nutty fat hits you with no mercy. While eating tuna I get confused about whether it's chutoro or otoro, but anyway, what matters is that both are delicious.

I wrapped it in seaweed, ate it with aged kimchi (mugeunji)... top-grade bluefin really is different. They say tuna handling matters a lot, and this seems really well-handled.

You can make sushi too, and since the sashimi is this good, it's way better than the tuna sushi at most sushi places.

For the premium navel cut, enjoy its true flavor with nothing but wasabi on top.

What comes after the sashimi? Ankimo maki, grilled tuna head and tempura

The Jongno Darang bluefin course isn't over yet. Midway through the sashimi, ankimo maki (monkfish liver roll) arrived.

Ah, the richness and umami of ankimo really have no substitute.

Tuna places usually serve something grilled, and here it's grilled tuna head. They pull the meat off for you right at the table, and there's really a lot of meat. The grilled mero (Chilean sea bass) at tuna restaurants is great, and this grilled tuna head is just as nutty and moist, so you alternate between sashimi and the grilled bits.

And that's not all: next came tempura. A variety of tempura comes out,

and the one that stands out most is the big fried anago (conger eel). I wonder how a tuna place manages to handle so many different ingredients besides tuna.

The Jongno Darang course ends with seafood ramen

The very last dish of the Jongno Darang bluefin course is seafood ramen in a steaming hot broth. Whatever sashimi you eat, finishing with a hot soup like maeuntang (spicy fish stew) is the golden rule.

There's crab and scallop in the ramen, and the broth is so piquant that I was craving soju, but I had to hold back, which was a shame.

The whole course was great, one of the best tuna places in Jongno, Daegu. Ordering à la carte would be a real waste, so please get the course.