Gongdeok, Seoul private-room lunch with barley tea service: Usu

Hi, this is Ddungddaengi~~ I hadn't had a leisurely meal in a nice atmosphere in a while, so I went for a course meal at Usu, a room-style restaurant near Gongdeok Station :)

Where Usu is and how to find it from Gongdeok Station

Usu is a 5-minute walk from Gongdeok Station Exit 2, located on basement level 2 of the Lotte Castle President complex.

All-room seating, parking and corkage at Usu

Usu has all-private-room seating, and a large parking lot with 3 hours free with no limit on the number of cars, so it looked convenient for those coming by car. Something to note if you're driving!

On top of that, it's corkage-free, open every day of the year, and has group seating too, so it seems like a great spot for family gatherings, work dinners, or an important meal!!

What the interior of Usu feels like

Usu menu lineup and course prices

I ordered the Lunch C course that day! The default water came out as barley tea instead of plain water.

How the Lunch C course starts: the ingredient showing

Usu's Lunch C course began by showing the ingredients that would be used in the upcoming courses.

From lobster to hanwoo (Korean beef)~

Ugye jinjuk, the opening porridge

The course started with ugyejin porridge, a richly steeped porridge. It's made with a broth using hanwoo bone broth and chicken stock, with nurungji (scorched rice), scallion crust, shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, and white ear mushroom as garnish — a nice, warm way to start the meal!

Three one-bite dishes: scallop, bulgogi sandwich, lobster taco

Second came a variety of bite-sized dishes.

The first was a bite-sized dish using scallop and clam. On top of brick pastry, grilled scallop and abourga, clam cream sauce, apple, onion, and gamtae (seaweed) powder came together — the combination of crunchy texture and soft scallop was great for waking up the appetite.

The second bite-sized dish was a bulgogi sandwich. Between brioche, hanwoo bulgogi, mushroom duxelles, and truffle cream cheese were layered, with apple pickle, hanwoo jerky powder, and porcini powder added. It was fun to enjoy the familiar hanwoo bulgogi in a different form.

The third bite-sized dish was a lobster taco. It included squid ink, black sesame, tortilla, sous-vide lobster, tomato, onion, a smoky gochujang mayo sauce, frill ice lettuce, and amaranth. The gochujang mayo sauce paired really well with the crunchy tortilla, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Shiitake shrimp with young zucchini

Next came the shiitake shrimp and zucchini dish. It used shrimp, A-grade shiitake mushrooms, zucchini, tofu, aged kimchi, and golden enoki mushrooms, with peanut tofu sauce and wild chive oil added. The shiitake mushrooms were chewy, and scooping them up generously with the tofu sauce and chive oil made for a nutty, well-matched bite!

Jeonbuk five-color gardenia noodles

The next dish was jeonbuk five-color gardenia noodles. It came with various garnishes such as black sesame julienned radish, bracken fern, shiitake mushroom, wild chive salad, perilla leaf, and abalone, along with gamtae dressing and mustard-garlic sauce. It had beautiful color and, eaten together with the perilla leaf, the aroma and taste were fantastic.

The Lunch C main: 1++ sirloin hanwoo grill and the rice spread

And then came what could be called the main of the Lunch C course, the hanwoo grill and rice spread!

Along with 1++ sirloin, it came together with a hanwoo seaweed soup spread and seasonal fish pot rice — so it wasn't just hanwoo, but a full proper table with rice and soup too!

They showed the seasonal fish pot rice first.

Later it came out as a full table setting with the seaweed soup.

Corn dessert to close the course

Last, the dessert! It was made up of corn ice cream, corn cream cheese, apricot, corn cream, sponge cake, green citron cream sauce, dill, and coconut chips. The nutty, sweet flavor of corn combined with the refreshing apricot and green citron cream sauce made for a clean finish at the end of the course.

Is Usu's Lunch C course worth it?

Overall, I liked that Usu's Lunch C course kept familiar hanwoo dishes at its base while using a variety of ingredients and cooking methods to make each course feel different. The staff were also friendly, so I was able to enjoy the meal comfortably without any awkwardness the whole time haha

Since every seat is a private room, it was nice not having to worry much about noise or glances from nearby tables. I was so satisfied with the lunch course that I want to come back for the dinner course next time haha. Hope everyone has a full, happy day~~ Thank you!