Gongdeok Seoul Korean restaurant coworker reunion lunch: Usu Lunch C

Usu in Gongdeok: an all-private-room hanwoo course restaurant

Usu is a private-room hanwoo course restaurant in the basement level 2 of the Lotte Castle President commercial building, directly connected to Gongdeok Station. This time I was meeting a coworker I hadn't seen in ages, so we treated ourselves to the lunch course somewhere with a nice atmosphere. ❤️

This was a neighborhood I used to work near, so stopping by Gongdeok Station brought back some memories. The location was super accessible, and the private rooms plus great value lunch set made for a lovely Seoul room restaurant, Usu. If you're looking for a Gongdeok restaurant good for entertaining guests or celebrating an anniversary, I want to recommend this place in detail. 🙌

• 📍Address: 109 Mapo-daero, Lotte Castle President Commercial Bldg. B2 Unit 201, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• ⏰Hours: Daily 11:00–22:00

How to reach Usu from Gongdeok Station Exit 2

It had been a while since I took the subway there, but it was pretty convenient since it's directly connected to Exit 2 of Gongdeok Station! Haha, I'm terrible with directions so I wandered a bit inside the building, but thankfully the escalator was right there.

Go down one floor on the escalator and the Usu sign appears right away! Haha, we used the lunch course this time, and getting private room service at the ₩39,000 price point was genuinely impressive.

What is Usu like inside? Open kitchen and quiet private rooms

Usu has an open kitchen too, which was reassuring, and since every seat is a private room it felt genuinely quiet and cozy.

The toned-down mood and overall upscale atmosphere make it a great pick if you're looking for a room restaurant for an anniversary date or entertaining guests. 🙌

We'd reserved ahead and were seated in a very quiet room toward the back! Perfect spot for catching up after so long. Haha.

What comes in Usu's Lunch C course at 79,000 won per person

We splurged on Usu's Lunch C course — a menu with a total of 8 courses including dessert!

Lunch C course, ₩79,000 per person

• Porridge
• Three bite-sized dishes
• Shiitake, shrimp, zucchini
• Five-color abalone gardenia noodles
• Grilled hanwoo (Korean beef)
• Pot rice
• Bansang (side-dish set)
• Dessert

Dinner sets start in the ₩100,000s, and compared to lunch, they come with more hanwoo and a menu more focused around beef! For a place good for anniversaries, Usu in Gongdeok delivered on both price and atmosphere.

The ingredient box: seasonal produce explained first

When you order the course, they first bring out an ingredient box like this and walk you through today's seasonal ingredients. The explanation was really thorough, and it felt like they paid careful attention to every course — like being genuinely well looked after.

The color on that meat is insane..❤️ Starting things off with a feast for the eyes and ears like this really builds anticipation before you've even eaten. Haha.

Getting to see all the day's ingredients at a glance — hanwoo striploin, lobster, shrimp, sea bream, abalone, shiitake, tomato, and more — was such a nice touch too.

Every Lunch C dish at Usu, in course order

Beef and egg rice porridge (u-gye jinjuk)

The first course: u-gye jinjuk! Porridge simmered with hanwoo bone broth and chicken stock, with three kinds of mushrooms and crispy rice. It really had that deeply, deeply simmered bone broth feel.

Three bite-sized plates, including the lobster squid-ink taco

Next up, the three bite-sized dishes! Just visually, they're overwhelming. ❤️ So pretty it felt almost a shame to eat them. Haha.

They recommended eating left to right — from left, the main ingredients were grilled potato and herring, brioche with hanwoo bulgogi, and squid-ink taco with lobster. Every ingredient felt fresh and new, and they all looked so pretty — a real treat for the eyes and the palate.

Shiitake, shrimp and zucchini

The third course is a soup dish built around shiitake mushroom and zucchini!

I tried the shiitake fried with shrimp meat first, then finished with the fresh zucchini. The sauce was clean and nutty, and even though it's fried, it wasn't greasy at all — it felt fresh.

Meanwhile, the sea bream pot rice was finished and brought out! Haha. This one's just for photos for now — it'll be served as pot rice when the main bansang comes out. Just visually, no notes..💚

Five-color abalone gardenia noodles

Five-color abalone gardenia noodles with gamtae (seaweed) dressing, mustard, and garlic sauce! It felt a bit like perilla oil buckwheat noodles, a bit like pasta.

The abalone was so plump and tender, the noodles were cooked just right with a nice chewiness, and the cold, mixed-noodle style with its refreshing tang was great for waking up the appetite before the main bansang arrived.

80g hanwoo and sea bream pot rice bansang: is it enough food?

Now finally, the main meal! Usu's Lunch C course served 80g of hanwoo alongside the bansang. The earlier courses were substantial enough that the beef portion didn't feel lacking at all. Haha.

The hanwoo's color was gorgeous, and the pot rice was truly fluffy. Honestly, I'd have been perfectly satisfied stopping right here! Haha.

They also gave us vegetable garnishes to grill alongside, which added variety!

Grilling it ourselves meant we could adjust the doneness to our liking. Haha. It really melted in the mouth — the taste of top-grade hanwoo through and through, and I was so satisfied. If you feel like you'd want more meat, you can go for a set with a more generous gram count or add extra as a single order.

The hanwoo paired with the pot rice was so delicious.. and it was the perfect setting to enjoy while chatting away in that private atmosphere!

Dessert: corn sponge cake

The finishing dessert was corn sponge cake with apricot chutney — kind of a refreshing ice cream-plus-cake vibe? Haha. It looked so adorable it felt a shame to touch it. 💛 The overall course timing was just right, and the service was friendly, so it was a very satisfying experience overall!

Which occasions suit Usu in Gongdeok?

Usu, this atmospheric Gongdeok restaurant, was the perfect spot to catch up with a former coworker near where we used to work together. Thanks to that, this trip back to Gongdeok after so long was really lovely. ❤️

If you're looking for a Seoul room restaurant good for an important gathering, entertaining guests, or an anniversary date, how about Gongdeok restaurant Usu? Every one of the fusion Korean dishes felt fresh, and the neat course composition plus friendly service made for a thoroughly satisfying review. 🙌❤️