September seasonal pork course dinner near Magok Station: Don Tamguso

Doing an omakase-style course at a restaurant built entirely around pork sounded so unusual that I had to try it for a relaxed weekend mood-setting dinner! I eat plenty of meat dishes normally, but this was my first time trying a fusion Korean-style course meal, so I was excited even before going. It's also a great pick for a Magok Station date dinner!

What kind of restaurant is Don Tamguso?

Today's spot is Don Tamguso, a well-known restaurant near Magok Station. You can watch the cooking happen right in front of you at the open kitchen, and the staff explain each dish in detail, so it was a treat for the eyes, ears, and mouth all at once. It's also a great match if you want a Magok Station date restaurant with a bit of atmosphere on the weekend!

It's 318m from Exit 3 of Magok Station! Recommended if you're looking for a good restaurant near Magok Station or a Magok Station omakase spot — here's my dinner course review at Don Tamguso!

Don Tamguso describes itself as a casual dining restaurant that gives guests a different experience by cooking pork with a variety of techniques.

The head chef, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate who worked at top-tier hotels, apparently reinterprets fine-dining-level dishes in a casual style for the menu.

What was especially fun is that the menu changes every season, so you can meet a new set of dishes each time you visit.

Pork is the main theme, but it's not just meat — the course flows from soup to salad, lasagna, main dishes, risotto, and dessert, which makes it a great option for a Magok Station date course too!

Don Tamguso's exterior, interior and open-kitchen bar seats

Don Tamguso is set up on the 1st floor, open to the outside! Photos of the dishes actually served in the seasonal, lunch, or dinner courses were posted outside the restaurant.

Don Tamguso has an open kitchen layout, so you can watch the chefs cooking while seated at your table.

There's bar-style seating, plus a separate space set up for groups. Probably because it's a Magok Station date restaurant, there were a lot of couples there haha.

I visited for a weekend dinner, and since I'd made a reservation, there was a menu card at my seat introducing today's course with my name printed on it. Seeing my name right there made it feel like a course prepared just for me, lol.

Every time a dish arrived, the staff explained the menu in detail, so it was more fun learning about the food as I ate rather than just eating. If you're looking for a Magok Station omakase or a special course dining experience, this could be a fun and different one to try.

What's in the September weekend dinner course?

I visited on a September weekend and ordered the dinner course!!

The dinner course on the day I visited was served in this order.

• ✔️ Soup
• ✔️ Salad
• ✔️ Lasagna
• ✔️ Main 1 (grilled tenderloin)
• ✔️ Main 2 (pork belly with minari)
• ✔️ Signature burger or signature risotto
• ✔️ Dessert

❗️The menu can change by season, so please treat what I ate as reference only!

There's also a drinks and cocktail menu listed, so take a look when you visit! Recommended as a Magok Station date restaurant for a meat omakase!

Honest review of the Don Tamguso course, dish by dish

Celeriac soup

A soup made with celeriac — when I tasted it, it felt soft and mild, like a potato soup. Eating it with the sweet candied walnuts on top made it even tastier with that nutty flavor! It's a soup but still had a fair amount of texture, so it felt different from a purely smooth soup!!

Seasonal fruit salad

A salad made with seasonal fruit! It had dried persimmon, orange, apple, and prosciutto, paired with a foam sauce made using molecular gastronomy techniques. The refreshing fruit flavors combined with the salty prosciutto made it fresh and bright overall. Eating it early in the course, it really worked as an appetizer to whet the appetite!

Flourless lasagna

Among everything I ate that day, this lasagna really stuck with me. Apparently it's made without any flour.

It has shiitake mushroom, tomato, cheese, and a white ragu sauce — tasting it, it felt familiar yet unique. It had a slightly burger-like feel, but the strong shiitake aroma made it so delicious 🤤

Main 1: grilled pork tenderloin

My strong recommendation at Don Tamguso ⭐️ This is grilled pork tenderloin served with a tomato and sauerkraut salad. The German-style pickled cabbage — sauerkraut — paired with the tomato went really well alongside the meat.

The charcoal scent coming off the pork tenderloin 👍 the button mushrooms and broccoli were tasty too, and the pickles were perfect for cleansing the palate in between bites!!!

It felt like a pork steak, but so tender and clean-tasting that it was my top dish of the meal 🤤🤍 A dish that really showed why this place specializes in meat courses!

Main 2: pork belly with minari

The next main used five-layer pork belly and minari (water dropwort). Prepared in a South American style, it actually had a taco-like feel when I ate it. The pork belly had a soft yet chewy texture, and eating it with the minari gave it a fragrant flavor!! It was fun seeing the pork belly I usually eat in a familiar way reinterpreted into a course dish like this. This dish really showed off Don Tamguso's concept of enjoying pork in a variety of ways!

Signature burger

Toward the end of the course, you can choose between the signature burger or the signature risotto. The burger is made with house-made jambon, along with carrot rapée, grapefruit vinegar and fennel coleslaw, apple cider vinegar sauce, and a Dijon aioli.

The sauce was so good 🤤 the soft bun combined with the tasty sauce, and you could really feel the crunchy texture and aroma of the carrot rapée!

Signature risotto

A risotto made with abalone sauce, topped with fried glasswort (bangpungnamul).

Thanks to the abalone sauce, the flavor was rich and deep, and the texture of the risotto was really good too. If I had to choose between the burger and the risotto, honestly I wanted to eat both — each had its own distinct charm, lol.

Panna cotta

The final dessert is a panna cotta made with milk and fresh cream. It came with a blueberry compote, and they even explained how to eat it — instead of mixing it in, you're supposed to scoop the panna cotta and blueberry compote together in one spoonful. It might be the tastiest panna cotta I've ever had?! The soft, clean flavor of the milk and cream combined with the tangy blueberry compote made it the perfect final dessert for the course. Even after eating a variety of dishes before it, this let me finish the meal cleanly without feeling heavy 🤍

Is Don Tamguso a good date dinner near Magok Station?

What stood out most about the September course

Don Tamguso, a restaurant near Magok Station, was a fun and different experience because it reinterpreted pork through a variety of cooking techniques, unlike the usual meat dishes I eat. Being able to watch the cooking happen right at the open kitchen, plus getting a detailed explanation with every dish that came out, meant there was fun in both watching and eating.

• ✔️ A unique pork-themed course meal
• ✔️ Casual dining enjoyed at an open kitchen
• ✔️ A course menu that changes every season
• ✔️ The charcoal-scented grilled pork tenderloin I loved
• ✔️ A full lineup that goes all the way through burger, risotto, and panna cotta
• ✔️ A Magok Station date restaurant that's great for setting a relaxed weekend mood

If you want something a bit different from a regular meat restaurant, or want to set a relaxed mood on the weekend, and you're looking for a good restaurant or date spot near Magok Station, Don Tamguso is worth a visit. Especially if you love meat, this Magok Station course meal lets you enjoy it in a way that's different from usual, which makes it even more fun 🤍

Don Tamguso hours and parking

Don Tamguso's hours are Mon–Fri 11:30–21:10 (break 14:00–17:30) and Sat–Sun 15:00–21:10. Parking is available, with up to 2 hours supported.