Private-room beef restaurant in Mapo, Seoul: Usu dinner course

Earlier this year, while preparing for a formal family meeting before marriage, I spent a long time looking for a restaurant that balanced a formal atmosphere with good food. Usu (우수), which I visited with my husband in Gongdeok after our meeting, was somewhere I wished I had known about then. This time, we had the Dinner B Course and took in the room atmosphere and course lineup.

Is it easy to reach from Gongdeok Station, and what about parking?

Usu is on the second basement level of the Lotte Castle President Shopping Arcade, directly in front of Exit 2 of Gongdeok Station. We drove, and could park for three hours in the arcade parking lot without a limit on the number of vehicles. We enjoyed our meal slowly for nearly two hours and still had plenty of parking time left, which was reassuring.

Are the rooms suited to a formal family meeting or family gathering?

Every seat was in a private room. The rooms seemed designed with sound insulation in mind, and the lighting could be adjusted to suit the mood of the gathering. I also noticed how clean even dust-prone areas, such as the air conditioner and power outlets, were.

I did not actually hold a formal family meeting here. Still, after having a leisurely meal in a separate space, I felt it could suit a conversation with parents as well.

What is included at the start of the Dinner B Course?

The Dinner B Course we had was ₩109,000 and included 90g of Korean beef cooked on a personal brazier. Before the meal, a staff member presented the ingredients in a wooden box. Seeing the 1++ sirloin through the dry-ice smoke made me look forward to the dishes ahead.

The first dish, u-gye jinjuk, was a warm porridge made with Korean beef bone and chicken broth. Before mixing, it was lightly seasoned but rich in broth flavor; once mixed, it tasted nuttier. Shiitake mushrooms and asparagus added texture.

We were advised to eat the three bite-size dishes counterclockwise: bulgogi sandwich, scallop and clams, then sweet shrimp on gim bugak (fried seaweed crisp). The sweet shrimp with gim bugak, softened by a creamy texture and yuzu aroma, suited my taste especially well. The bulgogi sandwich left a pronounced truffle aroma.

What flavors and textures stood out in the middle courses?

The shiitake shrimp dish paired thick shiitake mushrooms with minced shrimp patties. After the mushroom aroma came springy yet tender shrimp, brought together with peanut tofu sauce and chamnamul oil. The fragrant chamnamul oil was especially memorable. The thinly wrapped zucchini contained tofu, aged kimchi, and golden enoki mushrooms, with the flavor and crisp texture of the aged kimchi coming through clearly.

The yukhoe gamtae paired Korean beef tartare and gamtae seaweed with fried nurungji (scorched rice), aioli, pickled crosne, and cured egg in place of egg yolk. The beef aroma did not stand out too strongly; the gamtae aroma gently wrapped around it. Rolling it directly in the gamtae also let me enjoy the crisp texture of the nurungji.

What was our favorite dish?

My husband and I both liked the Jeju tilefish best. Crisply grilled tilefish was served with a shallow pour of neungi mushroom broth, and its smoky aroma lingered in my mouth. Mashing the sweet, tender fish with barley rice in the warm broth gave it a savory, nutty depth. It felt like ochazuke interpreted through Korean cuisine.

The 1++ Korean beef tteokgalbi (grilled minced beef patty) announced itself with its aroma even as it entered the room. When I mashed it as recommended, basil oil, celeriac purée, and white balsamic sauce came together. Its flavor was interesting because it differed from the tteokgalbi I was used to.

The abalone five-color gardenia noodles had a refreshing flavor and seasoning that worked well as a palate cleanser midway through the course. Yellow gardenia noodles were topped with shredded black-sesame radish, bracken, shiitake mushrooms, chamnamul, perilla leaf, and a generous piece of abalone. Each ingredient remained distinct, and I especially liked the soft texture of the lightly blanched abalone.

How do you eat the main Korean beef?

I grilled the main 90g portion of 1++ sirloin on a personal brazier to my preferred doneness. I usually prefer medium rare, but that day I found the Korean beef more deeply flavorful when cooked medium well.

A miyeokguk bansang (seaweed soup set meal) accompanied the grilled Korean beef. The long-simmered, tender seaweed soup came with side dishes such as salted seafood with seeds and gat kimchi, so we could round out the meal with the meat.

What is included in the dessert?

Dessert centered on corn ice cream, served with corn cream cheese, crumble, apricot, green tangerine cream sauce, and sponge cake. It presented corn flavors through several textures and temperatures.

The occasional apricot flavor and tartness of green tangerine kept this corn-centered dessert from feeling one-note. The matcha sponge cake was memorable too.

Are corkage and celebration services available?

The barley tea we drank with the meal was nutty with a hint of sweetness. Even my husband, who does not usually drink much water with meals, had several cups.

At the time of our visit, corkage was listed as free. We drove, so we did not drink alcohol. The restaurant also says that if you let them know about an anniversary or event, it offers sparkling wine, dessert lettering, and a Polaroid photo service.