Gongdeok Korean restaurant with champagne half-bottle pairing: Usu

Today's post is a review of a dinner course at Usu, a corkage-free restaurant in Gongdeok. I wanted to enjoy a more leisurely meal than usual with champagne on the side, so I headed to Usu in Gongdeok.

• Address - 109 Mapo-daero, Lotte Castle President Complex B2 Unit 201, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours - Daily 11:00–22:00
• Break time - 15:00–17:00
• 🚗 Parking available (free for the first 3 hours)

How to walk to Usu from Gongdeok Station, and parking

You can find Usu easily by exiting Gongdeok Station at Exit 2, taking the escalator down, and walking a short distance forward — the restaurant appears right away. The parking lot is spacious with 3 free hours and no limit on the number of cars, so it's convenient even if you drive.

Walking in, a staff member greeted us warmly. I'd been going back and forth on where to go, but I had a good memory of visiting Usu for my own birthday before, and since it's corkage-free, I ended up choosing this Gongdeok spot again.

Usu in Gongdeok: private rooms for every table

Usu is open year-round and every seat is a private room, with group seating also available. Normally I wouldn't think much about that, but since it was my brother's birthday and we'd brought along champagne we love, I really appreciated the room setup that let us enjoy the meal quietly and comfortably without any disturbance.

Corkage-free: chilling the champagne we brought to Usu

That day, we brought our own champagne to drink with the food. Since corkage is free, we prepared a champagne we like and brought along a Louis Roederer 244.

It was still the middle of summer and hot, so as soon as we were seated we asked for a chilling bucket. When I mentioned it was a birthday at the time of booking, they offered us each a glass of either sparkling wine or juice, so we each requested one. While our champagne chilled, it was nice to enjoy those glasses alongside the first dishes, and it set a good mood from the very start of the meal.

What is in Usu's Dinner B course at 109,000 won?

We booked the Dinner B course at ₩109,000, and only my brother upgraded his hanwoo (Korean beef) from the base 90g to 150g for an extra ₩20,000. Besides the course, there's a kids menu, à la carte additions, and single dishes, so you can customize according to your taste. With such a wide range of options, it seemed well suited not just for birthdays and anniversaries but also family gatherings or even more formal meals like a meeting between families before marriage.

Here's Usu's wine list. Even with corkage-free policies, I like to check in advance since bringing the same drinks the restaurant sells isn't really proper etiquette. Looking at the list, they had everything from well-known popular wines to a good variety of other options, and the prices felt relatively reasonable for a dining restaurant.

Maybe because we'd booked ahead, the food didn't take long to arrive.

First course at Usu: ugye jinjuk (thick chicken rice porridge)

Ugye jinjuk (a rich porridge made from beef and chicken broth): made with a broth simmered from hanwoo beef bones and chicken, topped with crispy rice, scallion crust, shiitake mushroom, asparagus, and white wood ear mushroom. From the first bite there was a deep savory flavor along with a subtle nuttiness,

and the smooth texture combined with the crunch of asparagus and the varied textures of the mushrooms made it fun to eat. The rich broth's flavor, nuttiness, and range of textures were more than enough to whet the appetite from the very start of the course.

Before the main part of the course began, they showed us the ingredients that would be used and walked us through them.

Three one-bite dishes: the amuse-bouche

Amuse-bouche. First came an amuse-bouche made up of three bite-sized dishes. True to the 'dining' name, the plating showed real attention to detail. A staff member told us to eat starting from the top and moving counterclockwise.

Bulgogi sandwich (grilled marinated beef bite)

A bulgogi sandwich made with brioche bread, hanwoo bulgogi, and button mushroom truffle cream cheese. Overall it had a soft texture with a fairly strong truffle aroma. Even in one bite, the savoriness of the bulgogi and the richness of the truffle cream cheese blended well.

Scallop with clam

A dish of crispy brick pastry with grilled scallop and clam cream sauce. The crisp texture of the pastry paired with the nuttiness of the cream sauce, and the popping texture of the avruga caviar was fun too.

Sweet shrimp with gim bugak (crisp fried seaweed)

A dish of grilled seaweed brushed with pollock roe and fried abalone innard rice, topped with sweet shrimp and yuzu sauce. You could really taste the sweet shrimp's characteristic richness, while the crispiness of the gim bugak (crispy fried seaweed) and fried abalone innard rice worked well together. Of the three, this was personally the most memorable.

Shiitake and shrimp: the first strong champagne pairing

Next came the shiitake and shrimp dish. A-grade shiitake mushroom paired with shrimp, zucchini, tofu, aged kimchi, and golden enoki mushroom. Overall it had a clean, light flavor, and eating the shiitake and shrimp combination reminded me a bit of Chinese-style yuxiang deep-fried mushroom dishes.

Personally I liked the pairing with champagne here too. The champagne, which had a slightly sharp acidity when first opened, felt much smoother in balance once paired with the nutty, creamy peanut tofu sauce.

As we slowly started opening the chilled champagne, our pace of eating naturally slowed down a bit. Noticing the food we still had left, the staff thoughtfully told us they'd prepare the next course a little more slowly — a nice touch.

Yukhoe (beef tartare) with gamtae seaweed

Yukhoe (Korean beef tartare) with gamtae (a type of edible seaweed): the yukhoe came with gamtae, house-made aioli sauce, fried crispy rice, pickled Chinese artichoke, and cured egg. The soft yukhoe combined with the distinct aroma of gamtae, plus the crunch from the fried crispy rice, was the highlight. In particular, feeling the crispiness of the crispy rice amid the soft yukhoe made it fun to eat.

Tilefish with barley and wild-herb rice

Tilefish. The next dish was tilefish, served with barley-and-wild-vegetable rice and mullet roe.

I was curious how they'd prepare tilefish, a prized fish from Jeju Island.

They poured the broth right in front of us.

I loved the crispy fried tilefish skin and the light yet chewy texture of the fish itself, which reminded me a bit of chicken, along with the subtle aroma of the neungi mushroom broth that made the whole dish clean and refreshing to eat. I don't usually eat much fish, but this was one of the dishes I really enjoyed that day.

Tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty)

Next was tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty), served with crushed pistachio, celeriac purée, and shiitake mushroom, with white balsamic sauce and basil oil. The familiar tteokgalbi combined with the nuttiness of pistachio and the smooth celeriac purée for an overall soft, nutty flavor that blended well.

The white balsamic sauce and basil oil added a subtle freshness and aroma to what could otherwise feel like a heavy dish. Since tteokgalbi is such a familiar dish that most people like, I thought even kids would enjoy it.

Five-color abalone gardenia noodles: the best match with champagne

Next was the five-color abalone gardenia noodles. Along with abalone, it was topped with a variety of vegetables — black sesame julienned radish, bracken, shiitake mushroom, seasoned wild aster, and perilla leaves — with gamtae dressing and mustard garlic sauce.

The crunchy texture of the vegetables, the tangy flavor from the sauce, and the lingering aroma of perilla leaf all came together for a refreshing dish overall.

Maybe that's why, before the main beef course arrived, this dish paired so well with champagne that I started to regret only bringing a half bottle. 😄

Main course: 1++ hanwoo sirloin with side dishes, 90g vs 150g

True to being a hanwoo dining restaurant in Gongdeok, a charcoal brazier came out signaling the main hanwoo course was coming, followed by the bansang (side dish set).

Even though it's part of a course meal, they gave us a generous portion of rice too. The seaweed soup had plenty of meat in it, which felt extra special since we were there for a birthday!

My brother added ₩20,000 to get 150g. On the left is the 150g, and on the right is the base 90g. Since there are rice-based dishes throughout the course, I think even the base 90g would be plenty filling for those without a big appetite.

True to a 1++ grade hanwoo restaurant in Gongdeok, the marbling was evenly spread throughout, making it look great too. I also liked that we could grill it ourselves to our own preference.

The thicker cuts had the distinct chewy texture and rich meaty aroma of sirloin,

while the thinner cuts were a bit more tender with the characteristic nutty flavor of hanwoo coming through clearly. Even within the same 1++ hanwoo sirloin, the texture and flavor varied a bit depending on thickness, which made it enjoyable to try in different ways.

Feeling the need for meat and rice to feel properly full — I guess that confirms I'm Korean after all!

Desserts and the birthday service at Usu

The dessert was corn ice cream with corn cream cheese, apricot, corn crumble, and green tangerine cream sauce. The nutty, soft flavor of corn combined with the freshness of apricot and green tangerine cream sauce made for a soft yet refreshing finish!!

Since we were visiting for a birthday, they added a candle to the dessert and even took a Polaroid photo for us. Thanks to that, we came away with not just a delicious meal but a small keepsake to remember the birthday by, which made it feel even more special.

Is Usu in Gongdeok worth bringing your own champagne to?

Each dish tasted great, but personally, the thoughtful service throughout the course is what stuck with me most. In particular, the pairing between the champagne we brought corkage-free and the course dishes was really good — it was fun how the champagne tasted different depending on the food, and it made me glad I'd brought it along.

Given the price point, it's a good place to visit on a special occasion, and I think it's a dining spot well suited to spending a relaxed time on days when you want a slightly more special meal, like a birthday or anniversary.