Beginner-friendly tuna restaurant in Dalseo, Daegu: Hangil Tuna

I was craving tuna for the first time in a while, so I headed to Hangil Tuna (한길참치), an aged-tuna specialist in Janggi-dong that says it has spent 15 years devoted to tuna alone. I went with a friend I hadn't seen in ages, and we had a time that was a treat for both mouth and eyes. Here's my honest review, let's go~!

Hangil Tuna Janggi-dong: parking and how to get there

Hangil Tuna is in the Janggi food alley in Dalseo, Daegu. By public transport, Yongsan Station is the closest, but I think taking a bus is the better option.

Hangil Tuna has no private parking lot, but there's a public lot across the street, so parking is easy. The Bonri 1-dong public parking lot (1196 Bonri-dong, Dalseo-gu, Daegu) is very cheap, so I recommend it!! It was packed even on a Monday evening, so the Janggi food alley really is a hot spot.

Seating inside Hangil Tuna: fine for solo diners and groups?

Hangil Tuna has bar seats for solo diners. An experienced chef cuts the tuna right in front of you in real time!

There are also seats where you can enjoy tuna under atmospheric pendant lights, plus a private space for groups. Overall, Hangil Tuna feels very upscale and calm!

Even the restroom is fancy, haha. It's inside the restaurant.

Hangil Tuna menu: how does the Manager Special differ from VIP and Special?

We ordered the Manager Special for two! You get up to 2 refills. VIP and Special differ by cut, so connoisseurs might want to try the higher-grade sets, but a tuna newbie like me (?) found the Manager Special plenty upscale. They also give a discount if you write a Naver receipt review!!

Manager Special basic spread: what side dishes come out?

The first course of the Manager Special is abalone porridge!! It's set out with individual small plates, sauce dishes and individually wrapped spoons and chopsticks. The nutty, well-simmered abalone porridge soothed our empty stomachs.

Next is a fresh vegetable salad. It's a perfect appetizer before the sashimi!! The dressing was light, so it works for dieters too.

Plenty of things that go well with tuna: seaweed sheets, aged kimchi (mukeunji), pickled scallions (rakkyo), pickled radish and pickled ginger!!

A very fresh fried egg, which I guess is made with fish-roe-style eggs! Eating it before the meal helps keep blood sugar down~~~ Then clam soup, grilled mero (a white fish also known as Chilean sea bass), and the dish on the right, which I'm not sure what it was, a fish with a chewy texture like freshwater eel, and it was so good.. I'm on a diet so I couldn't eat much, T_T but total rice thief… I was on the verge of filling up on side dishes before the tuna even arrived.

Hangil Tuna Manager Special for two: how were the portions and taste?

The main dish is finally here!! The first platter of the Manager Special for two, haha

Several well-marbled tuna cuts come out evenly. For tuna beginners the Manager Special alone is totally enough.

The Hangil Tuna table goes together harmoniously with the side dishes. It's the set for two, but it was generous enough for three people.

Suddenly, a mood-setting fried egg, lol. Look at that plump yolk... The fish side dishes were all delicious too. The grilled mero was so chewy and nutty T_T

Tuna after so long!! The fattier cuts were rich and flavorful, while the red-meat cuts were clean and light, so alternating between them was great, haha

How to enjoy tuna at Hangil Tuna

Wrapping it in seaweed with pickled ginger and aged kimchi is the best!! There's a sesame oil sauce and a soy sauce, so pick whichever you like. Oh, and the more wasabi the better, that's the truth. It's the kick that cuts the richness of the tuna!!! Not spicy at all, haha

Hangil Tuna's 2 refills: how much actually comes out?

The Manager Special comes with 2 refills as standard, and the amount was huge. We got so, so full that we could only refill one platter.

It felt like they piled on even more than the first platter, lol, and it seemed to be different cuts too. I'm a pretty big eater myself, and I was done after two platters, so Hangil Tuna is truly generous. I also asked for refills of the pickled ginger and aged kimchi and they piled them up like a mountain, which threw me, haha

Dessert: udon, shrimp tempura and tuna sushi

The dessert course at Hangil Tuna was udon, shrimp tempura and tuna sushi. Calling it dessert is a stretch, this is already a meal on its own T_T The tuna on the sushi was really thick, haha

I left Hangil Tuna in Janggi-dong touched by how generous it was~~ Recommended for when you want to stuff yourself with high-quality tuna! ^^