600-day anniversary hanwoo omakase dinner in Gongdeok, Seoul: Usu

Today I visited Usu, a Korean beef omakase restaurant in Gongdeok with great atmosphere, to celebrate my 600-day anniversary with my husband. Because it's a private Gongdeok dining room, it felt like an intimate date just for the two of us — even though it was just another meal with my husband, it genuinely felt like an actual date(?). Usu, a Seoul dining hanjeongsik (Korean set-course) spot 🖤

Where is Usu? Connected to Gongdeok Station Exit 2, with 3 hours of free parking

Usu is located on basement level 2 of the Lotte Castle President commercial building — a Gongdeok dining room restaurant. The address is Gongdeok-dong 467, Mapo-gu, Seoul.

It's connected to Gongdeok Station Exit 2, so it's convenient for walk-ins, and it even has a parking lot — rare for a Seoul restaurant — making it great for those driving too. ※Usu Gongdeok offers 3 hours of free parking.

Usu's private rooms and corkage-free policy

Every seat is in a private room, so it's perfect for dates or family meeting dinners, and there's also spacious group seating, making it a great pick for important company dinners or family gatherings too ✅

Ah! And best of all, it's corkage-free, so you can enjoy good wine or whiskey alongside top-grade hanwoo (Korean beef).

We booked via Naver Reservations before visiting~!

Usu Dinner B 90g course: starting with beef-and-egg rice porridge

The Usu dinner course started with an explanation of the ingredients we'd be eating today.

The first dish, served in a small jar, was beef-and-chicken jinjuk (a thick rice porridge)~! It was clean and mild, great for whetting the appetite before the meal.

Four bite-sized dishes: hanwoo bulgogi, sweet shrimp with gim bugak, lobster, scallop and clam

The bite-sized dishes were so beautifully plated.

I could really feel what people mean by "you eat with your eyes first" with this plating ✨

It was great being able to taste a variety of ingredients in one bite each — hanwoo bulgogi, sweet shrimp & gim bugak (fried seaweed chips), lobster, and scallop with clam.

Shiitake shrimp and zucchini with oak-oil tofu sauce

The shiitake shrimp and zucchini dish had lovely colors. The shiitake mushroom was stuffed with shrimp, and the zucchini had golden enoki mushrooms inside, giving the whole dish a chewy texture overall. The tofu sauce drizzled with oak oil had a nuttiness I'd never tasted before — a sophisticated, alluring flavor.

Hanwoo yukhoe (Korean beef tartare) with gamtae seaweed

Next was hanwoo yukhoe (raw beef tartare) with gamtae (seaweed).

Hanwoo, yukhoe, and gamtae together — need I say more! Rolled up in the gamtae and eaten in one bite, the fresh tartare fills your mouth and blends beautifully with the smooth sauce 😋

Jeju tilefish and abalone five-color gardenia noodles

For the Jeju tilefish dish, a staff member poured the sauce right in front of us over the fried tilefish — the smoky aroma was surprisingly savory.

1++ hanwoo tteokgalbi (patty-style short rib) & abalone five-color gardenia noodles. Both are familiar dishes, but each had a slight twist that gave them a fresh feel. In particular, the abalone in the noodle dish was the softest abalone I've ever had, and the mustard-garlic sauce on the noodles was so good I wanted to take a jar of it home.

The highlight: chef's choice hanwoo and 1++ beef on a personal grill

Today's highlight — the chef's choice hanwoo platter. Since it's chef's choice, the cut of beef seems to vary day to day.

A tray came out with three side dishes and seaweed soup, along with a hot-pot rice made with seasonal fish, split nicely into two portions for us to eat comfortably. The seaweed soup must have been simmered a long time, because the beef inside was so tender it melted right down.

And perhaps the real main event — 1++ grade hanwoo, grilled at your own personal tabletop grill.

It was nice being able to grill it to your own taste using the personal grill placed in front of each of us, and there was something fun about grilling it neatly right at your seat.

🔊Hanwoo-grilling ASMR. The mini grill produced less smoke than I expected and cooked the beef evenly without burning it — honestly, I wanted one of these personal grills for myself haha.

The salt served alongside must have been a premium salt too — it had no bitterness at all, so it was delicious even just dipping the beef straight into it.

Finishing tea and corn dessert at Usu

For the finishing tea and dessert 💛

Finishing the meal with a comforting corn dessert and refreshing tea left us pleasantly full and in a great mood.

Why Usu works for anniversaries and in-law meeting dinners

From the overall course to the private atmosphere, Usu is a hanwoo course dining spot I'd recommend for important occasions like anniversaries or family meeting dinners. Definitely worth a visit with people who matter to you..👍