Last-seating pork omakase dinner with a friend in Magok: Don Tamguso

Do you prefer pork 🐽 or beef 🥩? Strictly speaking, I'm a pork person! Today I really wanted some delicious pork, so I went for the dinner course at Don Tamguso (돈탐구소) near Magok Station, famous for its pork omakase. I'll review every course in detail!

Don Tamguso hours, parking and reservations

Don Tamguso is open 11:30-21:10 on weekdays and 15:00-21:10 on weekends, with a weekday break from 14:00 to 17:30. Please check the menu photos for course times!

• Address: 11 Magokjungang 6-ro, Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Unit 128)
• Restrooms: male/female restrooms inside the building
• Parking: 2 hours covered in the Botanic Tac Phase 3 building's underground lot
• Reservations: available on Catch Table
• Other: corkage charged, birthday perk, groups welcome, Wi-Fi, wheelchair accessible

Don Tamguso menu

Where is Don Tamguso, and what is the atmosphere like?

Don Tamguso, a pork omakase ("donmakase") spot great for dates in Magok, sits behind Hillstate Eco Magok Station. It's a 3-minute walk from Exit 3 of Magok Station on Line 5.

The whole restaurant is counter seating and holds up to 26 people. It felt clean and tidy, so it was easy to relax and enjoy the meal.

Is the last seating at Don Tamguso worth booking?

Booking the last dinner seating at Don Tamguso lets you enjoy things a bit more privately, but the food came out a little faster than at other times. I booked the last seating, so I got a more private experience.

If you want a private atmosphere, I recommend the last seating like I did; if you'd rather savor the food slowly at your own pace, a more relaxed time slot is probably better.

A personalized name menu and an open kitchen

Don Tamguso asks you to arrive 10 minutes before your reservation, so we got there a little early. As soon as we walked in, a staff member greeted us warmly and kindly led us to our seats. The table was already neatly set.

❣ A thoughtful touch I loved! They had handwritten the name of the person who booked on the menu. A menu with my name on it.. it made me feel extra welcome. It got the meal off to a happy start from the moment we walked in.

The kitchen is open, so you can watch the food being prepared right in front of you. It's fun to watch the chef cook, and seeing each dish come together before your eyes is surprisingly entertaining 🤭

There's a variety of alcohol on display inside. Seeing the actual bottles is more fun than just reading the menu! The showcase suited the upscale feel of the restaurant.

Don Tamguso dinner course for two: how does each dish taste?

We ordered the dinner course for two. Every dish, from soup to dessert, was served with a short explanation from the staff, and listening to it while eating is part of the fun!

Soup of the day: chestnut and cream seasonal soup

A warm soup comes first as an appetizer. Today's was an autumn seasonal soup, and with chestnut and cream in it, it was sweet and smooth.

Salad of the day: apple salad with persimmon vinegar foam

When I saw it I went "huh?" 😮 It was today's apple-based salad! The foam on top is made from persimmon vinegar, and when I pushed it aside there were finely chopped apple, dried persimmon, orange and more.

I worried persimmon vinegar would be too sour, but the sweet fruit and the slightly tangy dressing went together better than I expected, and above all the foam dressing was just amazing ✨

Lasagna of the day: shiitake mushroom lasagna (my favorite course)

Ah, my favorite course 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 As a shiitake lover, just hearing the description made me think there was no way this could be bad! Today's lasagna combined foods that go so well with shiitake: stretchy mozzarella, tomato and white ragù, and perfectly cooked, appetizing shiitake.

It looks a bit like a hamburger! To taste everything together, I cut it in half and put all the ingredients in one bite. The cheese, tomato and meat do give a burger-like feel, but the finish has the rich, nutty aroma of shiitake. I thought, this is it, I'm done 🤩 It was so good I wanted another bowl.

First main: grilled nuruk-aged pork tenderloin

The first main course, with a visual that made me gasp, is tenderloin aged in nuruk (koji, a fermentation starter). It's topped with well-cooked button mushrooms and vegetables. From the main dishes on, pickled cabbage (shown behind) is served alongside.

The grilled tenderloin was my friend's top pick!

Tenderloin, so isn't it going to be dry?

That was my worry, but it was the opposite: the juices seemed locked inside and the fork slid right in, and as I chewed it was moist and tender, neither tough nor dry. A little meaty aroma came through too, which I loved! The well-grilled button mushrooms were full of mushroom juice and so tasty, and the meat, well, what can I say haha. We even finished the leftover oil.

Don Tamguso mango ade

My friend also ordered a refreshing mango ade 🥭 A sip here and there between courses cleansed the palate so I could enjoy the next course even more! The glass is tall, so it's a little hard to mix the mango pulp, haha, but Don Tamguso is still a great place for ade. I recommend ade for anyone who doesn't drink alcohol 👍🏻

Second main: spiced grilled pork belly loin with minari salad

Thanks to the variety of spices, today's second main is no ordinary grilled pork belly but has an exotic charm!

I like most spices except cilantro, and I really love minari (water dropwort, a fragrant Korean herb) anyway, so I had high expectations. Pink inside still means it's well cooked! Look how moist the inside is 👀 That glossy shine ✨ It looked so good!

As the staff recommended, eating the pork belly loin together with the minari salad (the staff told us to eat loads of minari) gave a different texture, which was fun too. And just like the menu said, the spice aroma was strong, and it felt like food from Mexico? Brazil? Somewhere like that! 😊

Don Tamguso signature burger: house-made jambon on a butter bun

This is Don Tamguso's signature burger. The Don Tamguso logo stamped on it is impressive! Thinly sliced house-made jambon (French-style ham), carrot râpée based on grapefruit vinegar, and a rich aioli sauce tying it all together! The filling is so generous that the burger is stacked like a tower!

I prefer butter buns to ordinary burger buns, and the signature burger's bun smelled sweetly of butter, so I liked it even more 😍

At first I wondered how I'd fit it all in one bite, but people can do anything if they try haha. I think food tastes best in one big mouthful, and this signature burger in one bite, with all its ingredients coming together, was truly delicious. The fatty parts of the jambon were so good with every chew. I kept applauding the quality of the house-made jambon 👏🏻

Choice course: abalone-innards risotto and rigatoni pasta

At Don Tamguso's select course you choose either pasta or risotto. There were two of us, so we ordered one of each to share. The pasta is stronger in flavor, so they recommended eating the risotto first.

Today's risotto was abalone-innards risotto. The seasoning is mild; they said it's meant to feel a bit like temple food (?): risotto in a rich crab-innards sauce, served with chamnamul (a wild Korean herb) and abalone. (Should I go live in a temple starting today? 🤭)

I love abalone, chamnamul and crab-innards sauce, so of course I enjoyed it, but the kicker of this risotto was the barley. The chewy barley meeting the springy abalone made such a fun texture that I still remember it. The abalone here is amazing! They said it was from Wando, and it was really big and springy, easily the best abalone I've had lately.

The pasta used rigatoni. Personally I prefer regular long pasta, but the rigatoni was chewier than I expected, probably because it was cooked well, and it went nicely with the small bits of meat underneath. As the staff recommended, putting rigatoni on a nacho and eating them together gave a crispy-chewy, fun texture 😉

Dessert of the day: blueberry compote

The dinner course ends with a dessert topped with blueberry compote! The white part has gelatin in it, which gives it a Greek yogurt-like texture. They recommended eating it one spoonful at a time rather than mixing it.

Hearing "Greek yogurt" I assumed it would be tangy, but it had no sourness at all and tasted like a simply sweet pudding!

Cleaned my plate again today 😋💗

Don Tamguso review perk: free signature dessert

Don Tamguso gives you a signature dessert if you leave a Catch Table or Naver receipt review.

Is the Don Tamguso dinner course filling and good for an anniversary?

Magok is famous for meat, and Don Tamguso is famous there for pork omakase! It works with family, friends or a partner, has a birthday event, and the atmosphere is upscale, so it seems just right for an anniversary.

It's an omakase-style course, so I wondered if I'd still be hungry, but that was a totally needless worry! By the end we were both so full that we politely offered each other the last nacho! The quality of every course, the service of detailed food explanations, and the great taste and portions! Next time I'd love to come with my mom 💗

I recommend Magok donmakase Don Tamguso to anyone looking for a good restaurant for an anniversary, anyone who prefers pork to beef, and anyone who wants to try meat cooked in a variety of ways!