Anniversary dinner at Usu, a Gongdeok hanwoo dining spot: shiitake

Basic info on Usu

• Address: 서울 마포구 마포대로 109 롯데캐슬프레지던트 상가 지하2층 201호
• Hours: 11:00 - 22:00
• Break time: 15:00 - 17:00
• Reservations: Naver
• Other: high chairs, parking support

I visited Usu, a hanwoo (Korean beef) dining spot set up as a private-room restaurant. The atmosphere is so nice it'd be great for family dinners, family gatherings, meeting the in-laws, or an anniversary meal.

Store atmosphere

Usu is located on the basement 2nd floor of a building near Gongdeok Station.

The upscale interior makes it a great pick for a meal that calls for some formality.

Private room

Usu in Gongdeok is a room-style restaurant. Each room lines a long hallway.

Eating in a private room like this, without noise or other people's eyes around, let me focus completely on the meal.

Course and pricing

I visited on a weekday for lunch. I chose the C course, and for each course you can choose the amount of meat — 80g, 110g, or 140g.

Order of the Lunch C course (80g)

I went with the Lunch C course at 80g.

First up was a porridge richly simmered from hanwoo bone broth and chicken stock. It came garnished with nurungji (scorched rice), scallion crust, shiitake mushroom, asparagus, and white wood ear mushroom.

Three bite-sized dishes

Next came the prettiest part — three bite-sized dishes. I was told eating them counterclockwise keeps the palate clean, so that's what I did.

On the left is the bulgogi sandwich — brioche layered with hanwoo bulgogi, mushroom duxelles, and truffle cream cheese. On the right is the sweet shrimp gimbugak (fried seaweed chip), which was the tastiest!! It's grilled seaweed brushed with pollack roe, topped with fried abalone innard rice, finished with sweet shrimp and yuzu sauce.

This one is scallop and clam — brick pastry with grilled scallop and foie gras, clam cream sauce, apple, onion, and seaweed powder among other ingredients.

Shiitake shrimp

The third dish was shiitake shrimp. I don't usually enjoy shiitake mushrooms because of their distinct smell, but wow — I didn't know shiitake could taste like this. A totally new flavor for me.

It's definitely mushroom, but sweet and soft, almost like a fried eomuk (fish cake)? A taste you have to try to understand.

Five-color abalone noodles

Next was the five-color abalone gardenia noodles! Garnished with black sesame radish strips, mustard leaf, shiitake, chamnamul (wild aster) namul, and perilla leaf abalone. Seaweed dressing and mustard-garlic sauce gave it a tangy kick — a bit like chogyeguksu (chilled noodles in vinegar broth)?

The perilla leaf aroma came through nicely, and the abalone was very soft and tender — delicious.

Main course: hanwoo grill and side dishes

And finally, the main course — grilled hanwoo with side dishes (bansang).

This is the sirloin cut, 1++ grade hanwoo, and the color was so beautiful.

Flipping it over less than 10 seconds after placing it on the grill made it taste the best, haha. Searing both sides briefly and even the edges is supposed to lock in the juices for even more flavor!

I went with the 80g portion at first, but it was so good I kind of wish I'd switched to 110g~ Still, even at 80g it was plenty filling and satisfying for an adult woman as a full course meal, haha.

There was also hot pot rice made with seasonal fish.

The hot pot rice and hanwoo seaweed soup could be refilled.

Dessert

Lastly, dessert! The black and green pieces on the side are sponge cake, and on the right is corn ice cream!

The corn crumble paired with green tangerine cream sauce was refreshing! It's been a while since I had such a pleasant, formal meal. I'd love to come back again for another anniversary~

How about parking?

For parking, use the same mall parking lot — not the hotel or apartment lot. After parking, come up to basement level 2, pass one shabu-shabu restaurant, and it's right there. Parking is free for 3 hours.

Location

If walking, come out Gongdeok Station Exit 2 and enter through the entrance to Lotte Castle President mall!