Late-night tuna à la carte with free sushi rice refills: Jongno Darang

Hi, this is Gyuljonggak. This time I'm bringing you a Daegu tuna restaurant near Jongno — a Bandwoldang favorite for sashimi, Jongno Darang (종로다랑).

₩50,000 bluefin tuna course, à la carte possible after 9pm

This is a new-ish Daegu bluefin tuna specialty restaurant. The bluefin tuna course at ₩50,000 and the bluefin + big flounder course at ₩45,000 seemed to be the popular menu items. There's also group seating for 20+ people, and after 9pm you can order à la carte items too. I timed my visit right at 9pm.

A wide, calm hall, and ₩20,000 corkage

The interior has this vibe — the whole place has a kind of calm, settled feeling to it.

Once inside, I was surprised at how much bigger it was than I expected, with way more tables than I thought. Several group parties were already there.

There were seats on the 2nd floor too, but only the 1st floor was operating that day.

They've got sake too, you know? For reference, corkage is ₩20,000 per bottle. Most places charge ₩30,000, so this is actually a pretty decent — no, a genuinely nice — price.

A cute cat drawing. It reminded me of Bongsuk, the cat I had growing up (a black-and-white one).

You order here at the kiosk. Since à la carte ordering is totally fine after 9pm, I first ordered the small bluefin tuna.

Before 9pm, most people seem to order the bluefin or bluefin + flounder courses, and the prices were reasonable for what you get.

Warming up with salad, steamed egg, and three kinds of crunchy pickles

Salad came out first. Nice and tangy, really wakes up the palate — perfect warm-up before a shot of soju.

Then steamed egg. The warmth was nice — felt like it was coating and protecting my stomach before the soju hit it.

Next, three kinds of crunchy pickled vegetables, served with a sesame oil and salt sauce, and seaweed.

This is the salt I asked for separately. Honestly, plain salt with tuna is a real delicacy too.

They also rolled out plenty of sushi rice (shari) I could use to make my own sushi — no extra charge for it. I ended up refilling it twice... sorry about that, haha.

Quick soju-beer tech: going full Tesla-tech (Terra & Chamisul).

A full platter of bluefin tuna (small), from judoro to the throat cut

This right here is the bluefin tuna (small).

From 12 o'clock going counterclockwise: judoro, otoro, gamatoro, akami, and on the edge, belly meat and the throat cut. It's packed with fatty, tasty parts, which somehow made me feel warm and content. It's kind of like a bouquet — I'll just call it a tuna bouquet.

Even piling on wasabi, it's not spicy at all. That savory, fatty tuna flavor is just so good.

The tuna loin has a clean, light taste — it's perfect to eat a piece of every now and then while working through the fattier cuts.

A refreshing broth soup. With clam meat inside, it's clean and light. On its own it's already a great drinking companion — feels like getting a free side dish. Maybe that's just my drunkard mindset talking...

Self-made sushi from free rice refills, and doing the value math

Eating it together with sushi rice was genuinely delicious...

Some pieces I ate with salt and wasabi — pairing it that way instead of soy sauce brought out the natural savoriness and umami of the tuna even more cleanly.

Kept adding more sushi rice and eating... Honestly I did the math for the value here — if you go elsewhere for tuna belly sushi, each piece runs ₩4,000–8,000, right? What came out here was around 24 pieces total... running that miracle math, a whole platter for ₩60,000 is genuinely cheap.

Even just chewing on the seaweed alone was delicious.

Seafood ramyeon ordered after reading a review

I tried the seafood ramyeon. Someone in a review said they liked it so much after one bowl that they ordered another — so I figured this was a must-try. Inside there seemed to be clam meat, crab, and squid too. With so much seafood in it, the broth was really refreshing.

The broth was refreshing and spicy in a good way, and since I like my noodles with a good chewy bite, these were cooked just right with great texture — I get why someone would order it twice in a row.

I fished out all the clam meat inside for my self-made sushi... not exactly a life-changing flavor moment, but the whole activity itself was fun.

Overall thoughts

The place is spacious, the atmosphere is nicely calm, the seats are comfortable, and both the value and taste are great... honestly I was satisfied with everything. If I ever crave tuna, Jongno Darang will definitely come to mind. If you're looking for a Daegu tuna restaurant near Jongno or a Bandwoldang sashimi spot, I highly recommend Jongno Darang.

• Address: 46-1 Jongno, Jung-gu, Daegu, South Korea
• Hours: 15:00 – 01:00 (last order 00:00)