Gongdeok Seoul Korean beef family dinner with a kid's add-on: Usu

These days when we eat out as a family, I care about a space where we can talk comfortably as much as I care about the taste. And on days when I want a slightly special dinner with my kid, I check everything more carefully, from the menu to the seating.

This time we had dinner at Usu in Gongdeok, a hanwoo (Korean beef) dining restaurant close to Gongdeok Station. The two adults had the dinner course, and instead of the course, our child had an added order of hanwoo shrimp-cut (saewusal). It's not a course of just beef: seafood, noodles, pot rice and dessert are all in there, so it was lovely for a slow dinner.

Where is Usu in Gongdeok, and is it good for kids?

Usu is a private-room hanwoo restaurant on the B2 floor of the Lotte Castle President arcade at 109 Mapo-daero, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It's easy to reach from Gongdeok Station Exit 2, and best of all, you eat in a separate room.

Even with a child, we didn't have to worry much about the tables around us, and it was easy to chat privately as a family while enjoying the course.

• Address: 109 Mapo-daero, B2, Unit 201, Mapo-gu, Seoul
• Hours: 11:00–22:00
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Seating: private rooms
• Parking: building parking available, 3 hours free (no limit on number of cars)
• Corkage free, open every day, group seating available

How does the Usu dinner course start? Ingredient presentation and one-bite dishes

Once you sit down at Usu, barley tea is served and the course begins with a showing of that day's ingredients. It was our child's first time seeing something like this, and they loved it!

When I visited, the first dish of the dinner was a beef-and-chicken porridge (ujae jinjuk) made with hanwoo bone broth and chicken stock.

The bite-sized dishes that followed came in four kinds: one with scallop and clam, a bulgogi sandwich, sweet shrimp with pollock roe, and a lobster taco.

Even within one tiny bite, the ingredients and sauces were all different, so it was fun to try them one by one before the real main dishes. Honestly, since some of it was raw, I'd wondered about adding the course for our child too, but we only added hanwoo, and what do you know... they ate so well that next time we're thinking of adding the course for them too ^^

Middle courses alternating seafood and hanwoo

In the middle of the Usu dinner course came shiitake shrimp with zucchini, hanwoo tartare with seaweed (gamtae), and a tilefish dish, one after another.

The tartare came with fried nurungji (scorched rice), seaweed and aioli sauce, so it was a slightly different way of eating yukhoe (Korean beef tartare) from what we usually have.

The tilefish came with barley and chamnamul (pimpinella) rice and neungi mushroom broth, which felt like it tidied up the flavors of everything I'd eaten before.

After that came 1++ hanwoo tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty) and abalone five-color gardenia noodles,

and with seafood and noodle dishes slotted in between the hanwoo, the course never felt monotonous.

Main 1++ hanwoo grill, plus a ribeye cap add-on for the kid

The main of the Usu dinner course is a 1++ hanwoo grill with a banseang (set meal), cooked yourself on a personal grill to the doneness you like. And then, the hanwoo main we'd been waiting for!

Nobody has to keep grilling for everyone else, so it was comfortable to eat as a family and cook each piece slowly to our own taste.

Only the two adults ordered the dinner course, so we added hanwoo shrimp-cut (saewusal) separately for our child. Taking a kid to a course-only restaurant always makes the kid's menu a worry, but being able to add a single hanwoo item and eat together actually suited our family well.

Pot rice, hanwoo seaweed soup and corn dessert to finish

After the main, the Usu dinner course winds down with pot rice, hanwoo seaweed soup (miyeokguk) and a banseang. We'd eaten quite a few plates, from the bite-sized dishes to the tartare, fish, abalone and hanwoo, but getting warm rice and soup at the end felt like a proper Korean course finish.

Dessert was corn ice cream, corn cream cheese, chapssal-tteok (chewy rice cake) and corn crumble, and we finished the meal with tea. The course changes with the season and time of year, so please treat the menu I describe as what it was at the time of my visit.

Family dinner with a child in Gongdeok: how was Usu?

Eating at Usu, my impression was of a course that presents hanwoo and Korean ingredients in many different ways rather than flashily stressing beef alone. Above all, the private room let us talk at leisure as a family, and by adding hanwoo shrimp-cut for our child, we could all enjoy dinner together.

Given the course format, it suits a visit where you set aside plenty of time rather than a light, quick dinner. If you're looking for a calm evening place in Gongdeok for a meal with parents, a family gathering or an anniversary, have a look. And if you go with a child like we did, it's worth checking when you reserve which extra hanwoo items can be ordered alongside the adult course.