Mapo Korean restaurant dinner for coworkers in private rooms: Usu

This time, I wanted to have a slightly special dinner with a coworker for the first time in a while, so we went to Usu, a Korean course restaurant by Gongdeok Station. Even when I have meat, I usually go to restaurants where we grill it ourselves, but that day we tried a course where each dish came out one by one and the staff explained everything, from the ingredients to how to eat it. Let me show you the 90g Dinner B Course we had, one dish at a time :)

Usu hours and parking

• Address: Unit 201, B2, 109 Mapo-daero, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:00–22:00
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• If you come by car, you can use the Lotte Castle President parking lot. They say you can get three hours of free parking with a meal, with no limit on the number of guests, so it seemed convenient for bringing parents or for a family gathering with several cars.

How to find Usu from Gongdeok Station

Usu is on B2 of the Lotte Castle President shopping arcade, connected to Exit 2 of Gongdeok Station. We went into the building and headed down to B2, and it was easy to find.

What are the all-private rooms like?

Once inside, the thing that stood out most at Usu was that every seat is in a room. The room we were shown to was completely separate from other tables, so it was nice to take our time over the meal while chatting as a pair. There was not much surrounding noise to worry about either, so I thought it would suit occasions where conversation matters, such as a family meeting between prospective in-laws or a family gathering. There was also a separate clothes hanger in the room, which made it easy to hang up a coat or outerwear.

Dinner B Course 90g: what is included and the price

At Usu, the amount of Hanwoo and some of the menu composition differ by course. We had the 90g Dinner B Course, at ₩109,000 per person. Usu is said to have free corkage, so you can also have it with alcohol you bring yourself.

Today’s ingredients before the course began

Before the course began, a staff member brought over a large wooden box. At first I wondered what it was, but they were showing us the ingredients that would be used in that day’s dishes. There were fish, vegetables, mushrooms, seafood, and more on top; when they opened the drawer below, the Hanwoo for the main course was in there too. Seeing the real ingredients first rather than only on a menu made me even more excited about what was coming.

Beef-and-chicken congee

The first dish was beef-and-chicken congee. They said the congee is made with a rich broth of Hanwoo beef bones and chicken, with scorched rice, green onion crust, shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, white wood ear mushrooms, and more. The warm, soft congee had little bites of scorched rice and mushrooms throughout, making it a nice start before getting into the course properly.

Three bite-sized dishes

Next, three small dishes arrived together on a large plate.

The first was a bulgogi sandwich. It was brioche filled with Hanwoo bulgogi, button mushrooms, and triple-cream cheese. Bulgogi is familiar, but with soft brioche and cream cheese, it felt quite different from the bulgogi I normally eat.

The second was scallop and clam. This dish combined a seared scallop with a clam cream sauce, apple, onion, seaweed powder, and more. The scallop had a tender bite, and the clam cream sauce made it nicely rich.

The last was sweet shrimp gim-bugak (crispy fried seaweed). It paired grilled seaweed brushed with pollock roe with fried rice made with abalone innards, sweet shrimp, and yuzu sauce. The crisp seaweed and tender shrimp gave it a clear contrast in texture. All three had completely different ingredients and flavors, which made trying them one by one fun.

Shiitake shrimp and zucchini

Next came shiitake shrimp and zucchini. We were told that the shiitake shrimp used shrimp and shiitake mushrooms, while the zucchini contained tofu, aged kimchi, golden enoki mushrooms, and more. A peanut-tofu sauce was spread underneath, with green chamnamul oil added on top, so the plating was pretty too. The shiitake flavor came through clearly in the shrimp dish, and the zucchini was soft when scooped up with its many fillings. The peanut-tofu sauce underneath was especially nutty and good to scoop up with the shiitake shrimp.

How did I eat the beef tartare and gamtae?

Beef tartare with gamtae seaweed came next. It included house-made aioli, fried scorched rice, pickled crosne, cured egg, and more. Following the staff member’s instructions, I folded the gamtae over the top and ate it in one bite. The soft beef tartare gained the fragrance of the seaweed, with a crisp texture in the middle too, so it was fun how one bite went from soft to crunchy.

Tilefish

The dinner course also included a tilefish dish. It was said to use tilefish with barley, chamnamul, and a mushroom broth. Rather than only Hanwoo dishes continuing throughout, the tilefish in the middle made for a different change from what we had eaten before. The outside was seared while the flesh inside was softly cooked.

Tteokgalbi

Next was a bite-sized tteokgalbi, Korean grilled minced-meat patty. It came with pistachio, celeriac purée, shiitake mushrooms, white balsamic sauce, and more. The staff member told us to mash it together before eating, so that is what I did. With the freshness of the celeriac and the aroma of shiitake, the tteokgalbi felt lighter than I expected.

Abalone five-color gardenia noodles

Before the main Hanwoo arrived, we had abalone five-color gardenia noodles. The gardenia-colored noodles were topped with shredded radish with black sesame, bracken, shiitake mushrooms, seasoned chamnamul, perilla leaf, abalone, and several other ingredients. This dish uses a gamtae dressing and mustard-garlic sauce, and the staff member told us to mix the noodles evenly with all the toppings.

Main: 90g 1++ Hanwoo sirloin

And finally, the main course, 90g of 1++ Hanwoo sirloin, arrived. Each person received Hanwoo and an assortment of vegetables for grilling, and there was an individual brazier at the table.

Rather than coming fully cooked, we could grill each piece to our preferred doneness. Instead of putting it all on at once, we slowly grilled a few pieces at a time. The slices had some thickness, so even when only the outside was cooked, the inside stayed juicy. At the end, I put a piece on top of rice and ate them together.

Hanwoo seaweed soup set meal

A Hanwoo seaweed soup set meal came with the beef as well. It included rice, seaweed soup, gat kimchi, and several side dishes. After having more unusual dishes like the bite-sized plates and noodles, having rice and seaweed soup at the end really made it feel like the meal was being brought to a close.

Corn dessert

After the meal, dessert arrived at the end. Centered on corn ice cream, it was said to include corn cream cheese, apricot, corn crumble, sponge cake, and green tangerine cream sauce. The ice cream had corn’s characteristic sweet, nutty flavor, and eating it with the sponge cake and green tangerine cream sauce added a lightly refreshing finish.

Jasmine tea to finish

Jasmine tea came last. After dessert, a little sweetness lingered in my mouth, and the cool tea cleared it away neatly at the end.

After visiting myself

Usu’s course continued through not only Hanwoo but also seafood, noodles, and a set meal, so the selection was more varied than I expected. The staff explained the ingredients and how to eat each dish as it arrived, which made even unfamiliar dishes easy to enjoy. Above all, every seat is in a private room, so it was wonderfully quiet even for a meal with just my coworker. If you are looking for a calm private-room restaurant for a family gathering with parents, a Seoul restaurant for a meeting between prospective in-laws, or an anniversary meal, it may be worth keeping in mind :)