Weekday 5:30pm pork tasting-menu dinner in Magok, Seoul: Don Tamguso

If you're looking for a good anniversary date spot near Magok Station in Gangseo, let me recommend this one .ᐟ I went to Don Tamguso, a pork tasting-menu restaurant near Magok Station — the price isn't scary but the food quality is honestly hotel-dining level ♥ From the carefully plated courses to just how many elegant ways they find to serve pork, I loved it 🐷 The vibe is also clean and nice, making it perfect for anniversaries or special-occasion dates. Let me introduce Don Tamguso, a Magok Station date-night favorite .ᐟ

Where is Don Tamguso and what are its hours?

Don Tamguso is at 128, 11 Magokjungang 6-ro, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, right in front of Magok Station Exit 3. Hours are weekdays 11:30–21:10 (with a break from 14:00–17:30) and weekends 15:00–21:10, and you can park in the building's parking lot.

They describe it as a casual dining spot that cooks pork using various methods to give guests a different kind of experience :) The menu changes every season, so there's the fun of trying something new each time you visit ♥

There's a signboard outside the store with the course order and photos of this season's dishes, so even though it's an omakase-style course, you can check ahead if there's something specific you're hoping for ✨

You can leave your bag and coat here for storage 👜

Open kitchen and counter seating at Don Tamguso

Don Tamguso has an open kitchen, so you can watch the chefs cooking in real time from your seat .ᐟ Seeing the next dish being prepared right in front of you was such a fun, surprising experience 🪄

Most of the seating is a long bar-style counter, with a 4-person table set up in the back for groups or company dinners. Still, since it's a tasting-menu format, eating at the counter really is the way to go (*^ω^*)

I booked the weekday 17:30 course .ᐟ A sheet listing today's course was already placed at our reserved seat :) It gave me that special feeling of a fancy dinner already being prepared 🪄

What's in the 58,000 won dinner course?

When I visited, the Don Tamguso dinner course was ₩58,000 per person. Here's what it included.

• Soup
• Salad
• Lasagna
• Main 1: tenderloin steak
• Main 2: pork belly with minari (water celery)
• Choice of signature burger or signature risotto
• Today's dessert

The course changes every season, so keep that in mind ♥

Drinks: Don Tam highball and house-made tomato basil ade

Can't skip drinks with an omakase - ♥ Mom debated between the wine of the day and a highball, and ended up going with the highball, while I ordered the house-made tomato basil ade. Neither of us really knows alcohol, so when they told us what liquor goes into the Don Tam highball we still had no idea what it meant — they said it's similar to Suntory haha, love that tailored explanation 👍🏻 We ordered the Don Tam highball for ₩10,000 and the house-made tomato basil ade for ₩7,000 :)

Soup — chestnut, button mushroom, fresh cream

A nutty chestnut flavor spreads out gently, mixed with the crunch of sweet walnuts — it kind of tastes like autumn itself 🍂 A really excellent appetizer - 🤎

Our drinks came out along with the highball .ᐟ The tomato basil ade had plenty of house-made syrup, so it wasn't too sweet and was really refreshing to drink — I even scooped out and ate all the tomato bits at the end 🍅 The Don Tam highball was clean and not sweet, so mom, who hates sweet alcohol, enjoyed it well with the food. She said it felt similar to Suntory :)

Salad — dried persimmon, orange, apple, basil, prosciutto

A salad packed with all kinds of fruit — wow, each fruit had such a different texture and you could really taste each one, which surprised me ♪(´ε｀ ) A great dish for whetting the appetite before the meat course 🍋

Shiitake mushroom lasagna even a mushroom-hater finished

The third dish of the Don Tamguso course was a lasagna made with shiitake mushrooms, a white ragu, mozzarella, and a smoky sauce.

I normally don't like strong-smelling mushrooms and avoid dishes with shiitake or truffle aromas, but here it was all in one dish ... (；ω；) I figured I probably wouldn't be able to eat it, but I took a bite anyway .ᐟ ?

Oh, this is SO good ✨ The ragu sauce had such a rich flavor that it balanced out the mushroom smell, so it wasn't overwhelming, and the mozzarella cheese was nutty too — if anything, the mushroom boosted the savory depth. Even a mushroom-hating human genuinely enjoyed this dish ♥

Main 1 tenderloin steak and Main 2 pork belly with minari

Main 1 — shio koji, tenderloin, button mushroom, sun-dried tomato

Is this really what pork tenderloin steak normally looks like...? I thought it was beef Σ੧(❛□❛✿)

The moist, tender tenderloin released juice as I chewed it — incredible. The juices basically danced around in my mouth 💃🏻

The doneness was exactly how I like it too... it's on a whole different level from regular pork I usually eat. I didn't expect much since it's a pork omakase, but honestly, this is worth it for an anniversary ♥

Main 2 — pork belly, minari, Sichuan pepper, cumin, fennel

You could smell the smokiness the moment the dish arrived. I'm also not a big fan of smoked duck (why am I so picky ;) but I took a bite anyway...

The spices gave it an exotic aroma that almost felt like foreign cuisine, but the minari cut through it cleanly, and the balance was really great. Another win - ✨ Every single dish here just satisfies.

Signature risotto or burger: order one each and share

Signature risotto — Wando abalone, barley, glasswort, Grana Padano

Since you get to choose between the two options, mom and I split them — she picked the risotto, I picked the burger. You could really taste the richness of the abalone innards, and the creamy barley risotto had a fun popping texture. The glasswort added a bitter, novel touch too ✨

Signature burger — house-made jambon, carrot rapée, fennel

By this point I was already pretty full... I underestimated how filling the small dishes would add up to be haha. Still, I couldn't resist the burger with the cute Don Tam logo stamped on it 🍔 Disposable gloves are set out at every table, so you can enjoy the burger mess-free ♥

The cross-section looked pretty too, almost like a sandwich? The house-made jambon inside was thick with a deep meaty flavor, totally different from the store-bought kind .ᐟ The carrot rapé kept what could've been an overly heavy dish clean and balanced 🥕

Dessert of the day — pavlova and panna cotta

The pavlova, made with fresh cream and meringue, had a crisp texture that melted in the mouth — kind of like crunchy cotton candy 🫧 A cute little dish :)

The panna cotta was softer than a regular pudding, with a barely-set texture — a pudding made with as little gelatin as possible.

As someone who always loves pudding, I really, really enjoyed this one. It just melts away and disappears in your mouth ♥

Who is Don Tamguso best for?

• Anyone looking for a good-value pork tasting-menu restaurant near Magok Station in Gangseo
• Anyone who needs a good date-night restaurant for an anniversary dinner near Magok Station
• Anyone looking for a Magok tasting-menu restaurant with distinctive, unusual dishes

For your anniversary date, make it Don Tamguso ♥