Corkage-free Korean beef restaurant in Mapo, Seoul: Usu Dinner B

It was our anniversary, so I wanted a dinner that felt a little more special than usual. Instead of a busy dining hall, I looked for somewhere we could talk quietly, just the two of us, and eat a course slowly — that's how I ended up booking Usu in Gongdeok.

Every seat at Usu is a private room, and I also liked that it's corkage-free, so we could bring our own wine.

In the end, it wasn't just the food — the anniversary touches were so thoughtful that it left an even stronger impression as a great spot for special occasions.

How to find Usu in Gongdeok, and where to park

• Location: B2, Unit 201, Lotte Castle President Complex, 109 Mapo-daero, Mapo-gu, Seoul
• Hours: 11:00 - 22:00
• Break time: 15:00 - 17:00
• Parking: 3 hours free

Usu Gongdeok is connected to Exit 2 of Gongdeok Station, so it was easy to reach by subway, and there's 3 hours of free parking for those driving. I used to only think about the food when picking a restaurant for an anniversary, but a course meal usually keeps you there two or three hours, so location and parking turned out to matter quite a bit.

Every seat at Usu is a private room

What I liked most walking into Usu was that every table has its own separate room. Food matters on an anniversary, but if the next table is too close or people keep walking by, it really breaks the mood.

At Usu, once you close the door it feels like your own private space, so even with a long course we could talk without worrying about anyone around us. I came on a date, but with this kind of layout, it would also work well for a meeting-the-in-laws dinner, a family meal with parents, or a quiet gathering.

Corkage-free at Usu: bringing your own red wine

One of the things I weighed heavily when booking Usu was the corkage-free policy. Since it was our anniversary, I brought a bottle of red wine I usually like — and corkage fees on top of the course price can add up to a real burden. Here, there's no separate corkage charge, so we could enjoy the wine we brought alongside the course. And there's no limit on the number of bottles, which was a nice bonus.

Rather than drinking steadily from the start, we sipped a little at a time as the course went on, and enjoyed it most once the hanwoo (Korean beef) came out. Since the meat course is a real highlight here, if you like red wine, the perks of corkage-free will feel even bigger.

What happens when you note "anniversary" in the Usu reservation

This is something I hadn't expected — because I noted it was our anniversary on the booking, they brought out two glasses of sparkling wine before the meal started. We'd already brought a bottle of corkage wine, but the meal kicked off with a toast of the sparkling they'd prepared.

What comes in the Usu Dinner B Course

We ordered the Dinner B Course. Rather than starting straight into the food, there's a step where they show and explain all the ingredients being used that day at once. Seeing everything from seasonal seafood to hanwoo laid out in front of us before eating built up the anticipation of how it would all be prepared.

First course: ugyejin-juk (beef and chicken rice porridge)

First came a warm bowl of ugyejin-juk. It's a porridge made with a broth of hanwoo bone stock and chicken stock, plus mushrooms — light as an opener, but with a surprisingly deep broth flavor. Starting with something warm and gentle rather than something bold made me look forward to the rest of the course even more.

Bulgogi sandwich, scallop with clam, and sweet shrimp with gimbugak (fried seaweed crisp)

Next came three small bite-sized dishes together: a bulgogi sandwich, scallop-clam, and sweet shrimp gimbugak (dried seasoned laver chips). Each was tiny — one or two bites — but the ingredients and textures were completely different, and this is the part of a course meal I find the most fun.

The bulgogi sandwich in particular packed a real punch despite its small size, with savory hanwoo bulgogi and a soft brioche bun together. The bread softened the seasoning of the meat, so it was well-balanced in a single bite.

Shiitake, shrimp and zucchini with peanut tofu sauce

Next was a dish of shiitake shrimp and zucchini, served with wild chamnamul (aster) oil and peanut tofu sauce. This sauce pairing really stood out to me — dipping the shrimp and vegetables in the peanut tofu sauce added a nutty richness, and the chamnamul oil rounded off the aroma at the end, so the flavor kept shifting within a single bite. It felt totally different from the small bites before it, which kept the course from ever feeling repetitive.

Yukhoe (beef tartare) with gamtae seaweed

Next up was yukhoe gamtae — beef tartare with gamtae (a type of dried seaweed). The distinct ocean scent of the gamtae kept the tartare from tasting too heavily of just beef.

Grilled ogdom (tilefish) with neungi mushroom broth poured at the table

Then came grilled ogdom (tilefish). The staff poured neungi mushroom broth directly over the fish at the table, and that completely changed the aroma. Eaten alone, the ogdom has a clean, plain grilled-fish flavor, but with the neungi mushroom broth added, it shifted into something much deeper and warmer.

Tteokgalbi (grilled short rib patty) with balsamic and basil oil

Next was tteokgalbi (Korean beef patty). The tangy balsamic and fragrant basil oil layered onto the meaty flavor of the tteokgalbi kept it from being just simply sweet and salty. Of everything in the course, this dish changed the most when eaten together with its sauce.

Abalone with five-color gardenia noodles

Before moving on to the main hanwoo course, abalone five-color gardenia noodles arrived. It's a noodle dish, but not served as a big bowl meant to fill you up — more like a change of texture before the main event.

The main course: 1++ hanwoo sirloin on a personal charcoal grill

And then, the main course we'd been waiting for. 1++ hanwoo sirloin arrived along with a personal charcoal burner. Rather than the staff grilling everything for you, each of us had our own small grill in front of us to cook the meat to our own preferred doneness.

I actually preferred it this way. I could put on a piece at a time and eat it exactly the way I like it done, and drinking the red wine we'd brought alongside it made me really glad we'd brought corkage wine after all.

The hanwoo was great with just a light touch of salt, but eating it alongside the pickled side dishes cut the richness a lot. Whenever the fattiness of the meat built up, a bite of pickle refreshed the palate before moving on to the next piece. So the first few bites I ate plain, and from the middle on, it was fun switching between the different side dishes.

Along with the main course came a hanwoo seaweed soup set. They said they'd refill the soup, rice, or side dishes if we ran low, but by that point I'd already eaten through several courses and was quite full without needing a refill. The seaweed soup wasn't just a light, clear broth — the flavor was rich, which made it a fitting finish as the last Korean set of the meal.

Dessert and Usu's anniversary service: sparkling wine, cake and a Polaroid

After the meal came dessert. First up was corn ice cream, which had that distinct nutty sweetness of corn — a nice palate cleanser after the meal.

Then came corn cream cheese and cake, and this is where the anniversary mood came alive again — they'd prepared a candle and a Happy Anniversary card together.

And the staff took a Polaroid photo of us themselves. Usually when we go out for an anniversary meal, we end up with ten photos of the food and not a single one of the two of us together. This time, having an instant photo to take home ended up meaning more to me than the food itself.

After the whole course wrapped up, jasmine tea was served, which cleared the palate nicely and let us wind the meal down slowly.

Is Usu worth booking again for an anniversary dinner in Gongdeok?

Before visiting, I booked Usu because of the private room hanwoo course and the corkage-free policy that let us bring our own favorite wine. If you're like me and want a quiet anniversary meal just for two, with the option to bring your own wine, Usu in Gongdeok was a really good fit.

If I go again, I'd love to bring another bottle of wine like this time and sip it slowly alongside the hanwoo. Even choosing among anniversary restaurants in Gongdeok again, this is a place I'd think of without hesitation.