16.051 Dinner Omakase

Cycle 16 – Item 51

25 (Tue) February 2025

(An interestingly round date: 02.25.2025)

Post 5,530

Dinner Omakase

4.0

at Woommage

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with the Family

Woommage is a Korean restaurant.  Specializes in hanwoo, served as a multi-course prix fixe meal.  Appears to be independent, no relation to other hanwoo restaurants of the same name.

Located in Seonghi Plaza, 36 m from Namwirye Station (Exit 3).
The front door is in fact the rear door (staff only), presumably so that the dining area faces the window.
Seating capacity: 12.

The original venue for W’s 50th birthday dinner was Jumbo Seafood, where we’d had my birthday dinner (see 15.357 Lobster Braised with Superior Broth), but various complications suddenly arose that necessitated rescheduling.

But she still wanted to celebrate, something fancy, like my birthday lunch (see 16.011 (Lunch) Signature), somewhere near home – at the last minute, she found Woommage.  Fortunately, they had seating.

Odd that this, having such a strong hoppy flavor, would be the only lager option on the menu.

Again, this misuse of “omakase,” so rife these days in Korea (see for example 13.315 Omakase (Actually Kaiseki)).  As noted ad nauseam on GMTD (see generally 11.305 Tora Omakase (Actually Kaiseki)), the term technically refers in the Japanese tradition to a method of service, often at a sushi/sashimi bar, where the chef improvises items for a specific customer (e.g., cuts of fish), depending on what’s available, what the customer likes, what the customer is willing to pay, etc.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that the food is exclusive/expensive/experimental (though usually it is).  I’m wondering if restaurants use the “omakase” label because certain dishes in the set are new/innovative and thus involving an element of uncertainty (i.e., “I trust you”) – yet still strange when applied in a non-Japanese context: here, the set could’ve been called, just as legitimately, and more accurately, as “hanwoo jeongsik.”

The menu changes every couple months, so they said.

For dinner, the “omakase” with 12 courses (actually 13, counting the amuse-bouche), plus tea/coffee service, cost 120,000 won per customer.

(The lunch set with 9 courses costs 89,000 won.)

4 portions = 480,000 won.

From start to finish, the food was amazing.  Each dish comprised top quality ingredients, thoughtfully conceived, though not necessarily thought-provoking, expertly executed.  Nowhere near as transformative an experience as Jungsik (see 16.011 (Lunch) Signature), but worthy in its own right, especially at a fraction of the cost.

Don’t recall ever seeing truffles so close up.
10. Gukbap with rice and banchan (3.5): straight up traditional, as if to reward the palate with comfort food upon successfully running the gauntlet.
11. Sorbet (3.0): again, right before dessert?? / 12. Dessert (3.0): whatevs.
+1. Macarons (?): on the house!

Beyond the food, I appreciated the service.  Everything was plated and presented by a pair of guys, presumably prepped by them as well, possibly the owners, probably brothers (maybe fraternal twins), both polite and straightforward, willing and able to answer questions, with quiet confidence and without bullshit (see also 15.196 Shrimp & Fluke Ceviche in Mustard Oil).  I felt respected but not pandered to (see for comparison 15.049 Dinner).

Can’t wait for a return visit, preferably after the menu changes.

(See all HANSIK)

(See all RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

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