Seongnae-dong tonkatsu dinner for three: fillet katsu and curry, Riae

Riae Premium Olympic Park Branch: location and opening hours

Riae Premium Olympic Park Branch (리애 프리미엄 올림픽공원직영점) is at 46 Seongnae-ro 18-gil, 1st floor, Unit 1-1, Gangdong-gu, Seoul. It's a 10-minute walk from Exit 3 of Olympic Park Station or Exit 3 of Dunchondong Station. It's open daily 11:00–20:00 with a break from 15:00 to 16:00 and last order at 19:30, and it offers takeout, delivery, reservations and parking.

I visited Riae Premium, a Japanese-style aged-pork tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) place near Olympic Park. You can walk there from Olympic Park Station or Dunchon Station, and there was parking both in front of the restaurant and behind it.

Riae is also well known as a go-to restaurant near Olympic Park. Delivery is available for short distances, so there were quite a few riders waiting out front.

How do seating and ordering work at Riae Premium?

Inside Riae Premium Olympic Park Branch there were plenty of table seats and bar seats that suit solo diners. There were also several baby chairs, so it looks like a good place to eat out with little kids.

Every table has a tablet, so you can look at photos of the menu and order from your seat. You pay at your seat too.

Riae Premium menu, and items that sell out by dinner

The menu at Riae, a tonkatsu spot in Seongnae-dong, is really varied. We went at dinnertime and a few items were sold out. There are lots of katsu dishes, curries, cold soba and set menus.

You can also add extra single items like tonkatsu, cold soba or curry, which is great if the portion isn't enough or you want to try a bit of everything.

Three fillet dishes ordered for a dinner for three

There were three of us, and we each ordered something different.

• Cold soba with fillet set (naengmomil hire jeongsik) ₩19,500
• Filet mignon fillet katsu ₩19,000
• Tokyo spice fillet curry ₩17,500

Cold soba fillet set: icy, refreshing broth

I ordered the cold soba with fillet set, and it was beautifully plated and a generous portion, so it looked super appetizing. The soba broth had slushy ice floating in it and was really cold and refreshing. It came with shrimp and lemon too, which made it feel more upscale.

The noodles were chewy and the seasoning was just right, so I think this set is perfect to order in this hot weather.

Fillet katsu: thick, tender and generously portioned

Riae's fillet katsu (hire katsu) is thick yet so tender that I think kids would eat it easily too. There was no gamey smell at all, and it was crispy outside and juicy inside, so good.

At lots of places you order fillet katsu and are shocked by how small it is, but Riae's portion is really generous.

As you'd expect from a premium tonkatsu restaurant that insists on top-grade aged pork, the meat quality is good, and everyone at the table said it's one of the best tonkatsu they've had. A great Olympic Park find.

I also liked that there are plenty of things to dip the cutlet in however you like: wasabi, glasswort salt, oil, tonkatsu sauce and more.

Tokyo spice fillet curry: worth an extra bowl of rice

The Tokyo spice fillet curry had a huge amount of curry. It came with soup, side dishes and cabbage too, so it felt like a Japanese home-style meal. I usually don't eat the soup that comes at restaurants, but Riae's was really tasty and my companion ate it all.

The Tokyo spice curry at Riae was so generous and delicious that they even added a bowl of rice. ^^

Tender tonkatsu and curry feel like such a great pairing.

The cabbage sauce was tasty too, so we finished a whole plate of cabbage. ^^

Is Riae Premium worth going back to?

Riae Premium is a tonkatsu place near Olympic Park I'd recommend. The restaurant is clean, and you can feel a real philosophy and pride about tonkatsu, so I trusted it, and the tender aged-pork cutlet is top-notch. It has an open kitchen, so you can watch the meat being trimmed and cooked, which made it feel even more reassuring.

The menu is varied, and I'd happily go back when I'm craving clean-tasting Japanese tonkatsu. It's good for families visiting Olympic Park and I'd recommend it as a date spot too. ^^