Seoul Station Japanese restaurant for sirloin steak: Ichigyu

Where I went instead of the Seoul Station weekend restaurant crowd

The Lotte Outlet mall and restaurant area at Seoul Station are absolutely packed on weekends! When even finding a seat in the restaurant area is difficult, I recommend looking for the spots popular with office workers around Seoul Station. Toward Namsan from Seoul Station, there are lots of office buildings, including the Yonsei Severance Building—and naturally, lots of office-worker favorites too.

Some places do not open on weekends, though, so while looking for a restaurant that does, I chose Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch.

It is a great gyukatsu (breaded beef cutlet) spot to visit when you are craving beef. In Korea, grilling beef can be so expensive, and it is not easy to find a place where you can grill beef by yourself. As gyukatsu specialty restaurants became popular in Korea, it became one of my favorite foods. It is nice because I can go whenever I want grilled beef.

My weekend dinner visit time

Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch is on B1 of the LG Seoul Station Building, toward Namsan from Seoul Station Lotte Outlet. It is open both Saturday and Sunday on weekends. Hours are 11:00 to 21:30, with last orders at 20:30. I arrived around 20:15,, was the last guest.. and asked whether I could eat until 21:00. So although last order is 20:30, it is best to arrive just after 8 p.m. if possible.

Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch has a cozy atmosphere that feels like stepping into a Japanese izakaya (pub).

Gyukatsu and steak menu

First, looking at the set-menu options, including gyukatsu,

The set with two sirloin gyukatsu portions and a drink is ₩42,000. There are also hamburger steak omurice, steak-don with sirloin, and teppan chopped steak with sirloin.

There are instructions for eating gyukatsu too..

Salt was the best sauce. I do not usually eat chili sauce, so...

On the back, there are the à la carte options.

Basic gyukatsu is ₩19,500. Think of gyukatsu as a beef cutlet.

I came for the sirloin steak, so I ordered the double steak set (jumbo) without a second thought. ₩32,000. There is also hamburger steak omurice for ₩17,000, steak-don for ₩19,500, teppan chopped steak for ₩18,000, and Japanese curry for ₩13,000.

Side dishes

Noodle dishes

They had Kirin draft beer, so I ordered a glass. ₩8,000.

Double sirloin steak: salt was the best

Kirin beer is too bitter for me to drink from a can, but the draft version is so delicious. So I make sure to drink Kirin only on draft. I want one of these Kirin draft beer glasses too..

The double steak (jumbo), ₩32,000, arrived. It is a substantial amount of beef—really enough to leave you full. It comes with Isigny butter to grill it in, but I just like the flavor of beef itself, so I grilled it plain. I took the Isigny butter home and ate it with morning rolls. ^^

Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch—this place’s beef is seriously delicious. There is no gamey smell at all... It is clean and mild, the kind of flavor that keeps you going back for more. Later, I saw that the son of a butcher started this brand and thought, ah! So that is why the beef itself is so good.

The rice comes heaped up too. I usually eat multigrain rice rather than white rice at home, so the white rice tasted so good.

Three sauces come with it, but I liked dipping it in salt the most. Because the beef itself is so good, I felt the wasabi and chili sauce took away from its flavor. Salt seems best when you just want to enjoy the meat itself.

The beef is sirloin; you simply put it on the grill like this. Then grill it yourself and eat.

After people-watching at Seoul Station, coming here was so quiet and nice. You only have to walk a little way to eat this comfortably and cozily...

Seeing the photos makes me want it again, and I am craving this beef flavor all over again!

At first, I dipped it in the sauces...

But because the beef itself was delicious, later I had it only with salt!! Good-quality sirloin beef with white rice—there is no way that would not be delicious. Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch is nice for a date and nice to visit with children too.