Gyukatsu restaurant lunch date with husband at Balsan Station: Ichigyu

Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch has a Japanese-style interior and truly great meat in its gyukatsu (beef cutlet) and steki sets, so I highly recommend it as a lunch date spot near Balsan Station!

Where is Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch, and how is the parking?

Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch is a 2-minute walk from Exit 1 of Balsan Station, so it's right by the station. The building's garage runs from basement level 1 to level 6, and it covers 2 hours of parking as standard.

My husband and I took the elevator up to the 2nd floor. Even the exterior was neatly done in wood. And of course I wasn't going to skip the mirror selfie! haha

The garage goes from B1 to B6, so there's no worry about finding a space. They cover a full 2 hours, so we could eat at a relaxed pace.

Atmosphere and seating at Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch

The restaurant has a clean wood interior with a Japanese feel. There are plenty of tables for two, so it's a perfect mood for a date around Magok and Balsan.

I heard it's popular for office workers' lunches on weekdays, and the share of two-person tables is just as high as the four-person ones.

Each table had a personal brazier and a menu, all neatly arranged.

What did we order at Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch?

Since this is a gyukatsu specialist, we ordered mainly the signature dishes. The menu runs from à la carte items to set meals.

• Gyukatsu set ₩19,500
• Steki set ₩19,500
• Mini curry ₩5,000
• Zero Coke ₩3,000

QR ordering and the receipt-review shrimp tempura

Oh, and you order by QR code here! I didn't spot the QR code on the wall and went to the counter to order. haha

While waiting for the food, I left a Naver receipt review and got a huge, hugely tasty shrimp tempura. It's one per review, so if two people each leave a review, you get two.

Ichigyu's gyukatsu set: how does the crispy-outside, juicy-inside sirloin taste?

Ichigyu's gyukatsu set (₩19,500) is medium-rare sirloin fried crisp only on the surface, which you grill yourself on a personal brazier. Being able to adjust the doneness to your taste was the biggest plus.

Both dishes arrived at the same time. My heart skipped a beat! Thump thump!

🥩 The rosy sirloin arrived at medium rare. Doesn't that gyukatsu look insane? Only the surface is fried crisp, and you grill it yourself on the brazier. (It's small, but the heat is surprisingly strong.)

They fill the brazier with solid fuel, let it heat up a bit, then put on French Isigny salted butter. (It's just right if you split it into 3 rounds.)

The instructions said the gyukatsu tastes best grilled for about 7–8 seconds. Sizzle, sizzle, swish! I think the great thing about gyukatsu is that you can set the doneness to your liking.👏🏻

Crispy outside, so juicy inside, with a wonderful nutty richness. Maybe because it's sirloin, it was definitely 🥩 full of juice. And so glossy~

There was a piece, you ask? There wasn't. haha It melts in your mouth T_T It's a totally different charm from pork tonkatsu, and it feels so upscale. Classy vibes! 👏🏻

Which sauce goes best with gyukatsu?

I tried it with Ichigyu's special sauce, salt, chili sauce and wasabi. The salt was my favorite, since it cleanly brings out the natural flavor of the meat.

Rice and cabbage refills, and the mini curry

My husband was eating so happily that we got refills of rice and cabbage salad. 🍚 I was told you can refill the rice as many times as you like.

The mini curry (₩5,000) comes with warm, fluffy rice; I put curry and gyukatsu on top and took a bite. It's a rich, smooth, thick Japanese-style curry that goes perfectly with gyukatsu. We enjoyed it.

How is Ichigyu's steki set different from the gyukatsu?

Ichigyu's steki set (₩19,500) uses the same sirloin as the gyukatsu, but with no batter, so you enjoy the 🥩 meat itself in a lighter way. It wasn't greasy or heavy at all.

I read in the restaurant's intro that the owner grew up as a butcher's son... and the freshness and quality of the meat did seem a cut above.

With beef, it's fine to eat as long as the redness is gone, right? hehe

Dip the sirloin, touched with a subtle butter flavor, into the special sauce! Pure bliss~ The garlicky sauce clings to the rich meaty aroma. 👍🏻

It has both the tenderness of tenderloin and the nuttiness of striploin. Not greasy, not heavy, just clean. Thumbs up! 👍🏻 The steki flavor was so good that it vanished in no time.

The shrimp tempura I got from the review event was seriously huge and seriously good, so if you visit Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch, definitely take part in the event.

Would we return to Ichigyu for a Balsan Station lunch date?

The gyukatsu and steki sets I had at Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch 👏🏻 tasted like you don't need to go all the way to Japan. My husband and I have a 99.9 percent chance of coming back.

• ✔ Near the station, with convenient parking
• ✔ Fresh, high-quality sirloin
• ✔ Highly satisfying gyukatsu and steki sets
• ✔ The fun of grilling it yourself to your taste
• ✔ A clean, stylish space

My husband and I have bookmarked Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch as our go-to Balsan Station lunch date spot. The diet starts tomorrow... T_T

Address: 2F Unit 211, 269-15 Gonghang-daero, Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Magok-dong 797-14) / Line 5 Balsan Station Exit 1, 116 m / Hours 11:30–21:30, break 15:00–17:00 / Parking: 2 hours covered in the underground garage