Jongno Japanese restaurant with butter-grilled gyukatsu: Ichigyu

Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch location and hours

• Location: B123, B1, Le Meilleur Jongno Town, 19 Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea (서울 종로구 종로 19 르메이에르종로타운 지하 1층 B123호)
• Hours: 11:00 AM–9:30 PM / last order 8:30 PM
• Break time: 3:00 PM–5:00 PM / open every day!

I took a few photos below to make the location a little easier to explain too 📸

Enter through the main entrance of Le Meilleur Jongno Town, take the escalator you see right away down to B1, and you’re there! Ichigyu is right in front of you when you step off the escalator, so it’s easy to find :) If it’s your first visit, I think you’ll find it in no time by following this route!

Please refer to the B1 directory of the building!

Waiting and reservations

For the waitlist, use Catchtable! You can use the app or register for the waitlist in front of the restaurant. For reservations, use Naver Booking or contact the restaurant; weekday reservations begin at 1:30 PM, while weekend reservations begin at 11:00 AM!

What are the seating and atmosphere like?

There were various seating options inside, including tables for four and two! The space between two-person tables wasn’t especially wide, but not so close that neighboring guests’ voices bothered us. The four-person tables felt comfortable!

The first thing I noticed upon entering was the high ceiling! Maybe because of it, the place looked much bigger than it actually was, with an open, airy feel rather than anything cramped!

Near the entrance, there was a hanging fixture that looked like a model of beef (?)! It caught my eye right from the start and really gave the place that gyukatsu-specialist feel...! It was fun looking around because of these unusual interior details. Each table also had a cute lamp with the Ichigyu logo on it. The soft lighting made the table feel warm, and those little details were so cute...ㅠㅠ!

Ichigyu menu posters were up on the walls! They were useful for checking the menu, of course, but they also blended in nicely as part of the decor, so they were fun to look at too! Hehe. Aprons were available near the tables as well, so you could eat gyukatsu comfortably without worrying about splatters on your clothes~~!

Gyukatsu menu and prices

Looking over the menu, I thought the set options were put together really well. They include plenty of dishes to enjoy alongside the gyukatsu, so I liked that you can try a little more variety at a discounted price!!!

How do you order?

You order using the QR code attached to each table!

There were notices about ongoing events on the table too! Grillable cheese, thin-sliced mochi (rice cake), and shrimp tempura.

The day we tried regular and double sirloin gyukatsu

I visited with my boyfriend! The weather was unbelievably hot that day, so the moment we sat down, I was desperately craving a cold beer 🍺 Before we even looked at the menu, we ordered beer (₩8,000) first, haha! We gulped it down as soon as it came out, and it was the best!

One great thing about Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch is that you can choose either 200cc or 400cc for your beer! We ordered the 400cc without even thinking twice, but I think the 200cc option would be nice for anyone who just wants a sip or two!!!! It’s really, really good that people who only want a little beer with their meal can order without feeling burdened!!!

Every table has its own little tabletop brazier 🔥 When you order gyukatsu, the staff light it for you! Gyukatsu doesn’t arrive fully cooked; you place it on the little brazier and cook it to your preferred doneness. Since the flame needs to last until you finish, the staff keep an eye on it throughout the meal so you can enjoy every last piece warm!

Ta-da! Our ordered sirloin gyukatsu finally arrived 🥩 You could see the fresh beef texture still intact beneath that deliciously crisp-looking breading!!

My boyfriend ordered the double sirloin gyukatsu! Just looking at it, don’t you think, “Oh, so this is why it’s called double!”? Hahaha. The gyukatsu came stacked in two neat layers 🥩🥩 Even one portion looked quite generous, but with two stacked up, it definitely looked like a lot! If you love gyukatsu and want a filling meal, the double would be a good choice!

The rice comes in a little insulated rice container so it stays warm until the end 🍚 The staff told us we could get more rice if we needed it! It was nice to be able to serve ourselves warm rice whenever we wanted, and get more without hesitation if it wasn’t enough. The rice was nicely firm and delicious, so my boyfriend and I got about half a serving more each! Hehe.

This is the Isigny butter that comes with the gyukatsu set! It seems like you get one per dish, and you can add more butter for ₩1,000 if needed. My boyfriend had the double gyukatsu and I had the regular one, but one each was plenty! Melt the butter over the brazier, then place pieces of gyukatsu on top to grill—doesn’t the color of the meat look gorgeous? ㅠㅠ... You can grill it only lightly for a tender bite, or cook it a little longer for a cleaner flavor! Being able to cook each bite just how you want makes it so much fun to eat!

Just look at the gyukatsu turning beautifully golden and delicious on the little brazier 🥩🔥 Seeing it sizzle made even the wait enjoyable!

Personally, I cooked mine quite thoroughly—almost to the point where I wondered if I’d overcooked it! But even then, the meat wasn’t tough at all; it had such a tender texture that seemed to melt in my mouth... 🥩 The outside was crisp and the inside was soft, so it was even more delicious than I expected!

The cabbage pickles that came with it were great to eat in between bites too! Gyukatsu can start to feel a little rich, but a bite of crunchy, tangy cabbage pickle refreshed my mouth perfectly 🥬 And my personal top recommended combination is wasabi! 💚 Put a little wasabi on top of crispy grilled gyukatsu, and its sharp heat makes the flavor of the meat come through even more!!! I personally thought small bites with wasabi were the tastiest combination!

As we kept eating piece by piece with wasabi, before we knew it, the plates were completely empty! 😂 We were enjoying it so much that we lost track of time and cleaned every plate, haha. It really was such a satisfying meal!!! My boyfriend, who ordered the double, also said every last piece was so delicious and couldn’t praise it enough!

And there was another thoughtful touch I found after we finished and came out! Febreze was available in front of the restaurant! When you grill meat, food smells can cling to your clothes, so they had it ready for guests to spray before leaving. It was lovely to see them paying attention to even these small details, and we left feeling good right to the end!