Gyukatsu restaurant in Gangseo, Seoul with cabbage side dish: Ichigyu

※ We received a partial discount from the restaurant, but 🔴 paid the remaining amount ourselves — this is an honest review.

While looking for good restaurants near Balsan Station, we ended up at Ichigyu.

Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch: location, hours and parking

Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch is located at 2F, 211-ho, 269-15 Gonghang-daero, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, a 2-minute walk from Balsan Station. Hours are 11:30–21:30, with a break time from 15:00 to 17:00, and last orders at 14:30 and 21:00.

• 📍 Address: 2F, 211-ho, 269-15 Gonghang-daero, Gangseo-gu, Seoul
• 🕰️ Hours: 11:30–21:30 / Break time 15:00–17:00 / Last order 14:30, 21:00
• 🚗 Paid parking available: first 120 minutes free, additional ₩1,500 per 30 minutes, up to ₩66,000

Two minutes on foot from Balsan Station, Ichigyu has great accessibility. It's located inside the Hillstate Eco Magok officetel commercial building.

You can find it easily — just go into the building entrance and take the elevator to the 2nd floor. Being about a 2-minute walk from Balsan Station also made it really convenient to visit by public transit.

Is there a wait at Ichigyu, and what is the space like?

When we visited Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch, there was no wait, so we got seated right away. That said, since it's a popular spot, it can get crowded on weekends, so if you're planning to visit then, I'd recommend making a reservation through Naver first.

There was a good range of seating, from tables for two up to group tables, and the atmosphere was nice and clean! Another great point was that every seat had an outlet, so you could charge your phone.

What we ordered at Ichigyu and what it cost

Here's the menu — it was explained so thoroughly that just reading it was fun, haha.

• Sirloin gyukatsu ₩19,500
• Sirloin steki ₩19,500
• Kirin draft beer 420ml ₩8,000

This is what we ordered 🥩

Rice served in a rice pot, with free refills

Something I thought was cute from the start was how they served the rice. Instead of a regular rice bowl, they brought out a cute little rice pot all at once. Once the food arrives, you scoop the rice out yourself, which felt sweet and charming somehow. And on top of that, refills are available if you run out! My boyfriend and I shared it between the two of us and never once felt like we were short on rice.

Kirin draft beer at 8,000 won: better than expected

We usually like draft beer, but we're not big fans of beers with a sour taste, so honestly we ordered the Kirin draft without high expectations. But it turned out to be way tastier than expected 🤤 There was almost no sourness — just a nutty, clean flavor that paired really well with the food. Sipping it between bites of gyukatsu was such a good match 🤍

Grilling the gyukatsu and steki yourself in melted butter

The gyukatsu and steki looked amazing from the moment they arrived. After a short wait, our order came out 🥩 and honestly, the presentation alone won us over the second we saw it.

Another cute detail — each dish came with its own individual pat of butter. The idea is to melt the butter on the hot plate first, then grill the meat on top of it.

Being able to grill the meat to exactly the doneness you want was great, and the whole process of melting the butter and cooking it yourself was fun too.

The gyukatsu comes out crispy on the outside and still fairly rare-pink inside, so you can grill it further on the hot plate to your liking. I've had gyukatsu at other places before, and personally, I've sometimes found it a bit too rich to finish by the end. But Ichigyu's gyukatsu was surprisingly light, so I just kept eating it.

The gyukatsu, rice and wasabi combination

Personally, this was my favorite way to eat it: gyukatsu → on top of rice → a little wasabi. Eating it this way was seriously so good. The nutty flavor of the meat with a hint of wasabi on top cut the richness and paired perfectly with the rice. It was the kind of combination that kept me coming back for more, and before I knew it, the rice and meat had disappeared together, haha.

The unexpected kick: Ichigyu's cabbage side dish

Personally, my favorite thing about Ichigyu was the cabbage side dish that came with the meal. At first I just thought of it as a regular side, but eaten together with the gyukatsu, it worked way better than I expected. When you keep eating the meat, you can start to feel a greasy coating in your mouth, but taking a bite of cabbage here and there cleared it right up. It was crisp and refreshing, and it went really well with the gyukatsu. Honestly, it was a combination I kept reaching for without even meaning to.

Even a boyfriend who hates rich food cleared the plate

My boyfriend really hates rich, greasy food — he barely even eats pasta — so I wondered if he'd complain about the gyukatsu being too heavy. But! We both finished our gyukatsu and steki completely!! He said it was delicious too, which made me feel oddly proud.

Overall, the food at Ichigyu was great, but I also loved all the cute little details along the way. Serving rice in an adorable pot, giving a pat of butter with every dish, grilling the meat ourselves on the hot plate — the whole experience was fun 🍻 If you're like us — someone who loves meat but finds overly rich food a bit much — this place is worth a visit.

Who should eat at Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch? 🤍

• ✔️ Anyone looking for a date restaurant near Balsan Station
• ✔️ Gyukatsu lovers
• ✔️ People who find overly rich gyukatsu too heavy
• ✔️ Anyone who enjoys grilling their own meat
• ✔️ Anyone looking for a good restaurant close to Balsan Station
• ✔️ Fans of a cute, cozy restaurant atmosphere