Mapo Station yakiniku restaurant with sirloin pot rice: Gyudo

Hi, this is Syusyuming 😆 This time I went looking for good eats near Mapo Station and ended up at Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch (규도 마포공덕 본점)!

Where is Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok, and where do you park?

Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch sits right below Exits 1 and 2 of Mapo Station, so it's really convenient to reach by public transit.

If you're driving, just search 'Mapo Hanwha Obelisk Apartment,' park there, and walk over — much easier that way.

Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo's signature menus are the smoked gyukatsu set and the smoked yakiniku set. I went with the yakiniku set this time.

Why is the sirloin in Gyudo's gyukatsu and yakiniku so tender?

One of the special things about Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo is that both the gyukatsu and the yakiniku use sirloin!

Maybe because it's sirloin, the meat felt really tender and had a nice nutty flavor. The yakiniku had that smoky char alongside the meat's own flavor coming through properly — I enjoyed it a lot.

The gamtae myeongran that comes with the set was also a subtle delicacy. Scooping some rice out of the pot rice and topping it with gamtae myeongran gave it a salty flavor plus the distinct aroma of gamtae (seasoned seaweed) — genuinely delicious.

How do you eat Gyudo's pot rice broths? Korean-style ochazuke

The most fun part of Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo for me was how many ways you can enjoy the pot rice. When you order a main dish, it comes with pot rice — after scooping out some rice, you pick a broth from the station set up on one side of the restaurant and pour it in to your taste.

The choices are

• Solomon's seal tea
• Pork bone broth
• Bonito broth

It felt like a Korean reinterpretation of Japanese ochazuke, so it was a fun, different way to eat during the meal. I went with the pork bone broth, and honestly, that was my favorite point of the whole meal!

Pouring pork bone broth over the pot rice made it feel like eating a clean, comforting rice-and-soup dish, wrapping up the meal I'd had with the meat in a warm way. Going from the meat all the way through the pot rice, I finished the meal really full.

The tip to not miss: rice-tea flakes in the utensil drawer

And one tip you really don't want to miss! Inside the drawer where the utensils are kept, there are flakes prepared for you to add to your sungnyung (scorched rice water).

I discovered it at the very end and added it in — the crunchy texture on top was a nice bonus. If you're having the pot rice, don't forget to add it in!

Is Gyudo worth it? Several flavours from one Mapo set menu

Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo's biggest appeal isn't just eating meat and calling it done — it's that you can enjoy one meal in several different ways.

I tried the yakiniku and meat on its own, topped rice with gamtae myeongran, mixed the soy-marinated egg into rice like a soy sauce egg rice, and finally finished the pot rice with pork bone broth — so even ordering just one menu item let me experience several different flavors.

The pork bone broth pot rice I had at the end was the most memorable part for me. If you're near Mapo Station looking for a filling, unique meat meal, Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo is well worth a visit as a Mapo Station restaurant or a Gongdeok Station restaurant :)