Euljiro 3-ga gyukatsu restaurant, same taste as Seongsu: Hurato

Does Hurato Sikdang Euljiro taste the same as the Seongsu branch?

Hurato Sikdang (후라토식당) is a reliable spot where the gyukatsu and steak stay consistent at whichever branch you visit. It's hard to find a place that keeps the same dishes tasting even from branch to branch, and as someone who often goes to the Seongsu branch, I can say the Euljiro branch is no different. I had business in Euljiro today, so I stopped by Hurato Sikdang Euljiro, between Euljiro 3-ga and Chungmuro Stations, and ordered the gyukatsu and the steak set together.

Both are Japanese-style beef sets, but the way you eat them and the texture are clearly different. Gyukatsu charms with the contrast between a crisp coating and juicy meat inside, while the steak set is great for enjoying the tenderness and beefy aroma of thick-cut meat. Best of all, you put each piece on your personal grill, cook it how you like, and switch between three dips and wasabi, so it never gets monotonous to the end.

How should you cook on the personal grill at Hurato Sikdang?

At Hurato Sikdang, both the gyukatsu and the steak set are grilled by you on a personal grill at the table. Unlike ordinary sets where the meat arrives fully cooked through, this meat is served with a red center, so you put it on the grill piece by piece and finish it to your taste.

First, wait until the grill is hot enough before putting the meat on. The gyukatsu coating is already cooked, so rather than grilling it long, press the cut side on the grill briefly and adjust the inside temperature and doneness. With the steak, too, put on only as much as you'll eat and cook both sides, which cuts down on the juices drying out.

I always know better, yet I end up grilling it to my own taste anyway, so it's clearly my own fault for having no self-control around food......

If you like a soft, near-rare texture, just warm the surface lightly; for a firmer bite, grill it longer. The biggest advantage of the personal grill is that even on the same plate, you can cook one piece juicy and the next golden and compare. I also liked being able to eat warm meat right away until the end of the meal. For the record, I prefer well-done over rare, so...

What is the texture of the gyukatsu at Hurato Sikdang?

The gyukatsu at Hurato Sikdang is thick beef wrapped in a thin coating, served pre-cut into bite-size pieces. They were easy to move onto the grill one at a time with tongs, and the outside is nutty and crisp, but the coating isn't too thick, so the flavor of the beef comes through before any greasiness.

When the cut side touches the grill and cooks slightly, the inside stays tender while the surface picks up a grilled aroma. The texture difference between the piece as served and the one grilled a bit longer is distinct. Briefly grilled, it's moist and tender; cooked a little more, the chew and nutty aroma become clearer.

Above all, the crisp coating, juicy beef and grilled cut side came one after another in a single bite. It's a layered texture, unlike a tonkatsu that is all crunch or a steak that is all softness. Eating shredded cabbage in between reset my mouth so the next piece went down easily too.

How is the steak set different from the gyukatsu at Hurato Sikdang?

The steak set at Hurato Sikdang comes with generous portions of thick-sliced beef with no coating, centered on beefy aroma and tender texture. The surface is lightly cooked with a vivid red inside, and you finish it on the personal grill. Compared with the gyukatsu, it lets you taste the grain of the meat, the juices and the grilled aroma more directly.

When you put a piece on the grill, beef fat slowly rises on the surface, and a nutty aroma builds as you flip it. Cooking it too long loses the tenderness, so I grilled briefly at first and then adjusted the time to taste. Properly cooked steak had a springy surface with a tender, moist inside.

If gyukatsu is the dish for enjoying crunch and tenderness together, the steak set focuses on clean beef flavor and aroma. If two of you visit, ordering one of each and sharing works well. Both are grilled the same way but with different textures, so you can compare their strengths as you eat.

How do you eat the three sauces at Hurato Sikdang?

The table at Hurato Sikdang Euljiro comes with three dips: rich soy sauce, sweet chili sauce and salt, which makes it fun to change the flavor with each piece. Rather than dousing the meat in sauce from the start, try the meat's own flavor first and then add a little at a time to notice the differences between combinations.

Soy sauce

The rich soy sauce is salty with savory depth and goes well with rice. A light dip on the crisp gyukatsu coating sharpens the seasoning, and with the steak it brings out a familiar steak flavor. Too much sauce can mask the meat's aroma, so dipping just one side lightly was about right.

Chili sauce and salt

The chili sauce adds a bit of texture and a fresh flavor that cuts the greasiness. It was good for refreshing my palate after several pieces of gyukatsu, and it also matched the steak's strong beefy aroma naturally. Salt is the simplest, but it made the nuttiness and grilled aroma of the meat stand out. A well-cooked piece of steak lightly dipped in salt gave the most direct taste of the ingredient.

How should you eat wasabi with the gyukatsu and steak?

Wasabi also sat on one side of the plate at Hurato Sikdang, and rather than covering the whole piece like a sauce, a small dab on top of each piece worked best. A sharp aroma spreads briefly first, followed by the nuttiness of the beef, leaving the mouth clean.

The combination of steak on top of rice with a little wasabi suited me especially well. You taste the plainness of warm rice, the juicy beef and the fresh scent of wasabi in that order. With the gyukatsu, adding salt and wasabi together sharpened the flavor without hurting the crunch of the coating.

Alternating the three sauces and wasabi keeps changing the texture and impression of the same meat. Soy sauce handles savory depth, chili sauce brings freshness and chew, salt gives clean beef aroma, and wasabi provides a crisp finish. That's why I didn't get tired of one dish even when finishing it.

What comes with the sets at Hurato Sikdang?

The gyukatsu and steak sets at Hurato Sikdang come with fluffy rice, warm soup (jangguk) and kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi). The rice is lightly topped with sesame and shredded seaweed, adding nuttiness with the meat, and dipping the meat lightly in sauce and eating it with rice seasoned things naturally.

The soup warms the stomach between bites, and the kkakdugi resets your palate after the meat. Alternating with cabbage and pickled sides keeps this beef-centered meal from feeling heavy overall. The sides aren't flashy; they're built to help you eat the gyukatsu and steak comfortably to the end.

On the whole, the rice at Hurato Sikdang is pretty good.

Gyukatsu or steak set: which should you choose?

If you like the contrast of a crisp coating and juicy inside, the gyukatsu at Hurato Sikdang suits you. Grilled on the personal grill, the nuttiness of the fried coating gains a smoky aroma, so each bite changes a lot. I'd recommend it to anyone who usually likes tonkatsu but wants a more special cooking method and beef texture.

If you value the beef's own aroma and tenderness over the fried coating, the steak set is the better choice. It's easy to adjust to your preferred doneness, and simple accompaniments like salt or wasabi bring out plenty of flavor. Putting it on rice like a small steak bowl also works well.

If you can't decide, having two people each order one and share is the most satisfying way. You alternate the gyukatsu's crunch with the steak's juiciness, and by mixing in the three sauces and wasabi you experience several textures in one meal.

Overall verdict on Hurato Sikdang Euljiro

What impressed me about the gyukatsu and steak set at Hurato Sikdang Euljiro is that you finish the meat to your taste on a personal grill. The gyukatsu had a great contrast between the thin crisp coating and moist beef, while the steak set was anchored by the aroma and tender texture of thick meat.

With three dips (rich soy sauce, chili sauce and salt) plus wasabi, you can compose a different flavor with every piece. It's a good choice when you want a warm, filling Japanese-style meat set in Euljiro 3-ga, or want to compare gyukatsu and steak in one sitting.

In short, Hurato Sikdang Euljiro is an Euljiro 3-ga restaurant where you control the doneness on a personal grill and can enjoy the different textures of gyukatsu and the steak set together. Choose gyukatsu for crunch, or the steak set for beefy aroma and juiciness. With either, alternating the three sauces and wasabi lets you enjoy changing flavors to the very last piece.