Yeouido Japanese restaurant dinner with mini curry: Izawa

A tabletop-brazier gyukatsu dinner near Yeouido Station

I suddenly had the biggest craving for gyukatsu, so after looking around, I went to Izawa Yeouido Direct Store (이자와 여의도직영점), right by Yeouido Station. Honestly, it is harder for gyukatsu to be bad than good lol, but this place lets you grill each piece over your own brazier, so I loved being able to cook it exactly how I like it.

And to give you the conclusion first: absolutely add the curry… seriously… The combination of gyukatsu and curry was so good, even more than the gyukatsu on its ownㅠㅠ

It is practically attached to Yeouido Station, so it is convenient for dinner after work, or for stopping by after IFC Mall or The Hyundai Seoul. For anyone looking for Japanese food around Yeouido Station, the accessibility is genuinely great!

Seating for solo meals or dates

The restaurant is on the second floor of Yeouido General Shopping Center. Inside, it was cleaner than I expected, with seats suited to solo diners as well as tables for two to four people, so it looked good for eating alone or coming on a date.

Since lots of Yeouido office workers visit, I saw quite a few reviews saying there is a wait at lunchtime. If you visit at an in-between time like I did, it should be easier to enjoy your meal at a relaxed pace!

Ordering the gyukatsu set and mini curry

The signature menu is, of course, the gyukatsu set meal! We ordered two gyukatsu set meals at ₩18,000 each, a mini curry for ₩4,000, and a Pepsi Zero Lime for ₩2,000, for a total of ₩42,000.

I was going to have just gyukatsu, but I thought I might start craving curry while eating rice, so I added one mini curry. Yep. Past me deserves praise for that choice.

Sirloin grilled to your preferred doneness

After a short wait, the gyukatsu set meal arrived! It passed the visual test right away… The outside was crisply fried, while the sirloin inside was nearly rare. You simply place each piece on the tabletop brazier and cook it to your preferred doneness.

Rather than eating it very rare, I found it tastiest when I cooked it until the surface was lightly browned. The breading was not as thick as I expected, so it did not feel overly greasy, and the beef was tender and juicy!

Other visitor reviews also often mentioned the tender sirloin and being able to control the doneness yourself as strong points.

And there is something fun about grilling one piece at a time lol. Put on a piece of gyukatsu, flip it, put on another, eat, repeat forever… It sounds like it might be a hassle, but it is surprisingly fun once you do it.

Gyukatsu with curry rice

Gyukatsu + curry + rice—there is no way this could taste bad.

I worried the mini curry might be too little, but it was enough for two people to have a little alongside the gyukatsu. Just put curry over rice and add a piece of freshly grilled gyukatsu on top… insanely delicious…

Honestly, I think I might have felt a little disappointed if I had eaten only the gyukatsu, but having it with curry here and there changed up the flavor, so I did not get tired of it all the way through.

A filling dinner enjoyed slowly

The portion was quite filling for one meal, and because you grill it yourself, you naturally eat slowly, making it good for a date too. The smell does not cling to you as heavily as it does at a barbecue restaurant, and with each person grilling over their own brazier, it was nice to eat slowly while talking.

So if you are looking for a Yeouido date spot and want something a little different from Korean food or pasta, this is a place worth trying! It had been a while since I ate gyukatsu, and I enjoyed it even more than I expected :) Ordering the mini curry was truly a genius move lol. Grill a piece of gyukatsu and have it with curry rice—it is so good, so please try it at least once.

Overall

• A Japanese restaurant close to Yeouido Station
• Gyukatsu you cook yourself to your preferred doneness
• Tender sirloin with relatively thin breading
• Highly recommend adding the mini curry
• Good for solo dining, office-worker lunches, or a Yeouido date