Mapo Seoul gyukatsu restaurant with limited tenderloin: Gyudo

Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch in Mapo Station’s underground arcade

I was looking for a great gyukatsu spot and it was so delicious that I had to share it!! I visited Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch, a Mapo Station favorite that feels like gyukatsu at its most classic! I had heard the wait could be pretty long, so we did an opening run right after the lunch break!

It is literally one second from Mapo Station!!! Since the restaurant is underground, there is no need to go upstairs after getting off at Mapo Station—just head straight into the underground shopping arcade!!

We came from ground level, and you can also find Gyudo by taking the escalator down across from the building, haha.

The restaurant genuinely felt like I had arrived in Japan!!! I actually ate gyukatsu in a setting like this when I was in Japan, haha. It is totally perfect for a date, too!! There were far more couples than anything else, like us, and I even saw people coming here for blind dates, haha. Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch felt that polished and welcoming—like you were being properly treated!

Seating for everything from solo meals to dates

It was also easy to dine alone without feeling awkward! There are solo seats, so on a day when you are craving gyukatsu, it would be so nice to pop in for dinner right away, haha. There is even a separate place to hang outerwear, so you can eat comfortably!

Every seat had its own hot stone, along with a very polished menu!

The hot stone looks small in the photos, but it is bigger than expected in person! It was not inconvenient at all for two people. I asked about the unusual brazier, and they said it was a custom-made bangjja yugi plate—traditional hand-forged brassware!! Bangjja yugi is expensiveㅠㅠ but it definitely retains heat well! Paying attention to details like this is exactly why it is a Mapo Station favorite 👍👍

There was solid fuel beneath the hot stone, so we could use the grill properly until we had finished all the gyukatsu!! They even refilled it once when the fuel was about to go out!! I really loved that attentive check-in.

Limited tenderloin gyukatsu and a smoked gyukatsu set

I loved that there were so many menu options! There were also sets where you could have special gyukatsu and yakiniku (Japanese grilled meat) together! If you choose a set, you get a discount and can add either gamtae myeongran (seaweed with seasoned pollock roe) or a drink, so definitely order a set!! We decided to try the tenderloin gyukatsu, limited to 15 servings a day, and the regular gyukatsu!

There is also one piece of shrimp tempura available through a review event, so be sure to write a review and get it!!

Another thoughtful touch at Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branchㅠㅠ Open the drawer under the seat and you will find utensils, a mini rice paddle, and tissues arranged for easy use! So thoughtfulㅠㅠ It really made me feel looked after!!

A sign said to call a staff member for rice and soup refills: you request the soup from staff, while for rice you use the self-service bar right beside you! There is also broth for making sungnyung, scorched-rice soup, once you finish the pot rice, haha. I chose katsuobushi broth, while my boyfriend chose tonkotsu broth; I will share my thoughts on the broths near the end!

At last, the gyukatsu arrived! I chose the regular gyukatsu, and my boyfriend chose the limited tenderloin gyukatsu! The regular gyukatsu is on the left and the tenderloin gyukatsu is on the right! Now I understand why people order the tenderloin version. The regular one had wonderful marbling too, but the tenderloin seemed to have a clearer meat texture and even better marbling! If you make it within the first 15, I recommend stopping by Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch for the tenderloin gyukatsu!

Tenderloin gyukatsu, limited to 15 servings daily

Limited tenderloin gyukatsu menu — ₩26,000 (limited to 15 servings)

There was a good amount of meat, haha, and the pieces were quite large too!! Gyudo’s limited menu really lives up to its reputation, haha. As I said earlier, the meat was beautifully marbled and its color was so, so vivid! It looked so delicious that it almost felt a shame to grill it, haha. (It honestly looked like it would have been delicious raw too, hahaha.)

Once grilled, the meat aroma came through first, followed by a crispness that lingered in my mouth. Perhaps because the meat was so good, it was incredibly tender even though we overcooked it a bit!!!! We thought we were eating cotton candy rather than meat, haha.

Wood-smoked gyukatsu set

Smoked gyukatsu set — ₩22,000

There is nothing more to say about smoked gyukatsu, haha—it is simply the best, haha. Unlike other places, the regular gyukatsu at Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch is smoked, which made it even more delicious! The meat was wonderful and tender too, haha. And it is not just any smoking method: they use an offset smoker for wood smoking, so the smoky aroma is said to seep deep into the meat!! It really feels like Korea’s only premium gyukatsu!

With all that marbling, I thought it might be a little rich, but the smoky aroma hit the nose and cut the richness so well!! It was so delicious!

That glowing tenderloin gyukatsu... It was delicious whether cooked through to your preference or just lightly seared on the outside! Having the hot plate right in front of me and being able to eat it exactly how I wanted was such a plus! Some places heat stones and give one to each person, and that is nice too, but using solid fuel like this seems much more convenient. With the heated-stone places, the stone cools down as you eat, so you may have to ask for it to be changed, which can be a little bothersome, haha.

Finishing with pot rice, poached egg, and ochazuke

The rice that comes with the meal is served in a pot! Such a huge advantage of Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch!! If you love pot rice, I think you will really love the gyukatsu-and-pot-rice combination! They said they use premium Sindongjin rice to maintain the best chew and texture. As you can see in the photos, it was beautifully glossy~~

Even the rice with the other side dishes was so delicious, haha. Rice really has to be good!! The pickled wild garlic, wasabi, sauce, and shredded radish salad are all said to be 100% handmade, which may be why the savory flavor felt so special!

I loved dipping the gyukatsu in salt, but I also really loved dipping it in the 100% handmade sauce! Maybe because it was handmade, the sauce had a flavor I had not tasted anywhere else! And imagine how delicious the sauce tailored for the smoked gyukatsu must be!!

High-quality meat plus 100% handmade sauce is truly a match made in heaven♥ And with Sindongjin rice—how delicious is that!!!

A poached egg comes with it too, and the egg-plus-meat-plus-rice combination was just so good! Add a little shredded radish salad and you have a complete meal in no time, seriously,,

The rich poached egg was truly so delicious, haha. Even without rice, the egg-and-meat combination was wonderful! (Protein power, haha.) Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch also has self-serve sungnyung, with an unusual ochazuke (rice in broth) concept! Combining Korean sungnyung with Japanese ochazuke made for such a fun, different way to eat, haha.

I poured in the katsuobushi broth, let it soak thoroughly, and then tried it~ Wow, it had the feel of sungnyung as well as the ochazuke feel I love, so it was really delicious!! It felt especially like ochazuke when eaten with the gyukatsu, which I loved so, so much!

And the tonkotsu broth~ haha. It could have seemed like a rich broth, but it was clean-tasting, so it was even lighter and more refreshing to eat! With gyukatsu, it definitely had that ochazuke feeling too, haha.

It was such a satisfying meal! Perhaps because it is Korea’s only premium gyukatsu, I felt so well treated, and it made me realize gyukatsu could be this tender. If you want to experience premium gyukatsu in Korea, I wholeheartedly recommend Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch!