Late-lunch gyukatsu with no break time in Samsan, Ulsan: Izawa

My partner and I have never actually been to eat gyukatsu together?? We both love it but somehow never went, so it was time to fix that. I heard there was a well-known gyukatsu spot called Izawa in The Terrace Garden in Ulsan, so we went to check it out.

Where is Izawa Ulsan The Terrace Garden branch, and what are its hours?

• Location - 231 Samsan-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan
• Hours - Daily 11:00 - 21:00
• Last order - 20:25

The moment you step off the elevator, Izawa is right there. Since this gyukatsu specialty restaurant is open year-round with no closed days, you can drop by anytime.

No break time either, so you can really go whenever. The entrance already had a strong Japanese vibe. And that smell of gyukatsu cooking hitting your nose!! Ugh, I was drooling ㅠㅠ

How long is the wait at Izawa? A roomy waiting area

Izawa Terrace Garden branch has a huge waiting area right by the entrance. The seats are kind of unusual-looking, right? Looking around while you wait, you won't get bored. There can occasionally be a wait, but tables open up faster than expected, so don't worry too much. A group ahead of us was still waiting, but two-tops were open, so we got in without any wait at all.

Even though we came a bit late, the place was packed with customers. The sound and smell of gyukatsu sizzling filled the whole room.

Grilling gyukatsu on a personal stove and ordering by QR code

Once we sat down, they brought us bottled water and a stove with solid fuel. Haven't seen a solid-fuel stove like this in a while. They served bottled water too, which felt nicely hygienic.

They told us to just order through the QR code at the table, easy as that. Loved how simple ordering was.

You could browse the menu and order in one go. The photos were nice and big too, easy to see what was what. Since we came for gyukatsu specifically, ordering was quick.

Gyukatsu served as an individual set: easy for solo diners

We didn't wait long at all before our neatly plated individual gyukatsu sets arrived. Because it comes as an individual set, a lot of solo diners were eating there too.

A big plate piled with gyukatsu!! Doesn't it look amazing? Tender beef seared only on the outside, then sliced — the way you eat it is you cook these slices on the stove to your own preference.

Place it on the heated grill plate like this and wait a bit,

then flip and quickly sear the other side!! There's no way this isn't delicious. Once the pink just fades you can eat it, but I like medium so I cooked mine a bit longer. My partner went medium-rare, just searing the outside. Love that with gyukatsu you can cook it exactly to your taste.

Wasabi and the two dipping sauces at Izawa

A little wasabi on top of the rice,

then we tried it with soy sauce, and also with Izawa's special house sauce. However you eat it, it's savory and delicious. Every bite went wherever our hands reached first. The soy sauce felt classic, and the special sauce was savory and tasty too.

Being impatient people, it felt like too little at a time, so we piled a bunch on the grill all at once haha. I especially like mine well-done, so I put mine on early and ate them one by one. The meat was tender and savory, so good. There's absolutely, absolutely, absolutely no way to dislike this taste.

Receipt-review drink, Ulsan Pay and the fabric deodorizer

Izawa gyukatsu restaurant gives you a free drink if you leave a receipt review. We were planning to get coffee after the meal so we skipped reviewing separately.

Ulsan Pay is accepted of course, and since meat smell can cling to clothes, they had fabric deodorizer available too. Spray it at the entrance, not inside the restaurant!! We ate so fast because it was so good haha, so our clothes didn't smell too much, but we sprayed a bit anyway.

Takeout, parking and what to order at Izawa next time

Almost every item on the menu is available for takeout. At the table next to us someone was having steak-don, and at the table across, someone ordered the double gyukatsu set. The steak-don especially looked amazing. We love gyukatsu, but next time when it's just the two of us and we're extra hungry, we're planning to order the double gyukatsu set and the steak-don together to share.

After the meal, we gave our car number and got plenty of parking time — the max of two and a half hours!! Easy parking plus a great meal put us in a genuinely good mood. Thanks to the personal stove, you can cook it however you like and eat it exactly to your taste — a meal that was a treat for both the eyes and the mouth at this gyukatsu specialty restaurant in Ulsan. How about gyukatsu for lunch today?