Gwanggyo gyukatsu grilled with butter on the brazier: Gyuen-dang

Gyuen-dang Avenue France Gwanggyo Branch: hours and parking

Gyuen-dang Avenue France Gwanggyo Branch is on the basement floor of Attijone, Avenue France Gwanggyo, 85 Central Town-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon. It's open daily from 11:30 to 22:00, with a break time from 15:00 to 17:00, and it's closed on Friday, September 25 for Chuseok. Parking is supported for up to 4 hours and it's close to zone D24.

If you're looking for a Japanese restaurant near Gwanggyo Jungang Station these days, you can't skip Avenue France Gwanggyo. It's packed with restaurants and cafés, so I end up going there often for family meals, meetups with friends, or dates. This time I visited a gyukatsu place famous within Avenue France Gwanggyo — Gyuen-dang Gwanggyo Branch! The moment I saw the name Gyuen-dang I got the sense it specialized in gyukatsu, and once I actually visited, I got an even stronger impression that the whole food and space was built around a 'fire and brazier' concept.

What the fire-and-brazier dining room looks like

The first thing I felt stepping into Gyuen-dang Gwanggyo Branch was, of course, the warm atmosphere. It didn't feel like just a place selling Japanese dishes — the story the brand is trying to tell felt woven into every corner of the space. At Gyuen-dang, that story is fire and brazier :)

Come to think of it, fire and braziers have long been both cooking tools and places where people naturally gathered. Gyuen-dang Gwanggyo Branch is said to bring that old scene of a home with a brazier into today's dining table.

Maybe that's why the space felt less flashy and more like a warm, comfortable place to eat. Gyukatsu is a dish you get to grill yourself right at the table, which felt like a perfect match for that concept.

Ordering sirloin gyukatsu, tenderloin gyukatsu and hamburg omurice

If you're at Gyuen-dang, there's a must-order lineup: gyukatsu and omurice. Pick according to your taste. We visited with two adults and a kid, so we ordered three dishes.

• Rich meaty flavor, the classic style — sirloin gyukatsu
• Soft, delicate texture — tenderloin gyukatsu
• Fluffy egg with juicy meat together — hamburg omurice

After ordering, we noticed instructions at the table for how to eat the gyukatsu and omurice. Reading through them with my kid while waiting made the wait fly by.

Around the time the gyukatsu was ready, staff came by to light the brazier first. I'd recommend letting it heat up a bit before putting the meat on.

Sirloin gyukatsu: deep beefy flavor in the classic style

First up, sirloin gyukatsu. It's finished with teriyaki sauce on deeply flavorful sirloin — said to be the most classic style of gyukatsu. If it's your first time, I think this basic style is a good place to start.

You really taste that distinctive rich sirloin flavor, and grilling it lightly on the brazier to exactly how done you like it is what makes gyukatsu fun, don't you think.

Hamburg omurice: the dish to alternate with the gyukatsu

And the hamburg omurice we ordered alongside! Ordering only gyukatsu for three people felt like it'd be a bit lacking, so we wanted to try something else too — and honestly, we were so glad we did.

Hamburg omurice is a Japanese-style omurice with a juicy hamburg steak topped with soft egg. Even in the video the egg looks fluffy, right? Ordering it alongside gyukatsu is great because the two dishes are so different in character — perfect for alternating bites. And the portion is huge.

Tenderloin gyukatsu: the pick if you want a softer bite

Tenderloin gyukatsu had a charm all its own, different from the sirloin. Tenderloin's biggest feature is probably its soft texture, and eating it, it really was more tender and delicate than the sirloin. When choosing between gyukatsu options, go sirloin for rich meaty flavor, or tenderloin if you prefer a soft texture!

The side salad and banchan (side dishes) that came with it were excellent too, and you can add wasabi and salt to taste. My kid especially loved grilling butter together with the gyukatsu. Highly recommend!

Is Gyuen-dang Gwanggyo worth it with a child?

What stuck with me most from this visit to Gyuen-dang Gwanggyo Branch, a well-known spot at Avenue France Gwanggyo, was how well the fire-and-brazier concept connected to the actual taste. The whole process of grilling the gyukatsu yourself on the tabletop brazier and cooking it to exactly your liking felt like part of the dish itself.

I also liked being able to control the difference between eating the meat well-done versus a little less done and softer, adjusting it to my own taste. I'd really recommend visiting with your kids for a fun meal :)