Seoul Station Japanese restaurant with free parking: Furato Shokudo

• ✔️ Address l 541 Namdaemun-ro 5-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, B1F-4, South Korea
• ✔️ Hours l Daily 11:30–20:50
• ✔️ Parking l Seoul Square parking lot, 2 hours free (valet available, paid)
• ✔️ Main menu l Gyukatsu, omurice, curry, and more
• ✔️ Restroom l Inside the building, separated by gender
• ✔️ Meal time l About 1 hour

Why Furato Shokudo in Seoul Square B1 is easy to reach by car

Furato Shokudo Seoul Square Direct Store is a gyukatsu (breaded beef cutlet) place in the basement level of the Seoul Square building near Seoul Station. Apparently it was designed to recreate the feel of small eateries in Tokyo.

I was up in Seoul for the day! I had some business inside Seoul Square and was looking for somewhere good to eat nearby, and heard this place was quite the hidden gem, so I went to check it out. Driving around Seoul is such a hassle, but this restaurant is inside Seoul Square, which also has parking, cafés, and all sorts of other facilities, so it was super accessible!

Let's get straight into a hot review of how satisfied us country folks were, and whether it's worth the visit!

What the entrance to Furato Shokudo looks like

Here's the view of the storefront. After parking, come up to the 1st floor, then take the escalator down to B1 from there, and the restaurant is right in front of you^^ The elevator setup felt a bit unfamiliar at first, but the friendly Seoulites around will happily point you in the right direction^^ There's parking on both the underground and above-ground levels.

Inside Furato Shokudo: are the tables cramped?

Here's the interior. Overall it has a cozy feel. There are structural wall pillars that could make the space feel a bit closed-in, but they've dressed them up with artificial planters that take away that stuffy feeling! The tables were also less cramped than I expected!

Menu and prices: why we ordered à la carte instead of a set

Furato Shokudo Seoul Square Direct Store doesn't have a physical menu — you scan a QR code at the table with your phone and order straight from there. The menu matched exactly what's posted on Naver, both in items and prices.

We ordered gyukatsu (₩19,500) and steki jeongsik, a set-style steak plate (₩19,500)! There are combo sets available, but since we weren't drinking anything, we went à la carte instead. The drinks are priced fairly high.

Gyukatsu and steki jeongsik, grilled on a mini brazier

Here's the gyukatsu. It came out as a neat, well-composed set — no fuss, just radish, danmuji (pickled radish), salt, chili, soy sauce, broth, the gyukatsu itself, and rice.

The bright red color looked really fresh. They told us it was fine to eat right away, but since I wanted to sizzle it on the brazier first, I let that go in one ear and out the other.

Here's how to eat it properly. The instructions say to place 1–2 pieces on the grill at a time^^

Since we were splitting it, we piled on 2 pieces per person, 4 total, right off the bat. Koreans are the 'hurry hurry' people, after all. The brazier sizzled away and cooked things faster than I expected.

Here's the steki jeongsik. Same composition as the gyukatsu earlier. They gave us butter, and told us to eat it together with the gyukatsu. Writing this now, I'm thinking it actually would've gone better with the steki.

The color was gorgeous again. It came out seared rare on the outside, yakiniku-style.

We grilled both at the same time, sizzling away.

It picked up beautiful grill marks along the lines of the brazier's grate. Looked incredibly appetizing.

We tried some on top of rice too.

We dipped it into the salt, chili sauce, and soy sauce as well.

And how good is it with the cabbage salad? It was seriously, seriously delicious. The juices burst out, and maybe because it was aged, the texture was so tender. The outside was lightly, softly crispy.

The steki already looked tender too. We dipped it in the various sauces — incredibly tasty. Clean-flavored, with the beef's own natural taste really coming through.

Honestly the gyukatsu was so shockingly good that the steki felt a bit less impressive by comparison, but on its own it was still a plenty attractive dish.

Restrooms: shared in Seoul Square, with the basement one more pleasant

About a two-minute walk outside the restaurant, there's a shared restroom for the building. It's separated by gender — the 1st floor has 3 stalls, but the basement has many more stalls, making it more comfortable. The men's restroom is also separate, located across the way.

Final verdict on Furato Shokudo if you drive to Seoul Station

If you've got somewhere to be near Seoul Station and need to drive there, I really recommend Seoul Square — and since this restaurant is inside that building, it's extremely accessible. Gyukatsu was quite the trendy dish a while back, and eating it again, I found myself thinking it's genuinely good.

It used to be a pretty upscale, pricey dish, but now it's at a price point that's not too heavy on the wallet, while still being a satisfying meal. I'd recommend Furato Shokudo Seoul Square Direct Store for dates, gatherings with friends, or a solid lunch.