Mapo restaurant for smoked gyukatsu and pollock roe: Gyudo

A smoked gyukatsu restaurant connected to Mapo Station

While deciding where to meet my friend, I heard there was a gyukatsu restaurant connected to Mapo Station by subway and conveniently located in the basement of the Mapo Hanwha Obelisk complex, so parking would be easy too. We went straight to Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch! It is run by the same brand as Ichigyu, but it serves a step-up, premium version of gyukatsu, so I had high expectations.

It is in the B1 shopping arcade of the Mapo Hanwha Obelisk complex, right beside the passageway to the subway station, so access was great. The gyukatsu here is wood-smoked using a smoker, which really brings out the flavor of the meat. The exterior is briefly and intensely smoked with flames and smoke from natural hardwoods such as oak or fruitwood, then fried crisp or grilled, so it could not help tasting different from ordinary gyukatsu.

The interior had a bit of a Kyoto, Japan feel? Japanese music was playing, and the staff were dressed just like those at Japanese gyukatsu restaurants, so it genuinely felt as though I had arrived in Japan.

Sets for two and set meals

• Gyukatsu set for two ₩47,000: gyukatsu set meal + drinks + gamtae pollock roe
• Yakiniku set for two ₩47,000: gyukatsu set meal + yakiniku set meal + gamtae pollock roe + drinks
• Niku mabushi set for two ₩47,000: gyukatsu set meal + beef rice bowl + gamtae pollock roe + drinks

• Smoked gyukatsu set meal ₩22,000
• Smoked yakiniku set meal ₩22,000
• Niku mabushi (beef rice bowl) ₩22,000
• Gyudo teppan steki ₩18,000
• Smoked hire gyukatsu set meal ₩26,000

There is a self-service bar in the middle of the restaurant, and I thought it was unique how it combines Korean sungnyung (scorched-rice tea) and Japanese ochazuke with gyukatsu. The rice is a single-variety premium to top-grade Sindongjin rice, and you can have unlimited refills. Pot rice is served, then once you have eaten the rice, you bring one of the broths from the self-service bar and enjoy it like nurungji (scorched rice).

Individual drawers and personal utensil sets were also neatly packaged and ready. Even the flake toppings were individually wrapped!

Our gyukatsu set for two and pot-rice finish

I ordered the ₩47,000 gyukatsu set for two: gyukatsu set meals, drinks, and gamtae pollock roe. I liked that the drinks came in glass bottles rather than cans, so there was plenty of them haha.

With the pot rice, you first serve yourself some rice, then later choose and bring broth from the self-service bar to finish it as nurungji, which made for a really satisfying meal. They say the myeongi wasabi, shredded radish salad, and every sauce are all made in-house from scratch.

Gyukatsu topped with wasabi and pollock roe

I put a little wasabi and pollock roe on my gyukatsu, and I totally recommend doing it this way! The sharp house-made wasabi was the perfect match for gyukatsu sizzling away on the grill. I do not normally love pollock roe, but this one was not fishy, so I enjoyed it haha.

An onsen tamago (soft-cooked egg) comes with it too, so you can mix it into the rice or dip the gyukatsu in it. I dipped my gyukatsu in it at first, then later mixed it with rice and pollock roe to make bibimbap haha.

I love gyukatsu so much that when I go to Japan, I could eat it for all three meals of the day—I am a true gyukatsu lover. Since this was smoked gyukatsu, a subtle smoky aroma lingered through the meat, and it felt like eating crisp barbecue at a campsite. I knew I would regret going home without ordering more, so I decided on an extra portion of meatㅠㅠ The extra meat was ₩16,000 and there was quite a lot, so my friend and I shared it haha.

Personal grills and tonkotsu broth

The staff came by regularly to change the grill plates and add more solid fuel, taking such good care of us that I felt well looked after. In particular, the grill is a custom-made personal brazier of bangjja yugi (Korean hand-forged brassware), so it cooked quickly—which suited impatient me perfectly haha.

Of the broths, I liked the tonkotsu broth best, so I brought some over in a kettle. It was nutty and deeply flavored like tonkotsu ramen broth, making it perfect to pour over rice haha. Sprinkling on the flake topping added chewy bits and a crunchy texture too.

Parking and hours

If you take part in the receipt-review event, you receive free fried shrimp for each review, and if you add the restaurant to your favorites, you receive premium butter too haha. Since it is in the basement of Mapo Hanwha Obelisk, the parking lot was large, and parking in the spaces marked for the shopping arcade got us 1 hour 30 minutes of free parking.

Hours are 11:30–21:00, with a break from 15:00–17:00 and last orders at 14:20. It is connected to Mapo Station on Line 5 and sits beneath a large apartment complex, so parking is convenient too haha. The brand aims to be Korea's only premium gyukatsu restaurant and says it operates directly rather than as a franchise; I could feel the difference in both service and flavor. With wood smoking in an offset smoker, it left a refined fire-kissed taste and a lingering smokiness, making it different from any regular gyukatsu I have had before.