Mapo Station gyukatsu after a workout: dried plum highball, Gyudo

Why I went back to Gyudo at Mapo Station

Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch (규도 마포공덕 본점) is the gyukatsu place I used to eat at after workouts around Mapo Station last year. I'm working out twice a week now and my appetite is exploding! I was craving tonkatsu, ordered delivery, and it was so bad it just ruined my mood T_T. That made me keep thinking about how good Gyudo's gyukatsu was.

I've had no reason to come to Mapo Station lately and kept feeling sorry about it, then I was nearby recently and stopped in. It was still delicious, and I was surprised how many customers there were on an early weekday evening.

Let me introduce Gyudo, where you can enjoy premium gyukatsu without going to Japan.

Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok location and opening hours

Gyudo is at 33 Mapo-daero, Mapo-gu, Seoul, in the Obelisk APT arcade, B1, Unit 138, 29 m from Exit 1 of Mapo Station on Line 5. It is open Mon–Sun 11:30–21:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00. Last orders are at 14:20 and 20:00.

• Address: 33 Mapo-daero, Mapo-gu, Seoul (Obelisk APT arcade, B1, Unit 138)
• Hours: Mon–Sun 11:30–21:00
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Last order: 14:20, 20:00
• Transit: 29 m from Exit 1 of Mapo Station (Line 5)
• Parking: Mapo Station Obelisk apartment underground car park

Is Gyudo busy on a weekday evening?

I went in right as the break time ended, just after 5 pm after running an errand nearby, and customers kept coming even before the end of the workday.

The restaurant has a spacious hall and a bar table that's good for dining alone. It's gotten popular on social media lately, so I hear there are waits at both lunch and dinner.

Gyudo's menu and what I ordered

The menu at Gyudo, a premium Japanese-style gyukatsu restaurant, is made up of gyukatsu and yakiniku (grilled meat) sets, plus sets for two.

Out of smoked gyukatsu, yakiniku, nikumabushi and fillet gyukatsu, I went with the smoked gyukatsu set I had last time! The sides come in a variety too: chicken nanban, kadaif shrimp, bite-size curry, seaweed with pollock roe and more.

As a shrimp lover, I ordered the kadaif shrimp and the refreshing Jeju green mandarin soba.

Drinks include fruit sours, non-alcoholic sours, sake, highballs and beer, and since I enjoyed it last time, I ordered the dried plum highball again. Haha.

How Gyudo works: pot rice, scorched-rice tea and self-serve broth refills

Gyudo combines Korean sungnyung (scorched-rice tea) with Japanese ochazuke (rice with tea or broth), so you can enjoy hot cauldron rice, sungnyung and cutlet together. For people not used to Japanese gyukatsu, the back of the menu explains how to eat it in detail,

and in the middle of the hall there's an area where you can refill broth and rice. Just pour whichever you like (Solomon's seal tea, katsuobushi or tonkotsu broth) into your kettle.

I really love cauldron rice and sungnyung anyway, and when I tried the katsuobushi broth last time, it had a savory depth and tasted much better. If you want more rice, you can scoop as much as you like from the cauldron, and men definitely seemed to refill a lot.

What does Gyudo's smoked gyukatsu set taste like?

Gyudo's smoked gyukatsu set is made with 20-hour-aged striploin, fried and then smoked in an offset smoker. With its salty seasoning and smoky aroma, it's on a whole other level from ordinary tonkatsu, and it's so savory you don't need sauce at all.

The cutlet is fried once more and cut into bite-size pieces, then you grill it yourself on a custom-made bangjja yugi (traditional Korean brass) hearth, so eating it right away while hot tastes much better.

It's delicious just fried, but gyukatsu scented with wood smoke and grilled on the hearth, eaten piping hot, is seriously amazing!!

They swapped out the grill plate once midway, so I could enjoy it crispy and chewy right up to the last piece,

and the side dishes, including the myeongi wasabi (wild garlic-leaf wasabi), are all handmade, so they're really good on top of plain white rice too.

While you enjoy the gyukatsu, you scoop the rice from the pot into a bowl and pour broth into the pot in advance, so you can have tasty sungnyung by the end of the meal, right?

I poured in the savory katsuobushi broth and skipped the flake topping.

Does the dried plum highball go with gyukatsu?

Gyudo's dried plum highball has sweet, tangy plum in it, and it's neither too sweet nor too strong, so it's a good match for gyukatsu.

Cold Jeju green mandarin soba to refresh the palate

The Jeju green mandarin soba looks cool and zesty just to look at, and it's always been the classic partner to cutlet dishes, right?

One bite of hot gyukatsu followed by a chopstickful of cold green mandarin soba is a perfect match. It rinses your mouth cleanly with no greasiness.

Kadaif shrimp fry (2 pieces)

Gyudo's kadaif shrimp fry (2 pcs) comes with big fried shrimp, shrimp chips and creamy tartar sauce. The crispy texture with the handmade tartar sauce was gone in no time once it arrived!

Final verdict on Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch

Gyudo is a good place for dining alone near Mapo Station, as well as for a family meal. You grill premium Japanese-style gyukatsu on your own hearth to your taste, and it turns golden and glossy,

full of smoky aroma and rich juices. I recommend it to anyone looking for a Mapo Station restaurant serving gyukatsu that's crispy outside and chewy inside.