Seoul Station gyukatsu restaurant with free side refills: Ichigyu

This was the day we took the KTX from Donghae up to Seoul~ After a whole trip in Gangwon-do eating nothing but seafood, the second we landed in Seoul I was craving some really good meat! There's a gyukatsu spot near Seoul Station where you can grill it yourself easily, so we went~

Finding Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch and the exterior

Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch — come out Exit 10 of Seoul Station and head into the LG Seoul Station Building~! Once inside, there's an escalator going down to the basement, and it's right there on B1!

If you've found the GS25, you're basically there — it's right next door haha!

Whoa... this place seems to get a lot of waiting lines~ Looked like it's really popular with office workers!

Interior vibe and menu lineup

Inside felt like a warm, sentimental Japanese izakaya~ Apparently the founder of Ichigyu grew up helping out at his father's butcher shop, and a lot of those memories went into the place!

The menu is roughly three big categories: Ichigyu gyukatsu, hamburg omurice, and steki (steak) set! There's also steki-don, chop steak, Napolitan and more for people who want something quick~! If you leave a review you get cheese and rice cake as a service, so grab that if you have room!

Ichigyu gyukatsu and steki set, rice and sides

Since we ordered two set menus, the rice came out in a cute little rice pot with a paddle lol. It made me feel like I'd stepped back in time! The rice was fluffy and delicious too~

We each ordered one — Ichigyu gyukatsu and the steki set~! The sets both come with doenjang soup, salad, pickled cabbage, sauce, salt, and butter~!

Usually only the main is good and the sides are so-so, but here even the salad, the pickles, the doenjang soup all felt like they'd been made with care~! It was so good we asked for refills, and they happily gave us more~

The plates had a nice Japanese look too, very cute~ The staff were always on standby, so service was fast whenever we needed something~!

Grilling with Isigny butter melted on the personal brazier

They lit our personal braziers right away~! It's a small brazier so it heats up fast, so we put the butter in early to let it melt~ Isigny butter, how nice is that?! The nutty smell was seriously appetite-stirring..

Then they put the meat on the hot brazier a piece or two at a time and grilled it for us~! The heat was stronger than I expected, so it cooked really fast!? I like beef crispy on the outside and about medium inside, and this brazier was perfect for exactly that! Of course, if you like well-done, you can leave it on longer and it still cooks nicely without burning~!

My first bite was dipped in salt, and wow... the quality of the meat was even better than I expected~ It just melts in your mouth haha. The gyukatsu has a fried crust on the outside so you get some extra crunch, and if you want a plainer, cleaner steak taste, I'd recommend the steki set too~ haha I liked the steki set more, and my husband said the gyukatsu was the winner for him~!

Overall review and hours

If you're looking for a clean, tidy spot for lunch near Seoul Station, or you want meat but keep hesitating because you don't want the smell in your clothes or don't have much time, I recommend Ichigyu~!

• Hours: Daily 11:00–21:30
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Last order: 14:00, 20:30
• Closed Sept 24–25 for Chuseok