Seoul Station gyukatsu restaurant, half gyukatsu half steki: Ichigyu

Today I'm introducing a place that's famous as a Seoul Station lunch spot — Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch, haha. It's right by Seoul Station so it's super accessible, the interior is pretty, and the set meals come out clean and well-composed, so it's great for a date, a work lunch, or treating someone to a nice meal. Honestly one of the best gyukatsu spots near Seoul Station ☺️

• Address: 631 Namdaemunno 5(o)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul (지하1층 B116호, 98 Huam-ro)
• Hours: Daily 11:00 - 21:30
• Break time: 15:00 - 17:00 / Last order: 14:00, 20:30
• Ordered: Gyukatsu set ₩19,500, Steki set ₩19,500

Where is Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch, and how close is Exit 10?

Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch is a gyukatsu restaurant with clean set meals that you'll find by exiting Seoul Station through Exit 10, walking past the NongHyup Bank building, and heading down to the basement floor of the LG Household & Health Care building where Woori Bank is. It's within 5 minutes on foot from Seoul Station and just 1 minute from Exit 10, so it's extremely accessible.

It's a great spot for office workers nearby coming for a work lunch, or for travelers passing through Seoul Station to grab a meal, haha.

Since it's a well-known spot, there's even a Catch Table waitlist device set up outside! We visited close to closing time, so we got seated right away with no wait, haha.

Inside Ichigyu: atmosphere and seating for 2 or 4

Inside, Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch has a warm wood interior, and since gyukatsu is the main menu, it definitely had that Japanese restaurant feel. Seating is a mix of 2-seat and 4-seat tables, and it looks like pushing tables together could work for a group meal (if you need group seating, you'll need to inquire with the store in advance).

A big hunk of meat hanging outside the store caught my eye, though I'm not sure if it's real or a model, haha.

What's on the menu at Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch?

Here's the menu board at Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch~ It's broadly split into gyukatsu and steki (steak), with a la carte items like hamburg omurice, rice bowls, chapsteak, curry, yakisoba napolitan, and cold soba. Every meal comes on a single tray with the side dishes and main dish together, so it's clean and tidy to eat.

There are also 4 set menus with good value, so I'd recommend ordering one of those too, haha. On the back of the menu there are instructions on how to enjoy gyukatsu properly, so even first-timers can easily grill it themselves!

If you take part in the review event, they say you get free deopae-mochi (thin sliced grilled mochi) and cheese to grill, or fried shrimp — make sure to join and grab those~~

One square bowl-shaped brazier shared by two diners

There's one brazier per table, so it's set up for two people to share it together, haha. I'd only ever seen flat braziers before, but Ichigyu's brazier is shaped like a square bowl so you can grill more securely, haha.

Ramune soda at Ichigyu

I recently saw Chef Jung Ho-young on YouTube enjoying ramune soda and wanted to try it, and it just so happened Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch had ramune soda?? I ordered it right away and tried it — it wasn't overly sweet, had a light soda aroma, and finished super clean. Really tasty and unique, haha.

Gyukatsu set and steki set, 19,500 won each

We ordered the gyukatsu set for ₩19,500 and the steki set for ₩19,500.

They give you a whole pot of rice so you can scoop out as much as you like, and if it's not enough, refills are available 😆 The side dishes and sauces also came out generously!

Gyukatsu set: sirloin cutlet with the house sauce

Since we came to a well-known Japanese gyukatsu spot, we definitely had to try the gyukatsu set, haha.

Ichigyu's gyukatsu is made with sirloin, and even without ordering the double jumbo or extra meat option, it was a substantial, filling amount of meat.

As instructed, we melted the butter first, then placed the meat on top and grilled it.

You can add it one or two pieces at a time, but I put several on at once so the flow wouldn't be interrupted, haha. The color looked so appetizing.

Eating the savory sirloin with Ichigyu's special sauce, you could really taste the tanginess and garlic aroma coming through. You can pair it with the other seasonings provided to your taste, or just eat the meat plain — it's delicious either way! It's hard to even find restaurants selling gyukatsu near Seoul Station, so finding a place with such high-quality food made me happy, haha.

Steki set: how tender is the beef steak?

We were going to order two gyukatsu sets but decided to split it 50/50 and try the steki set too, haha.

As the name suggests, it was steak meat — I was so fixated on the gyukatsu that I didn't even realize what the dish was until it arrived and I finally understood what steki set meant 😆 The big, beautifully colored sirloin looked more mouthwatering the more I looked at it, haha.

Same as before, we melted the butter first and then put all the meat on at once. The heat was strong so it cooked quickly, and since it's beef, you could grill it just right and eat immediately — really convenient and nice.

Unlike the breaded gyukatsu, the steki set is plain meat so you could really feel the tender texture as-is — I loved that the two dishes had such different textures and appeal!

Is Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch worth it?

I've shared my experience trying the gyukatsu set and steki set at Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch, which I'd highly recommend as a Seoul Station lunch spot~ The staff were all kind and the food was excellent, so if you're nearby, I hope you get to try it, haha.