Smoked gyukatsu or yakiniku set at Mapo Station: ₩21,000 each, Gyudo

What is Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch?

Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch (프리미엄 규카츠 규도 마포공덕 본점) is a restaurant near Mapo Station where you can enjoy gyukatsu (breaded beef cutlet) and ochazuke (rice with broth poured over) in one meal. I love both gyukatsu and ochazuke, and when I heard a place in Mapo offered both together, I ran over.

Gyudo opening hours and parking

Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch is open daily from 11:30 to 21:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00. Reservations, takeout, groups, parking and high chairs are all available, and parking in the Obelisk apartment underground car park is free for 2 hours.

Located in the basement level 1 of the Obelisk shopping arcade, the restaurant stands out with its wood-toned exterior.

Is there a wait at Gyudo?

There is a Catch Table waiting machine at the entrance, plus waiting seats, so it's comfortable to wait. I hear lines sometimes form at the lunch and dinner peaks.

Seating and atmosphere

Inside, there are solo seats, 2-person tables and 4-person tables, so you can pick whichever you like. I saw plenty of people dining alone, and the mood is nice, so there were couples and families too.

What's on the Gyudo menu?

The menu has gyukatsu sets, yakiniku sets and beef rice bowl sets. The gyukatsu comes as a smoked gyukatsu set made with sirloin, or a smoked fillet (hire) gyukatsu set made with tenderloin.

Side dishes include seaweed pollock roe, curry, kataifi shrimp and chicken nanban. There is also a set option that adds seaweed pollock roe and a drink to your set.

✍️ If you write a Naver receipt review, you get 1 fried shrimp per review.

What we ordered for two, and the price

• Smoked gyukatsu set ₩21,000
• Smoked yakiniku set ₩21,000
• Total ₩42,000

The wood-toned interior felt really relaxing. When you open the table drawer, there's a pouch with wet wipes, a personal spoon, chopsticks and a rice paddle. Not long after we ordered, the smoked gyukatsu set and the smoked yakiniku set arrived.

What comes with the smoked gyukatsu set?

The smoked gyukatsu set is Gyudo's signature, I'm told: sirloin aged 20 hours, fried, then smoked in an offset smoker. It comes with pot rice, gyukatsu, salad, soup, a poached egg, seasoned radish and sauces.

Before you eat: scoop out the pot rice and pour the broth

Before enjoying the gyukatsu and yakiniku, scoop some rice from the pot into your rice bowl, then choose a broth at the self-bar and pour it over the pot rice for ochazuke later.

How many broths are at the self-serve bar?

The Gyudo self-bar has 3 broths: Solomon's seal tea, bonito broth and tonkotsu (pork bone) broth. Pour whichever you like. I chose the bonito broth and my husband chose tonkotsu.

The cauldron pot rice can be refilled too, so if you run short, refill at the self-bar. Once the broth is poured over the rice, it's time to enjoy the gyukatsu and yakiniku.

Grilling the gyukatsu further on your personal grill

Gyudo's gyukatsu comes fried only on the outside, so you cook it further on your personal hearth to your liking. Grilling it yourself is fun.

Crispy outside, tender sirloin that melted in my mouth, the gyukatsu... Great with wasabi on top, great dipped in the sauce. So good, so good.

What is the smoked yakiniku set like?

The smoked yakiniku set is sirloin aged 20 hours that you grill yourself on the hearth to your liking and eat with the special sauce. It comes with pot rice, yakiniku, salad, soup, a poached egg, seasoned radish and sauces.

The yakiniku looks insane. You grill it on your personal hearth to your taste too, and it melts in your mouth even more than the gyukatsu. So good, so good.

Gyukatsu or yakiniku: which set should you choose?

If you want a chewy bite, I recommend Gyudo's smoked gyukatsu; if you prefer something that melts in your mouth, go for the smoked yakiniku.

Finishing with ochazuke: add the flakes or not?

Finally, enjoy ochazuke with the pot rice you poured the broth over. You can add the flakes (furikake) from the table drawer: with them it's saltier, and without them you get only the clean taste of the broth.