Yeouido gyukatsu restaurant after a Han River outing: sharing at Izawa

The place I want to introduce today is Izawa, a "gyukatsu place everyone raves about," which I visited last Sunday evening around 5:10pm. I met up with Seungwoo, who recently moved from Gimpo to near Kkachiul Station — we hadn't seen each other in a while — and went to Gaeyang Kalguksu for spicy gochu-jang-style noodles in Yeouido, then picked up bread and drinks nearby for a Han River outing, and finished the day with dinner together at this spot!!

The meat was so tender and melted in my mouth, so I really want to recommend this place. Let's get into the review~

Where is Izawa Yeouido Direct Store? Exit 5 of Yeouido Station, 2nd floor

Izawa Yeouido Direct Store is located at 203, 204 Yeouinaru-ro 42, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Come out of Exit 5 of Yeouido Station and you'll find the Yeouido Jonghap Sangga building — it's on the 2nd floor!!

It's easier to find than you'd think — once you go up to the 2nd floor, it's right next to Bonjuk.

Seems like this is a place with waits! There's ground-level parking available for anyone driving, so keep that in mind~ (ground parking is free for the first hour, apparently.) The reviews looked good and it seemed like it'd be delicious, so we went in with high expectations.

Walking into Izawa at 5:10pm on a Sunday: wait and seating

We went in around 5:10pm, and right after we sat down, the place filled up completely. There's a break time, so we came right after it ended — if we'd come later, we probably would have had to wait. Thankfully there were quite a lot of seats!

Izawa's menu and the A Set for two at 36,500 won

True to a gyukatsu restaurant, the menu has

• Gyukatsu set (sirloin)
• Curry gyukatsu (sirloin)
• Steki set (sirloin)
• Stegi-don (sirloin)
• Mazesoba
• Gyudon
• Basil ramen
• Karai ramen (spicy ramen)

— gyukatsu dishes that let you enjoy beef in different ways, plus Japanese-style mazesoba and ramen. The two of us ordered the [A Set: gyukatsu + gyukatsu + drink] (₩36,500).

[A Set: gyukatsu set + steki set + drink] (₩36,500)

The gyukatsu set: grilled on a tabletop brazier until it melts

Gyukatsu set — a high-protein dish where you grill delicious gyukatsu on a charcoal brazier! I chose the gyukatsu set, and it had just the right amount of fat, so it was really tender and delicious. It melted in my mouth haha

The set comes with gyukatsu, cabbage salad, rice, soup, diced radish kimchi, and sauce.

The meat quality was so good and tender that I took a close-up shot. Can you see the layers of fat and lean meat stacked up? Sometimes when you go to a place that's bad at gyukatsu, it's dry or chewy — but this place was really tender.

It's grilled without butter, so you can really taste the natural flavor of the meat, which I liked. Let's grill it to a nice golden brown~!

▲Gyukatsu is always delicious — grilled to a golden brown and eaten with wasabi, it cuts the richness and brings out the beef's flavor even more!

Two diners? Share the steki set and the gyukatsu set

▲This is the steki set, and it was incredibly tender and delicious. Personally, if two people are visiting, I'd recommend ordering the steki set and the gyukatsu set and sharing them! There's a slight texture difference between the two, so rather than ordering the same menu, it seems better to order steki and gyukatsu and eat them together.

So tender and so delicious!!! It was the best. We cleaned our plates.

[A Set: gyukatsu set + steki set + drink] (₩36,500) -> personally, this is what I'd recommend!

Is Izawa Yeouido Direct Store worth a return visit?

With so many office workers around Yeouido Station, there are quite a lot of good restaurants, and if you're craving meat dishes or gyukatsu, this is a great place to visit. This was my first time at Izawa Yeouido Direct Store, and the meat quality was so good and tender that I want to go back again.

We ordered the gyukatsu set and the steki set, and the freshness of the meat and the tender texture especially made me feel like this was a truly good gyukatsu place. Sometimes places have too little fat, too much fat, or chewy meat, but here you could enjoy the meat's natural flavor, and it was tender enough to melt in your mouth!

The staff were also friendly, and the set menu let us enjoy drinks and gyukatsu together at a reasonable price, which I liked. We visited on an early weekend evening, and overall it was a satisfying meal — I'd 100% come back.

If you're not sure where to go in Yeouido, how about Izawa?