Seongsu gyukatsu restaurant, weekend lunch with ramune: Gyuen Dang

I remembered the gyukatsu I had in Fukuoka, Japan last year and went looking for a good gyukatsu spot in Seongsu — and stumbled onto Gyuen Dang Seongsu Main Branch (규엔당 성수본점) 🥩🔥

💬 By the way, gyukatsu apparently comes from combining 'gyu (牛)', meaning beef, with the Japanese pronunciation of 'cutlet' (katsu, カツ)!

Where is Gyuen Dang Seongsu Main Branch, and how do you walk there from Seongsu Station?

Come out of Seongsu Station exit 3 or 4 and head into the alley — Gyuen Dang Seongsu Main Branch is on the 2nd floor of the building next to Betong 📍 Seongsu is packed on weekends, so hot right now, tons of foreign visitors too 👥

Weekend lunch at Gyuen Dang: how long is the wait, and how do you book?

Gyuen Dang Seongsu Main Branch already had a wait when I showed up for weekend lunch 〰️ ⏳ Good thing I'd booked ahead on Naver. You can also reserve through Catch Table, so ⭐️ definitely book before you go ⭐️

Seating at Gyuen Dang and whether groups fit

The restaurant itself is smaller than I expected, so I heard parties of 6 or more have a hard time getting a reservation — keep that in mind 🪄 Seating is a mix of bar-style seats and face-to-face tables 🪑

What's on the Gyuen Dang menu?

Besides the signature gyukatsu, the menu ranges across Japanese home-style dishes too — rice bowls, omelet rice, curry, udon 🍛🥢 Also, if you write a review, you get a mini okonomiyaki on the house 🎁

What we ordered at Gyuen Dang

I stuck mostly to the recommended and signature items on the menu! 📝 They also had ramune soda, so full-on Japanese vibes, so I had to try it — there's a marble stuck in the neck of the glass bottle, and it tastes exactly like the carbonated version of a Bbongtta popsicle 🩵🫧

The striploin gyukatsu set and how to grill it

The striploin gyukatsu came out with rice, salad, miso soup, pickled radish, wasabi, salt, house sauce, and butter, all neatly arranged 🥩🍽️

• ❶ Grill two pieces of meat plain first, to taste the beef itself
• ❷ Add a quarter pat of Isigny butter on the grill for extra richness
• ❸ Dip in wasabi, then salt, then the house sauce, in that order

Following the eating instructions and tips on the table, I grilled the gyukatsu on the tabletop burner 🔥 ⭐️ 15-20 seconds per side on the cut face ⭐️ The key is not to fully cook the beef, just sear the surface!!

Crispy on the outside, moist inside, and the beef wasn't tough at all — so tender 🥹👍 With a little pink salt and wasabi, you could really taste the flavor of the beef itself even more 〰️, and the house sauce had a sweetish soy-sauce vibe that gave it a whole different charm!

Hamburg omelet rice at Gyuen Dang

Hamburg omelet rice, with a juicy hamburg patty draped in a blanket of egg 🍳 A lot of other diners seemed to be getting the brie cheese omelet rice — I'll try that next time! ✊

• ❶ Cut into the egg so it can slowly spread open
• ❷ Wait for the natural moment the egg opens up on its own
• ❸ Pour the sauce so it cascades over, rather than smothering it

My egg blanket didn't spread out prettily, but the combo of moist egg, juicy hamburg patty, and tangy sauce worked really well together! 💗

Gyuen Dang vs Motomura Gyukatsu in Fukuoka

Gyuen Dang Seongsu Main Branch actually beat Motomura Gyukatsu, a fairly famous spot in Fukuoka, Japan, in terms of taste 🥩🔥 Beyond the gyukatsu, the menu's range of Japanese home-style dishes makes it a great spot in Seongsu when you're craving a tasty meal with Japanese vibes! ⭐️