Seoul Station Japanese restaurant for crispy gyukatsu: Ichigyu

A gyukatsu (Japanese breaded beef cutlet) place I visited for lunch near Seoul Station. To cut straight to the point, you do not need to go to Japan if you eat this.. I have done review visits at lots of places, but honestly, this was the best place I have eaten at so far.

Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch exterior and interior

The gyukatsu restaurant is in the LG building, and there are stairs right at the building entrance that go down to the basement, so just head down there.

It is a little way inside once you get downstairs. It is so pretty, with a totally Japanese vibe. There is even a waiting machine out front, so waiting should be convenient too.

There is a huge 🍖 hanging up, plus posters in Japanese! Once inside, it feels even more like being in Japan 🌸

There were quite a lot of seats too. Maybe 12–15 tables? We went just after 11, and only one table was occupied. Then people started pouring in around mealtime, and by the time we left it felt like a queue was forming. Maybe because it is an office building, but it gets busy at lunch.

Menu and table setting

The signature dishes are sirloin gyukatsu and sirloin steak, but there were lots of other dishes besides meat too, including omurice (Japanese omelet rice), steak donburi, and curry. I liked that the menu was not limited just because it is a gyukatsu place.

There are also events and instructions for how to enjoy it, so do not miss them!

Each table has one of these little braziers. At first I wondered if it was too small, but the heat was stronger than expected, so it was plenty.

The rice comes in these cute wooden bowls to share, and they give you a seriously heaping bowl. Even better, rice refills are unlimited!

Sirloin steak and gyukatsu compared

Look at the size of that steak. It may not look like many pieces, but they slice it wide, so each piece is huge when you see the cross-section, and there is plenty of it. Tender and delicious.

This gyukatsu looks insane. I seriously have so much to say: it ranks in my top five foods I have eaten lately, and if you asked me to pick food from this year that has stayed with me, I think this gyukatsu would be it.

My review-visit mate tried it too and said it was the best thing they had eaten on these visits so far. The funny thing is, I had been thinking exactly that to myself, so we both went 👀 like this and said it the second we came out.

You know how people say even a shoe would taste good fried.. I am really a fried-food person, and the coating on this gyukatsu was so fascinating: really thin, yet crisp and soft (p). And the meat inside was unbelievably tender. How on earth do they create this texture?! That was what I kept thinking.

You do not eat it straight away; you give it a quick sizzle on top like this to cook the outside, and they give you butter, so put the butter on first and grill it. Grilling it could feel like a hassle, but once you taste it, you forget all about that. I think the fun of doing it is part of the experience too. It really makes you feel like you are in Japan!

Gyukatsu recommended for a Seoul Station lunch

Please, definitely get the gyukatsu. The steak is delicious too, of course, but the gyukatsu is overwhelmingly better, so not eating gyukatsu here would be a massive loss. Even the person who had the steak said the gyukatsu was a little better. Maybe this branch just does it especially well.

By the way, I think this was my first time having gyukatsu in Korea. I had it once in Osaka, but it was so long ago, and the fact that I do not remember it much probably means it was not memorable enough. Honestly, I think this is better than Osaka. The price may surprise you, but once you try it, you will get it. This is my number-one place I wish someone would take me to for a lunch team dinner. Anyway, if you come to Seoul Station, I really, really recommend trying it. 100000% willing to revisit.