Cheonan beef cutlet restaurant with tabletop grilling: Izawa

After my husband and I watched a movie at the Cheonan Terminal cinema over the weekend, it was suddenly a late lunch hour. It felt a little disappointing to head straight home after only seeing the movie, so we decided to try something different from what we usually eat. That’s how we ended up at Izawa Cheonan Sinbu-dong Branch (이자와 천안신부동점), a gyukatsu restaurant in Cheonan. It is in Sinbu-dong’s dining alley, across from Cheonan Terminal, so it was an easy stop for a post-movie meal.

Where did we park for Izawa Cheonan Sinbu-dong Branch?

For parking at Izawa Cheonan Sinbu-dong Branch, we used Public Parking Lot No. 5.

Around Sinbu-dong’s dining alley, parking right in front of a restaurant is not especially easy. Since we came by car, we first went to nearby Sinbu Public Parking Lot No. 4, but it was already full. So we drove a little farther to Sinbu Public Parking Lot No. 5. It is a parking tower, and luckily there were spaces available, so we could park without much trouble.

The basic parking is free for 30 minutes, and Izawa provides a one-hour free parking voucher for diners. If you are visiting by car, using Public Parking Lot No. 5 like we did seems like a good option.

Trying gyukatsu among the younger diners

Trying gyukatsu among the younger diners

Izawa is widely known as a good restaurant in Sinbu-dong, so I heard there can sometimes be a wait. Fortunately, we arrived just before the break time and got in right away. Inside, there were many customers in their 20s and 30s, and quite a few couples on dates too.

My husband and I felt like we were the only ones who looked particularly older, so we had a little chuckle together, haha. But once we sat down, it was nice to feel that youthful atmosphere for a change, and I was quietly pleased at the thought of having something we do not usually eat.

Two servings of gyukatsu grilled over a mini brazier

Two servings of gyukatsu grilled over a mini brazier

After looking over the menu, we ordered two servings of Izawa’s signature gyukatsu.

Gyukatsu is beef cutlet: crispy-fried beef that you grill yourself over a mini brazier to your preferred doneness. After a short wait, the crispy-fried gyukatsu arrived as part of a full set meal.

We lit the small brazier set on the table and placed the pieces of beef on it one at a time.

As soon as the meat touched the brazier, it began to sizzle. It was fun to watch, and the savory smell really got our appetites going. Most of all, being able to grill each piece immediately to exactly how I like it made it more fun than an ordinary pork cutlet.

Textures that changed with the grilling level

Crisp outside, tender inside

My husband tends not to cook meat much at all—he even eats steak rare. So he put his gyukatsu on the brazier only briefly, just long enough for the redness to fade.

He was happy with it, saying it was tender and delicious without any of that distinctive beefy odor. I cooked mine a little longer than he did.

When I grilled it until the breading became crisp, the crunch came first, while the beef inside stayed tender to chew, and that contrast in texture was fun. Even though it was the same gyukatsu, it felt different depending on the doneness, which I liked because we could each eat it our own way.

The cabbage salad and rice that came with the meal can both be refilled.

Eating only meat can start to feel a little rich, but adding cabbage salad here and there made it easy to keep the meal feeling fresh. It had been a while since my husband and I stepped away from our usual Korean food to enjoy this different kind of Japanese meal that we grilled ourselves, so it felt like a little weekend refresh too, haha.

A good stop after a movie at Cheonan Terminal

Because Izawa Cheonan Sinbu-dong Branch is across from Cheonan Terminal, it was a nice place to pair with a movie when looking for somewhere to eat afterward. In particular, grilling the gyukatsu yourself over a mini brazier made not only eating the food but also the cooking process fun.

It would be nice for couples, of course, but it also worked well for a married couple like us to see a movie on the weekend and go out for something different. More than anything, grilling gyukatsu among all those younger diners somehow made us feel a little younger too, so it was a fun day.

If you are looking for something a little different from your usual meal near Cheonan Terminal, try gyukatsu that you grill yourself.

Izawa Cheonan Sinbu-dong Branch is in Sinbu-dong’s dining alley across from Cheonan Terminal, and we used Sinbu Public Parking Lot No. 5 when visiting by car. Diners receive 30 minutes of free parking plus a one-hour parking voucher. (As of September 2026)