Japanese curry and gyukatsu lunch with kids in Wonju: Ichigyu Wonju

It feels like the weather's warming up, but during the day a long-sleeve shirt is still too hot haha. Mornings and evenings are cool, but summer is clearly still hanging around at midday. This weekend I went to 'Ichigyu' in Musil-dong with my mom and kids! I've been wanting to recommend it to anyone who loves Wonju pork cutlet spots, but what we actually ate that day was gyukatsu made from beef :) We grilled it ourselves on a small plate, shared curry and steak too, and left having had a really hearty lunch!

• 📍 Location: 51 Neungna-dong-gil, units 135, 136, Wonju
• ⏰ Hours: 11:00 – 21:30 (break time 15:00 – 17:00)

Where is Ichigyu Wonju, and how long is the weekend lunch wait?

Ichigyu is on the first floor of the Lotte Cinema building in Musil-dong! I meant to avoid the lunch rush a little but ended up hitting it dead on ㅠㅠ There were already a lot of people eating, so I thought we might have to wait a while with the kids, but luckily there was no line ahead of us :) We got in within 5 minutes haha.

But while we were eating, customers kept coming in until the place was completely full! Since it's inside the Lotte Cinema building, it seemed convenient to stop by before or after a movie. Among the many Wonju Musil-dong restaurants, this one's location is easy to remember :)

There were so many customers when we walked in that I couldn't take interior photos, so I took these near the end of our meal instead. We left around 1pm, by which point the seats had opened up a bit haha. The tables weren't crammed together either, so the four of us could sit and share dishes comfortably!

Set 4 plus Japanese curry: what four people ordered at Ichigyu Wonju

Here's what we ordered that day!

• ✔️ Set 4 (sirloin gyukatsu + sirloin teppan steak + 2 drinks)
• ✔️ Japanese curry

I wanted to try both gyukatsu and steak, so I went with the set that had both haha. If you're coming in expecting a classic Wonju pork cutlet spot, the menu will feel a little different. Pork cutlet is made with pork, while gyukatsu is made with beef sirloin! On top of that we ordered curry too, and shared it all with mom and the kids :)

After we ordered, a staff member lit the small cast-iron grill for us. We could actually use two, but we figured one would be enough, so we asked for just the one to be lit haha.

My second kid started drinking the zero-sugar cola the moment it arrived ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Soda you only get to drink when eating out — it's good for adults, so imagine how good it is for kids haha.

Japanese curry at Ichigyu Wonju, the dish the kids grabbed first

The Japanese curry came out first! Having the dishes arrive one at a time made it feel a bit like eating a meal on a trip to Japan haha.

My older kid took one bite, pulled the bowl over, and finished it in no time ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is it really that good~~~~? I tried a bite too, and it tasted richer than the curry I usually eat. It was great alternating between the curry and the meat dishes, so I was glad we added it haha. It's always a little disappointing when the kids don't eat much at a Wonju restaurant, but this time my older one dug into the curry with no trouble, which put me at ease 🤍

Sirloin teppan steak: mixing rice into the leftover sauce

The sirloin teppan steak came out too! It's the same sirloin cut as the gyukatsu, but eating it as a different dish meant our hands kept reaching back and forth between the two :)

The rice came in this cute little container, so everyone scooped out their own portion haha.

And here's the combination I really enjoyed! Mixing rice into the sauce left over from the steak was so good ㅠㅠ 👍 It would be such a waste to just finish the meat and leave that sauce behind~ Mixing rice into good sauce is basically a Korean rule of eating, right ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I cleaned it all up to the very end 🫶🏻

Sirloin gyukatsu: 7–8 seconds on the plate, butter a little at a time

Here's today's main dish, the sirloin gyukatsu 🥹 The inside looks red because it's meant to be finished off on the table-top grill. Unlike eating regular Wonju pork cutlet, grilling each piece yourself before eating made the meal more fun hahaha.

We put the butter that came with it on first, and that's where we made a mistake... we dumped it all on at once ㅋㅋㅋㅋ We should have used it a little at a time! Next time I'll add a bit of butter each time I grill a piece!!!

We put the gyukatsu on the plate once the butter had melted and flipped it a few times while grilling. Apparently grilling each piece for about 7–8 seconds makes it taste best :) I found the meat tender and delicious. We came for Wonju gyukatsu but ended up eating curry and steak alongside it, so it turned into a pretty filling meal haha.

We tried it plain, and also dipped it in the sauce that came with it! Eating the butter-grilled meat piece by piece as it finished cooking was really nice :) It even made me think I want my next trip to be to Japan ㅋㅋㅋ🤍 I think we'll end up coming back to Musil-dong with the kids again :)

My kid even finished off the soup that came with it, very neatly 😊😊

Ichigyu is a place I'd love to visit again whenever I'm craving Wonju-style cutlet — from gyukatsu to curry, mom and the kids all ate well haha.