Yeouido Japanese restaurant for sharing steak and gyukatsu: Izawa

I went with a friend to check out pop-ups at The Hyundai Seoul over the weekend, but there were so many people—from the limited-edition chapssaltteok (glutinous rice cakes) line to the fireworks—that getting a meal and a coffee would have meant a long wait. So we headed instead to Izawa Yeouido Direct Store, right by Yeouido Station, and it turned out to be such a satisfying meal that I thought it was actually the better choice. It really felt like a place that does Japanese food properly.

Izawa Yeouido Direct Store visitor information

It is in units 203 and 204 at 42 Yeouinaru-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Hours are Monday through Sunday, 11:00–21:00; break time is 15:00–17:00, and last orders are at 20:30.

Izawa says it introduced gyukatsu (breaded beef cutlet) in Korea for the first time in 2015 and helped create the country’s gyukatsu culture. The brand introduces itself as a place that creates an experience beyond a meal through carefully selected beef, cooking methods and aging processes developed through long research, plus Izawa’s own special sauces and recipes—all based on the belief that good food starts with good ingredients. Along with gyukatsu, it also has signature dishes such as steki, ramen, and mazesoba.

I figured we had to order the signatures first. Since there were two of us, we chose a steki set and a gyukatsu set, plus a Coke Zero—order complete!

What did the steki set taste like?

My friend ordered the steki set, and it had a charm completely different from the gyukatsu. It was truly tender, with a cooking style that brought out the beef’s own juices and flavor... so appealing! It gave a totally different kind of satisfaction from gyukatsu’s crisp fried texture. Ordering different dishes and sharing them meant we could try both of Izawa’s representative dishes in one visit, which was great :)

Gyukatsu set grilled over a mini brazier

The gyukatsu arrived crisp on the outside and tender and juicy inside. What was especially fun was that it came with a mini brazier, so you could grill it further exactly to your taste! I remembered loving it in Japan, so I had high hopes—and wow, it was moving to have it served just like the local style ㅠ_ㅠ I saw a signature that seemed to show that Lim Young-woong had visited too... a real stamp of approval for a great restaurant~~!

At first I thought, “Do we really need to go this far?” But after lightly grilling the outside some more, the crispness doubled while the inside stayed juicy. That balance made me understand why this brazier method is called an experience unique to Izawa. Haha!! Being able to control the grilling exactly how I wanted was seriously amazing.

The quality is really so good, right?

Sizzle, sizzle~ Grilling it over the brazier made it ridiculously delicious..! It was so fun to cook it ourselves that my friend and I took 100 photos, haha. We were tired after dealing with the crowds at The Hyundai Seoul pop-ups, but it was right in front of Yeouido Station, so getting there was effortless—such a nice spot! I thought, I need to come here often, haha. The wait was also much more relaxed than at The Hyundai Seoul’s restaurant area, making it a great location to stop by during a weekend outing in Yeouido.

Personally, this was not on our original plan, but this chance choice became the highlight of the outing instead. The gyukatsu brazier-grilling experience was special, and trying the steki as well made it easy to see why Izawa is considered an original gyukatsu specialist. If you are planning to visit The Hyundai Seoul, stopping by the Yeouido Direct Store when it is crowded could be a good alternative.