Seoul Station gyukatsu restaurant, 11:30am lunch in 3 minutes: Ichigyu

Today I'm bringing you my review of Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch, where I stopped for lunch at Seoul Station!

Ichigyu is famous for its gyukatsu (deep-fried beef cutlet), so since I was there with a friend, we ordered one gyukatsu and one steki (steak) set and split them in half, haha.

Where Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch is, and how quiet it is at 11:30am

Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch is right near Seoul Station and easy to get to, so it was great to find when I was looking for a place to have lunch near Seoul Station!

We visited around 11:30am on a weekday, and since it was still before lunchtime, the store was pretty quiet. If you want to eat leisurely in a calm atmosphere, visiting a bit earlier than lunch hour seems like a good idea :)

Whole cuts of meat were hanging in front of the store, so even just passing by, it was obvious this is a meat specialty place, haha.

Ichigyu's menu and what two people should order

Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch has a variety of menu items — from their signature gyukatsu to steki set, steki rice bowl, curry, and more! Since this place is especially famous for gyukatsu, my friend ordered gyukatsu while I ordered the steki set. We decided to each order one and split them in half, and doing it this way meant we got to try both gyukatsu and steak at once, which was great, haha.

Steki set and gyukatsu: the full table in 3 minutes

I was wondering how long it would take for the food to come out, but it arrived in about 3 minutes!! Since lunchtime often means you need to eat quickly and move on, I really liked how fast the food came out :)

Both the steak and the gyukatsu are served rare at first, and you grill them yourself to your liking on the personal brazier in front of you.

A variety of sauces were prepared too! There was steak sauce, chili sauce, and salt, plus wasabi on the side, so we could try different combinations depending on our taste. White kimchi and cabbage came with it too, and eating them in between bites of meat helped cut the richness, haha.

They also gave us Isigny butter! They explained that eating it with the meat makes the flavor much richer, so we tried it too :) Compared to just grilling the meat plain, adding the butter's savory aroma definitely made the flavor deeper.

Steki set: sirloin with salt and wasabi

We started by putting the steak on the brazier to grill! You can cook each piece to your preferred doneness, and the meat was genuinely tender. It felt like it melted in my mouth, so it was delicious from the very first bite!!

Personally, dipping it in steak sauce and then adding a bit of wasabi on top was my favorite combo, haha. The umami of the steak sauce with a touch of wasabi cut through the richness of the meat, and I kept reaching for more. Just a light dip in salt was also delicious for a cleaner taste!

Gyukatsu: better than the steak, even for a non-fried-food eater

Next was the gyukatsu I'd been looking forward to! When it first came out, the cross-section showed it was almost rare inside — you grill each piece on the brazier as much as you like. I don't usually like fried food that much, so honestly I thought the steak would be tastier. But one bite of the gyukatsu completely changed my mind!

The outside was crispy while the meat inside was really tender — a textbook example of crispy-outside, tender-inside!! Even with the breading, it didn't feel heavy or too greasy, and the soft texture of the meat made it far tastier than I expected. Even I, someone who doesn't usually eat much fried food, found it delicious — personally I actually preferred the gyukatsu over the steki!! Now I get why Ichigyu is so famous for its gyukatsu, haha.

Grilling your own beef on a personal brazier

Grilling each piece myself on the personal brazier was fun too! Instead of cooking all the meat at once, we grilled a few pieces at a time right before eating, so we could enjoy it warm the whole way through. The brazier also didn't burn hot only at first and then die down — it stayed at a steady heat until we were nearly done eating, so there was no inconvenience. Grilling both the steki and the gyukatsu, and mixing and matching salt, steak sauce, and wasabi along the way, turned out to be more fun than I expected :)

Verdict: is Ichigyu a good lunch near Seoul Station?

If you want gyukatsu near Seoul Station, I'd recommend Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch :) The steki set had really tender meat that was delicious, and the gyukatsu's combo of crispy breading and tender meat was especially good. Even I, who doesn't usually eat much fried food, ended up finding the gyukatsu tastier that day, haha.

If you're visiting with a friend, I'd also recommend ordering one gyukatsu and one steki set to split in half!! You get to enjoy various sauces plus Isigny butter, and there's the added fun of grilling it yourself on the brazier — I really enjoyed the meal :) If you're near Seoul Station trying to decide on lunch, or looking for a good gyukatsu place near Seoul Station, this could be worth a visit!