Seoul Station Japanese restaurant, weekend lunch with a kid: Ichigyu

Where is Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch and what are its hours?

Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch is a Japanese tabletop-grill restaurant on B1, B116, 98 Huam-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It's open daily from 11:00 to 21:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00 and last orders at 14:00 and 20:30.

I was near Seoul Station on the weekend and had been wanting to come to this exact place. There are so many restaurants around Seoul Station that I always end up debating where to eat, but that day I was craving Japanese food, so I headed to Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch ~~❤︎

We couldn't go straight down to the basement on the weekend, so we entered through the building instead! Let's take the escalator down to B1!!!

Inside Ichigyu: the dining room and the personal braziers

Walking into Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch, the space was bigger and cleaner than I expected. It had an overall wood-toned Japanese-style interior, warm yet cozy, with tables ranging from 2-seaters to 4-seaters.

The tables weren't cramped together, so the meal felt comfortable, and what caught my eye most was Ichigyu's signature — a personal brazier at every table!

Catch Table is a must for Seoul Station restaurants..!!!!

What we ordered at Ichigyu and what it cost

Here's what I ordered:

• Basic steki ₩19,500
• Cold soba & shrimp tempura ₩11,000
• Kirin draft beer ₩8,000
• Fried egg ₩1,000

I'm doing a receipt review, but the shrimp tempura that came with the cold soba... it was genuinely huge, packed full of shrimp. Definitely try it through the review event!!!

How the steki tastes and the four sauces it comes with

The meat came out looking so delicious that I diligently took photos first haha. With steki, there's real enjoyment in tasting the meat itself properly. Bite by bite, it was tender, and eating it with rice made it into a satisfying, filling meal — just perfect.

Adding sauce to the meat gives it a savory-salty edge that goes well with rice, and mixing in other sides between bites kept me reaching back for more. And there was a chili sauce I love, ㅜㅜ. Including salt and wasabi, there were four sauces total to go with the steki!!! They really don't let you get bored, do they? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Review-event mochi and grilling cheese at Ichigyu

The mochi and grilling cheese we got as part of the review event ~💙

They put the butter on first. The distinctive salty-savory flavor of Isigny salted butter paired so well with the meat — anyone who loves meat will know exactly what I mean.

Was the cold soba a good order for a kid?

The cold soba my kid ordered had incredible umami. It wasn't bland or too salty — the seasoning was spot on. And the green onion, wasabi, and grated radish that came served separately made it even better ෆ

So cute ❥❥

Kirin draft beer with a weekend lunch at Ichigyu

Sipping a draft beer alongside the steki made the weekend lunch feel that much more relaxed... ㅠㅠ A meal on its own is nice, but adding a cold draft beer to good meat really changes the whole mood. And I saw they have a Kirin one-sip beer, 200ml — can office workers actually manage that kind of leisure on a weekday? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

How to grill the steki on Ichigyu's tabletop brazier

The moment the meat hits the brazier, you get that sizzling sound along with a burst of buttery aroma — and right there you already know it's going to be good!!!! Instead of grilling it all at once, we grilled just as much as we could eat at a time, which meant it stayed warm right to the end. The meat wasn't tough at all, tender to bite, and the savory, salty richness of the butter complemented the meat's own clean flavor really well.

It's amazing even with just wasabi.....

I put the grilling cheese on top of the steki right as it melted, and it was absolutely delicious. I want to eat it again right now ㅜㅜ

My kid wanted a fried egg so we ordered it as a single item, and it came out cooked just right.

How long is the weekend wait at Ichigyu Seoul Station?

We got in with no wait at all, but by the time we finished eating and stepped out, people were lining up in front of Ichigyu?! Since it was the weekend, it looked like the crowd built up as time went on. If you're planning to visit, there could be a wait during weekend meal times, so it might be worth going a bit early or avoiding peak hours!

On the weekend, we filled up nicely at Ichigyu with steki, cold soba & shrimp tempura, and Kirin draft beer....>< There are so many restaurants around Seoul Station, but when you want meat and noodles together, this kind of Japanese menu is a solid choice, and if you're hunting for a Seoul Station restaurant with something a bit different, Ichigyu is worth a look. If you're planning a date or a meal near Seoul Station on the weekend, add it to your Seoul Station restaurant list and give it a try. :)