Mapo restaurant for gyukatsu with curry and cold soba: Gyudo

While deciding what to have for dinner around Mapo, I suddenly wanted gyukatsu (Japanese-style beef cutlet) for the first time in ages, so off I went to Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch. Come to think of it, it had really been quite a while since I last had gyukatsu haha. Looking through the photos, the meat looked wonderfully thick and you grill it yourself over an individual brazier, so I thought this place looked promising!

A gyukatsu restaurant easy to find from Mapo Station

Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch is in a handy spot for visiting from Mapo or Gongdeok. It is on B1 of the Obelisk shopping arcade, connected to Mapo Station!

I arrived right when it opened at 11:30, and a wait was starting to form around noon~~

As soon as I stepped in, I was intrigued because the atmosphere was a little different from the gyukatsu places I had imagined.

The overall wood-toned interior felt calm, while the straw decorations gave it a subtly distinctive touch haha.

There was even a huge fox painting on the wall, which made it feel a bit like visiting a restaurant in Japan. There were regular tables as well as bar-style seats that looked great for dining alone. It would not feel awkward at all to come for a solo meal!

There are coat lockers, so you can store your things comfortably~ Open the drawer under the table and you will find a cutlery pouch and flake toppings!

Pot rice and broth from the self-serve bar

There is an unusual pot-rice-and-broth combination that brings together Korean sungnyung (scorched-rice water) and Japanese ochazuke (rice served with broth)~~

I tried it with tonkotsu broth, and it was fascinating because it genuinely tasted like dwaeji-gukbap, Korean pork soup with rice.

The rice comes with unlimited refills too, so you can really fill up!

What I ordered

• Smoked gyukatsu set
• Bite-size curry
• Kakiage cold soba

The menu looks upscale too, right? Haha.

The thing that immediately caught my eye on the menu was the gyukatsu tenderloin, limited to just 15 servings a day!!

Apparently, it is a tenderloin gyukatsu limited to only 15 servings a day. I am exactly the kind of person who suddenly wants to try something just because it is limited haha. After a short wait, the full spread arrived, and it was much more substantial than I expected! It was not just a lone gyukatsu cutlet: the tray came loaded with pot rice, soup, cabbage, kimchi, a soft-cooked egg, and several sauces. The myeongi wasabi, shredded radish salad, and every sauce are said to be 100% homemade!

The onsen tamago (Japanese soft-cooked egg) comes with the set. It is great dipped in sauce, or mixed into the rice for pure deliciousness!

Smoked gyukatsu grilled on your own brazier

I started with the star of the meal, the gyukatsu. The meat was visibly so thick, right?! It is smoked gyukatsu prepared with a wood-fired offset smoker, which gives it even more depth of flavor.

The outside was crisply fried, while the sliced cross-section was pink, so the presentation was spot-on haha.

Each piece was thick enough to give a proper bite. Every table has its own brazier, so you place one piece at a time on it and cook it to your preferred doneness. Rather than cooking it very thoroughly, I liked just searing the outside a little more! Once it hits the brazier, it sizzles and the aroma of the meat rises right up; eating it straight away meant it was warm and juicy, which made it even better. Instead of grilling everything at once, I cooked one or two pieces whenever I was ready to eat, so it stayed warm right through to the end—so good! Being able to control the cooking to my own taste made it fun to eat too haha.

Changing up the sauce combinations

If gyukatsu tastes the same all the way through, it could get a little rich toward the end, but there was a wide variety of accompaniments here. You can simply dip it in sauce, add a little wasabi, or pair it with the homemade dried shredded radish that came alongside—it was a great combination.

Definitely add the curry!

Whenever I have gyukatsu or tonkatsu, I always add curry if it is available~~ The curry here was really good quality too! Haha.

It was delicious for dipping the gyukatsu in~

And great mixed into the rice too!

The pot rice makes it extra filling

And this pot rice was another thing I loved at Gyudo! Scoop out some rice to eat with the gyukatsu, then pour in your choice of broth to make ochazuke. With the onsen tamago alongside it, the meal was more filling than I expected, and I left completely full haha.

If you are looking for a hearty, high-quality restaurant near Mapo Station, I would recommend it~ The atmosphere is lovely too, making it perfect for a date. I think I will come back next time I am craving gyukatsu. And if you have been curious about that 15-serving-a-day gyukatsu tenderloin, definitely give it a try :)