Sirloin gyukatsu and a mini draft beer near Jonggak, Ichigyu

Today's post is about the delicious, authentic Japanese-style gyukatsu (breaded beef cutlet) I had in Gwanghwamun!

Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch location and hours

• Location: B123, B1F, Le Meilleur Jongno Town, 27 Jongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:00 - 21:30, break time 15:00 - 17:00
• Last order: 20:30

It's close to both Jonggak and Gwanghwamun stations! There are lots of office workers around, and it's great for dates or meeting friends, plus there are plenty of nice cafés and things to see nearby, so it's a really good meeting spot! Especially if you love Japanese-style gyukatsu, this is a place I'd recommend visiting at least once.

What's the interior like?

Here's the interior! Really clean, haha. It's pretty spacious and comfortable, with wide gaps between tables so it's easy to chat with your company. The overall interior isn't overdone but has that distinctive clean feel of a Japanese restaurant, so even though it's right in the middle of Gwanghwamun, I felt like I'd briefly traveled to Japan, haha.

Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch menu and prices

Here's the menu!

À la carte

• Ichigyu gyukatsu set ₩19,500
• Ichigyu steki (steak) set ₩19,500
• Steki-don (steak rice bowl) ₩19,500
• Hamburg steak omurice ₩17,000
• Hot plate chopped steak ₩18,000
• Japanese-style curry ₩13,000
• Yakisoba Napolitan ₩12,000
• Cold soba & fried shrimp ₩11,000
• Gyukatsu double (jumbo) ₩32,000
• Steki set double (jumbo) ₩32,000
• Extra gyukatsu meat ₩14,000
• Extra steki meat ₩14,000
• Bowl of rice ₩1,000

Sets

• Set 1) Gyukatsu + gyukatsu + 2 drinks ₩42,000
• Set 2) Gyukatsu + hamburg steak omurice + 2 drinks ₩39,500
• Set 3) Gyukatsu + steki-don + 2 drinks ₩42,000
• Set 4) Gyukatsu + hot plate chopped steak + 2 drinks ₩40,500

Drinks & alcohol

• Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Sprite Zero ₩3,000
• Ramune ₩4,000
• Kirin draft beer 420ml ₩8,000
• Kirin mini draft beer 200ml ₩4,000
• Suntory highball ₩8,000

Besides gyukatsu, there's a wide range of dishes like steak, hamburg steak, omurice, cold soba, and steak rice bowls, so even people who can't eat gyukatsu or rare meat have plenty of options! And having Sprite Zero on the menu is a great point! If a 420ml beer feels like too much, you can also get the 200ml mini draft, which felt like great value, haha.

Check out the paper menu too! There were two of us, and we ordered two sirloin gyukatsu at ₩19,500 each and two Kirin mini draft beers at 200ml for ₩4,000 each.

Grilling the sirloin gyukatsu

Doesn't it look totally delicious! The gyukatsu comes out medium-rare, and you put it on the little tabletop grill and cook it yourself, exactly as much as you like!

You melt butter in the grill and cook the gyukatsu in it, and it turns out they use no less than fine French Isigny butter... I was moved...

The rice comes served separately like this, so you can hygienically scoop out as much as you and your company want!

And here's the cute little draft beer, haha. I had somewhere to be after this so I didn't want to drink too much, but delicious meat with a draft beer? Impossible to resist! The mini draft was just the right amount to enjoy lightly, and I was really satisfied ^ㅇ^

Tips for enjoying gyukatsu

Ah, writing this blog is making me want to eat it again, drooling. Melting butter on the hot grill and cooking the gyukatsu on top of it is really delicious... here are some gyukatsu tips.

• 1) Don't overcook it! If you overcook it, it gets tough — cook it just enough to keep it soft and tasty
• 2) Brush butter on the gyukatsu itself, not just the grill! The butter soaks in evenly and the flavor goes up even more

The outside is lightly cooked so it's savory, and the inside is moist and tender, so the more you chew, the more the meat's flavor comes through. The breading was extra crispy too!! No toughness or dryness at all — it chewed really softly, and personally I enjoyed it a lot 😋

Three kinds of sauce

There are also three sauces — house special sauce, salt, and chili sauce — so it's fun to switch between them! I liked the chili sauce best, and my boyfriend said salt was his top pick, haha.

Review event and a thoughtful touch

There are also various review events, so you can get free cheese and thin rice cake (daepae-mochi) to grill, and if you leave a Naver review, you can get fried shrimp too~~ 🍤🍤 The staff were also super kind, and kept an eye on the grills to make sure the fire hadn't gone out 🤗

And one really thoughtful thing I noticed while paying at the end — there was floss at the counter! Especially handy if you're on a date or have somewhere to be afterward and might be self-conscious about it — this kind of careful attention to detail really stood out, haha.

Who should visit

• Anyone looking for a clean restaurant in Gwanghwamun
• Anyone who loves soft, authentic Japanese-style gyukatsu
• Anyone looking for a spot for a date, meeting, or gathering