Steki set lunch at Ichigyu, a Japanese restaurant in Sinnonhyeon

I was trying to figure out what to eat for lunch when I heard there's a great gyukatsu spot near Sinnonhyeon Station, so I decided to try it. Fridays give us a 1-hour lunch break at work, so my coworkers and I moved super fast the second it hit noon.

📍Ichigyu Gangnam Sinnonhyeon Branch is close to Sinnonhyeon Station. It felt like less than 5 minutes from exits 4 and 5. Close to the subway and close to the office, so the location was great haha.

Here's the entrance to Ichigyu! It's a chain, apparently with branches near Gwanghwamun and Seoul Station, but the flagship is near Samseong Station. Now that I think about it, I think I went to the Ichigyu flagship with a friend before haha — it was so crowded!

It's on the 2nd floor of the building, but easy enough to find. ⏰Ichigyu's hours are 11 AM to 9:30 PM (last order 8:30 PM), with break time from 3 to 5 PM.

Walking up to the entrance, it looked like there's usually a decent wait. If you're waiting and 3 minutes pass, you get marked a no-show, so you'd need to stay right up front. We went on a weekday lunch, and since it was Friday there was no wait — such a relief. Straight in!

Inside, the place was clean with a nice atmosphere. It was on the quieter side, which I liked even more.

What's on the Ichigyu menu and how to order

✔️Here's the Ichigyu menu. Gyukatsu and steki set (sirloin) are the mains, with single dishes like hamburg omurice, steki-don, teppan chop steak, and Japanese curry, plus noodles like yakisoba Napolitan and cold soba with fried shrimp. The menu was more varied than I expected.

There were also combo sets, so it might be worth checking those out too!

You order by scanning the QR code on the table. There were three of us, so we ordered 2 gyukatsu sets and 1 steki set. ✔️Prices: gyukatsu set ₩19,500, steki set ₩19,500.

While waiting, I looked around and the place was decked out with a nice Japanese feel. There was also a separate hand-washing spot off to the side, which I liked.

First, the rice came out separately, like this. So fancy.

And a mini charcoal brazier was set up at the table.

What comes with the steki set and the gyukatsu set

First up, the ✔️steki set. It came with salad, soup, and sauces — a clean, well-put-together plate.

There were three sauces: wasabi, chili sauce, and salt.

The steki looked really appetizing haha, and I liked that the food came out fast.

And then the ✔️gyukatsu set followed!

Same setup. I'd ordered the gyukatsu set, and I couldn't wait to try it.

Grilling the gyukatsu on the tabletop brazier

It comes out medium rare at first.

And the butter served alongside is Isigny butter from France! Isigny butter is so good haha. They say instead of putting it all on the brazier at once, melting it in three batches keeps the buttery aroma going longer.

I laid down the butter first, then put the gyukatsu on top — the butter smell was amazing. You get to grill it to your own preferred doneness.

They say grilling for about 7–8 seconds is best. It felt more cooked than I expected. Having the brazier right there meant we could eat it warm right away, which was great.

Looking over, it seemed like the person next to me was grilling it more skillfully than I was.

I tried a piece of gyukatsu and it was so good... genuinely crispy outside, tender inside.

I tried it with chili sauce, salt, and wasabi, and personally I think it tastes even better with wasabi.

I wanted to try the steki too, and luckily someone gave me a piece haha. The steki was tender and so, so good...

Thinking about it now, I feel like the steki was a bit tastier than the gyukatsu haha.

Plated so deliciously...

I guess between being hungry at lunchtime and the gyukatsu being so good, I finished every last bit of rice, which I hadn't done at lunch in a while. Looked like everyone else cleaned their plates too.

Ichigyu, a Sinnonhyeon favorite! It's a great spot to visit whenever you're craving good gyukatsu or steki. Worked well for a lunch break with coworkers, and I think it'd be just as good for a dinner get-together. The menu is pretty varied, so I'll have to come back and try some of the other dishes too.