Mapo Station lunch set of smoked gyukatsu with coat lockers: Gyudo

Hey, it's your girl Datogi~🤩 Does everyone know there's a genuinely, seriously legit gyukatsu spot near Mapo Station??

Here it is — the Mapo Station favorite, the gyukatsu restaurant [Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch]~!!

It says "premium gyukatsu" and honestly, it means it. This place is on a totally different level from other gyukatsu spots.

Where is Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok, and where do you park?

Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch is on the basement level of the Hanwha Obelisk building near Exits 1 and 2 of Mapo Station. For parking, use the underground lot of the Obelisk apartment complex near Mapo Station — at the automatic entrance, press the guard call button and you're in!!

And here we are, arrived at Gyudo!!! Even the exterior gives off a clean, refined vibe~

Opening hours and what the dining room feels like

Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok is open daily 11:30–21:00, with a break time from 15:00–17:00 and last order at 14:20.

I came for lunch, and being a popular spot, it was packed haha. The restaurant is huge like this, and there's a refill station for broth and pot rice right in the center!

There are so many 2-top and 4-top tables, so it's great for a company lunch break, and also totally recommendable for a date or a blind date!!

And there are seats for solo diners!! Honestly this place is so good I'd want to come eat alone too, seriously lol.

I've been to a ton of other gyukatsu places, and this one genuinely deserves the word "premium." The rice is really good so the pot rice is amazing, and the gyukatsu is so fresh it's insane.

Gyudo's menu and prices

What even is this menu, why is it so fancy-looking lol.

• 2-person set: gyukatsu set, yakiniku set, or niku mabushi set — ₩47,000
• Set meal: smoked gyukatsu, smoked yakiniku, or smoked niku mabushi, basic — ₩22,000
• Double (jumbo) ₩35,000 / extra meat ₩16,000

We ordered two smoked gyukatsu sets here!!

Personal drawers, coat lockers and brass braziers

The tables at Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok each have a personal drawer holding a custom-made cutlery pouch and a furikake topping teabag.

It's totally your own personal drawer!!! Not the kind of place where a pile of spoons is just shoved in half-washed — it's genuinely so clean and it makes you feel pampered🩷🩷

And get this, there are coat lockers too!! Since gyukatsu involves grilling meat, smells can cling to your clothes, but if you put your coat in here, you're safe~~👍🏻👍🏻

And then this brazier!!! Apparently this is a custom-made brass (bangjja yugi) personal brazier made just for Gyudo haha.

Details like this, one by one, are what make this place feel premium. But the gyukatsu prices are still about the same as regular places, so you can feel pampered while eating gyukatsu at a really good value.

What comes with the 22,000 won smoked gyukatsu set

They lit the brazier for us~~ and finally the gyukatsu arrives!!!

The full spread looks so good~~ gyukatsu, broth soup, side dishes, sauces, pot rice!

That steam when you open the pot rice — I love it so much. A lot of regular gyukatsu places don't even come with pot rice. But here! At premium Gyudo, they give you pot rice right away~~~

Apparently Gyudo uses Sindongjin rice. It's a single variety, using top to premium-top grade rice, so it boasts the best stickiness and texture!!!!!!

And this is gyukatsu made using a wood-smoking method with an offset smoker — apparently this one-of-a-kind smoked gyukatsu is truly unique~!!

So when you actually eat it, the flavor is on a totally different level ㅠ genuinely so chewy and delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buy me this again, gyukatsu again please~~

There were a lot of sauces, and apparently the radish salad, wild garlic wasabi, and the rest are all 100% handmade!! So good ㅠㅠㅠ

The three broths at Gyudo

Then you scoop rice from the pot and pour hot liquid into it — and here, there are three broths to choose from. Solomon's seal tea, katsuobushi broth, and tonkotsu broth.

Look closely and the colors are different!!!! I picked the katsuobushi broth, and my husband picked the tonkotsu broth!!

How to grill the gyukatsu on your own brazier

Okay I'm getting dizzy so let's put it on quick ㅠㅠ The fire heats up fast, so straight onto the brazier!

The best thing about gyukatsu — you get to eat it right away, fast. Honestly the best food for someone impatient like me!!

Flip it and cook both sides well, put some wasabi on top, and take a bite right away haha.

I love eating gyukatsu with just a dab of wasabi on top haha. You've got to enjoy the true flavor of this premium smoked gyukatsu as it is.

And try mixing this rice with the onsen tamago (soft-boiled egg in soy sauce) that comes with it!!

Honestly I'm so jealous of anyone who works near here.. I'd definitely come once a month lol.

Free broth and cauldron rice refills

At the center of the restaurant, you can refill both broth and rice like this. Something like this is genuinely great. Having a variety of broths is the best.

You just pour the broth into the kettle next to it and take it back to your table!!! haha

On top of that, this warm pot rice is refillable too ㅠㅠㅠ genuinely so touched, I'm losing it!!

Time to properly dig in haha. It was so delicious we demolished it in no time.

Well, the rice was so good, and I ate rice on top of the gyukatsu, so I got completely stuffed haha.

Finishing with nurungji ochazuke and flake toppings

And now my absolute favorite ㅠㅠㅠㅠ this nurungji (scorched rice)~~~~~ It's a combination of Korean sungnyung (scorched rice water) and Japanese ochazuke haha.

I basically eat the pot rice just to get to this. No matter how full you are, you need to save room for this dessert. A Korean-style dessert~

They sprinkle in the furikake topping that's in each personal drawer. Adding this makes the flavor feel new all over again haha.

That's a wrap on this review of the Mapo Station favorite, the gyukatsu restaurant recommended for a Mapo Station lunch — [Premium Gyukatsu Gyudo Mapo Gongdeok Main Branch] — where I ate my fill and felt so pampered the whole time!!🤩💗😎🥰👍🏻