Gyukatsu set and steak-don near Samsan parking, Izawa Ulsan

Ulsan gyukatsu spot, Ulsan Samsan restaurant, an easy-to-park place in Samsan. It was a day with an important review presentation... and thanks to some unexpected drama we never saw coming, we got stressed to the max. So the two of us agreed on one thing: "We absolutely need to eat something delicious."

While thinking over what to order, I remembered how good it was the last time we ate here, so we headed straight to Izawa. We decided to relive that memory at this gyukatsu spot in Ulsan Samsan that always melts away stress.

Izawa's location and info — easy parking in Samsan

Visiting Izawa again after a while, this Nam-gu, Ulsan restaurant still greeted us with the same cozy vibe. And! If you're looking for a place with easy parking in Samsan-dong, Izawa is a very good pick.

The restaurant sits inside the Terrace Garden building near Mokhwa Wedding Hall, and it comes with a full underground parking lot! If you've got your own car and are coming out to Samsan for lunch or dinner, you can eat here without any hassle.

Interior — waiting seats and bar seating

The front of the shop is decorated like you've walked into a proper Japanese restaurant, and this space is actually the waiting seating. It was nice being able to sit comfortably while waiting for a table!

The interior of Izawa's Terrace Garden branch is clean, with several table seats and bar-style seating too — I thought it'd be a pretty good spot for solo diners as well.

Izawa's menu

Izawa has quite a variety beyond gyukatsu — steak-don, curry, donkatsu, cold buckwheat noodles, and other rice bowls and noodle dishes. But the signature is definitely the gyukatsu! None of the food is spicy, so it seemed like there'd be plenty for kids to eat too if you came for a family meal, which I really liked.

It feels like QR code ordering has become the norm lately. Izawa has switched over to it too!

And of course, Izawa has a review event too. Leave a review and get a free canned drink!

What we ordered — gyukatsu set ₩17,000, steak-don ₩15,000

The food came out faster than I expected! Maybe about 10 minutes? A neat full set arrives, and the gyukatsu comes fried and crispy on the outside while the inside is nearly rare. The steak-don also arrives just lightly seared, and both dishes are meant to be grilled bite by bite on a small personal stove to your own liking.

The steak-don's meat covered the rice completely, seared only on the surface so it still had that glossy red sheen — it really looked delicious.

The sweet yet salty special sauce soaked evenly through every grain of rice, so I kept reaching for more bite after bite without ever getting tired of it. The chew of the meat and the crunch of the garlic chips came together really nicely in the mouth.

The moment I grilled it to my liking and popped it in my mouth, the crispy outside melted right into the moist, tender inside, and all that rich juice burst out — the kind of taste that makes you smile without meaning to.

It's the textbook definition of crispy-outside, tender-inside, and I instantly understood why so many people name this place as their top pick for gyukatsu in Ulsan Samsan, ㅠㅠㅠ It's a flavor that just about anyone would love, one of a kind... which is probably why I sometimes catch myself craving it out of nowhere.

Add a little wasabi on top or dip it deep into the special sauce, and it cuts right through any richness while doubling the flavor. It was great being able to enjoy such a variety of flavor combinations depending on your mood.

The whole process of grilling the meat piece by piece over your own personal stove was such a fun, different experience. The sizzling sound and the savory smell of the meat cooking kept tempting my nose, so I just kept going and going.

Overall verdict

• Great accessibility near NC Outlet, and a rare amount of parking space for Samsan-dong, so you can visit without worrying about parking — highly recommend!
• A perfect balance beyond just the main gyukatsu — the deep flavor of the steak-don paired with a cold beer makes for a top-tier experience that makes you want to come back
• Recommend trying the variety of dishes at Izawa, the gyukatsu set spot in Ulsan Samsan