Katsu restaurant at Sinsa Station, weekend late lunch: Ikki Roll Katsu

Why we picked Ikki Roll Katsu for a weekend late lunch in Sinsa

Ikki Roll Katsu Garosu-gil Main Branch (이끼롤까스 가로수길본점) is a well-known, long-running katsu place near Sinsa Station. Last weekend was so warm and lovely that I soaked up a little spring weather! Then came the question: what do we eat for a late lunch in Sinsa???? I searched for good katsu places, found a new-to-me menu called roll katsu, and headed to Ikki Roll Katsu.

Turns out it's famous as an old-school katsu spot near Sinsa Station. There are lots of katsu varieties and the prices are not bad, so off we went 🍽️

Ikki Roll Katsu opening hours and parking

Ikki Roll Katsu Garosu-gil Main Branch is open daily 11:30-21:20, with a break from 15:00 to 16:00 and last order at 20:50. The address is 64 Gangnam-daero 152-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Basement 1).

Before 5 pm you can use the building's parking lot for ₩3,000 per hour. After 5 pm you need to use a nearby lot.

• Jinwoo Building (private lot): ₩4,000 per hour (20 m away)
• J Tower parking: ₩5,000 per hour (70 m away)
• Urban Port Garosu-gil parking: ₩6,000 per hour (200 m away)

What is roll katsu at Ikki Roll Katsu?

Roll katsu here is thinly sliced meat wrapped around cheese or other fillings, rolled up and deep-fried. Ikki Roll Katsu, at the start of Garosu-gil, is said to be the first place in Korea to make roll katsu, and its roll katsu dishes are famous 🍥

Maybe that's why the menu alone had so many dishes you rarely see at a regular katsu place, like sweet potato cheese roll katsu, flying fish roe roll katsu and rosé katsu.

The self-bar and what we ordered

At the self-bar you can take as much cream soup and jangguk (clear soup) as you like, which gives the place a lovely retro katsu-house feel. The moment I saw the photo of roll katsu, rolled up and fried, unlike regular katsu, I shouted "this is the place!" 👀

We ordered the chicken cheese roll katsu, the salad-loaded flame-grilled brisket jjolmyeon (chewy spicy cold noodles) and the rosé katsu, and had a big, hearty meal ✨

How was the chicken cheese roll katsu?

The chicken cheese roll katsu was crispy outside and packed with cheese inside the roll. Pork katsu is great too, but cheese inside chicken katsu? 😋👀✌🏻 I'd been looking forward to this one since ordering.

The sauce on the cabbage salad that came with it was so good that I meant to ask the owner about it and totally forgot, haha! The rice was black rice, which I liked, and if you want more you can refill rice at the self-bar ✔️

Cheese pork katsu can get a bit heavy as you keep eating, but since the chicken cheese roll katsu has a chicken katsu base, it was much lighter overall and I enjoyed it to the last bite ◡̈ Being a rolled-up chicken roll, each piece goes into your mouth in one go, and with the cheese it's nutty and crispy and you keep reaching for more. Even if we come back, we'll definitely order this again 👀

Rosé katsu: how far can katsu transform...!!!

The rosé katsu comes with a thick rosé sauce piled generously on top of the katsu. Reading through the menu, I thought: rosé sauce on katsu…? We have to order this! (The two of us are rosé lovers who order anything rosé at any restaurant ✌🏻) The second it arrived: this one's mine!!!

The sauce isn't just creamy; it's tomato-based with a slightly spicy-sweet flavor, so I happily finished it to the last bite. Dipping the old-style, thin, crispy katsu into the thick rosé sauce was great, and the rosé katsu also went well with the sweet-and-sour brisket jjolmyeon. Katsu plus jjolmyeon is always right 🍅

Is the salad-loaded flame-grilled brisket jjolmyeon worth ordering with katsu?

The salad-loaded flame-grilled brisket jjolmyeon is so good with katsu! I understood right away why the name says "salad-loaded" 👀

The noodles are topped with a truly huge pile of vegetables, so it looks almost like salad pasta! Brisket slices come with the spicy-sour jjolmyeon sauce, and with so many salad vegetables it was great alongside the katsu, with a cute little sauce as a bonus 🥗✨