After-work Kirin beer, gyukatsu and chop steak in Gwanghwamun: Ichigyu

I went out for dinner in Gwanghwamun. This time I visited Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch, near Gwanghwamun Station.

Since it's close to Gwanghwamun Station, you get to see Cheonggyecheon Stream on the way too, which is nice. Seeing it after a while, it looked really pretty — though when I pass it every day it's just, meh, haha.

The Gwanghwamun area has a lot of offices, so around quitting time there were quite a few office workers out looking for dinner.

Getting to Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch: from Gwanghwamun Station Exit 4 to the basement of Le Meilleur Jongno Town

Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch isn't hard to find — just come out Exit 4 of Gwanghwamun Station and head toward Le Meilleur Jongno Town. That's exactly what we did, walking from Exit 4 toward the building.

Once you go inside the building and head down to the basement floor, you'll find Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch.

It was nice getting to see Cheonggyecheon on the way, and it really was pretty after not seeing it in a while, haha.

First glass after work: Kirin draft beer, Hanip beer

As soon as we sat down at Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch, the first thing we did was order beer. Two glasses of Kirin draft, Hanip beer. I don't know why draft beer after work tastes so good. 😂

Personally I prefer drinking beer cold right away rather than nursing it slowly, so I'd basically finished mine before the food even arrived. In the end I was the one who drank all my beer before the dishes showed up. Still, that first glass after work has to be ice-cold to really hit the spot.

What we ordered at Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch, and the prices

Our order for the night was gyukatsu (19,500 won) and hot-plate chop steak (18,000 won).

After we ordered, the staff lit the brazier at our table, and the warm glow set a nice mood.

We ordered two dishes.

• Gyukatsu, 1 order, 19,500 won
• Hot-plate chop steak, 1 order, 18,000 won

We decided to split both dishes between us.

How was the hot-plate chop steak? Good with fresh wasabi, but the meat pieces could've been bigger

The chop steak at Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch came out on a hot plate with vegetables, so it stayed warm while we ate. It arrived first — the sauce and vegetables worked well together, and it paired nicely with the fresh wasabi too.

That said, I personally wished the chop steak meat had been cut into bigger chunks. With larger pieces, the chew and the flavor of the meat itself would probably have come through better.

Still, as a warm hot-plate dish it went well with beer.

We also added a fried egg.

How do you eat Ichigyu's gyukatsu? Grilling it yourself on a personal brazier

The dish that stood out most at Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch was, of course, the gyukatsu. When you order it, the meat comes out raw and you grill it yourself on the personal brazier at your table.

With the brazier right in front of us, we could grill each piece to exactly the doneness we wanted.

They melt butter on it first, and then you lay the gyukatsu on piece by piece to grill. Once the meat hits the pan it starts sizzling right in front of you — grilling it yourself like this felt like a different kind of experience.

Grill the gyukatsu to your own taste

What I especially liked was that you can adjust how well-done you want the gyukatsu, entirely to your own taste.

If you want it less done, grill briefly; if you like it more cooked, just leave it on the brazier a bit longer. Grilling piece by piece like this naturally slowed the pace of the meal down, which made it nice for chatting with the person I was with.

More than anything, having a small brazier right at the table felt a bit unique. It's less just eating a meal and more like the whole process of grilling it yourself becomes part of the meal.

A good spot for a casual after-work drink in Gwanghwamun

Ichigyu Gwanghwamun Branch is close to Gwanghwamun Station, so it was easy to get to, and grilling the meat ourselves at the table felt like a nice change from the usual routine.

Grilling the gyukatsu piece by piece made it easy to eat slowly while chatting. If you want to enjoy meat and beer together in Gwanghwamun in the evening, or try a slightly different way of eating dinner, it's worth a visit.

After finishing work in Gwanghwamun and wondering where to eat dinner, we ended up picking a hot-plate dish and self-grilled gyukatsu for the evening.