Seoul Station gyukatsu restaurant, 42,000-won Set 1 for two: Ichigyu

Why two friends picked Ichigyu for lunch at Seoul Station

Two men in their 20s grabbing lunch at Seoul Station shouldn't have to be this serious about it. Eat something, go your separate ways — that's the whole plan.

But the moment you start choosing a menu, everything changes. You've come all the way to Seoul Station, so eating just anything feels like a waste, but neither of you has the will to walk 20 minutes to find something better.

Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch is 101m from Exit 10 of Seoul Station, listed as a 1-minute walk. It's in Unit B116, basement floor 1 of the LG Seoul Station Building. On a day with plans near Seoul Station, that 1-minute figure matters a lot. Some restaurants say 1 minute on the map and somehow take 15 minutes to actually reach. This place really is right in front of Seoul Station, so the accessibility alone won me over.

Weekday lunch mood and Ichigyu's opening hours

We showed up at lunchtime and there were more people than expected. It wasn't just a table or two filled — customers kept coming in, and I immediately thought, 'this place is pretty popular at lunch.'

The actual hours run from 11am, with lunch last order at 2pm, and break time listed from 3pm to 5pm. If it's a lunch appointment, it's better to plan your timing a bit rather than show up awkwardly late.

That day, we went with Set 1.

What comes in Set 1 at 42,000 won: 2 sirloin gyukatsu, 2 drinks

The set is listed at ₩42,000 and comes with two sirloin gyukatsu and two drinks. When two of you go, it's a setup that doesn't require holding an international summit over the menu.

Per person, that's about ₩21,000. Looking at the menu, I felt a brief temptation to order something else too, but held back. If you've come to a gyukatsu restaurant, you eat gyukatsu first. Suddenly eyeing other menu items here would mean forgetting your purpose.

The mistake: grilling the first piece of gyukatsu too long

Honestly, I've had gyukatsu quite a few times before, so I didn't set my expectations too high going in. The structure of gyukatsu is pretty fixed — a fried crust outside, red beef inside, cooked to your liking on a private brazier. Done wrong, it can feel the same wherever you eat it. So that day too, my attitude was, 'well, gyukatsu is gyukatsu,' as I put the first cutlet on the brazier.

But that's where a small failure happened. I grilled the first cutlet way too long.

Sitting in front of a brazier, you strangely feel a sense of duty. A mission arises to perfect your own meat by yourself. I flipped it, and flipped it again, and ended up cooking that first piece way too much. Meanwhile the guy next to me had already cooked his to a reasonable point and was eating. I alone was managing one piece of meat like it was a national cultural treasure. Everyone, you can put down that excessive sense of responsibility in front of gyukatsu.

How a shorter grilling time changed the texture

From the second piece on, I cut the time down. That's when the real appeal of Ichigyu's gyukatsu came through.

The outside crumbles crisply first, then you chew into the meat. But that's not the end. After a few chews, the sirloin's juiciness and savory flavor come through belatedly. Rather than a thick crust asserting itself, it's the kind that's chewed together with the meat, which I liked. Especially a piece fresh off the brazier had a clear contrast between the crispy outside and the tender inside.

And personally, this is where I gave it a lot of credit. The meat is good.

At many gyukatsu places, the fried crust is crispy but the meat inside leaves a weak impression. Ichigyu was the opposite — the meat itself had a fairly clear presence. On the official menu, the Ichigyu Gyukatsu is listed at ₩19,500, and gyukatsu grilled yourself on a private brazier along with sirloin steak set are introduced as the signature items.

The pairing that lets the sirloin beat the sauce

At first we tried out this sauce and that, but eventually the combination we kept reaching for most was the one that didn't cover up the meat's flavor much — placing a piece of gyukatsu on the brazier, lightly grilling both sides, and eating it right away. By this point, even the hand movements handling the brazier change. Someone who started out holding the tongs asking 'when do I flip this?' suddenly becomes a gyukatsu master after a few pieces.

The moment you leave meat on the grill and forget about it, it's cooked.

So even while chatting with a friend, you keep glancing sideways at the brazier. You can hand your friend control of the conversation, but you can't give up control of the gyukatsu. That's the small taboo of a day spent eating private-brazier gyukatsu.

Why diners keep filing into Ichigyu at lunchtime

Eating through it, I somewhat understood why people kept coming in at lunch. The location right in front of Seoul Station is great, but for anyone who likes gyukatsu, the taste alone would make you think of coming back. Compared to other gyukatsu I've had before, I felt Ichigyu's was definitely better. The contrast between the meat's tender texture and the crisp crust held up well, so it didn't get old even after several pieces.

The portion was also good for two people sharing Set 1. Two gyukatsu, two drinks, ₩42,000 total, so ordering is simple math. Just think of it as one gyukatsu each. A set menu is basically a system that does your thinking for you — an excellent system especially at a hungry lunch.

What to order next at Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch

Besides gyukatsu, the restaurant also has other Japanese dishes like steak set, steak-don, and hamburg omurice. The gyukatsu single order and the steak set are each listed at ₩19,500. Next time I'd like to try the steak too. But for a first visit, I'd still go with gyukatsu first — you should start with the dish that made the restaurant's name.

The hardest part of having a lunch appointment at Seoul Station is 'so where do we eat?' There are plenty of options spread widely in and around Seoul Station, and picking just one gets tiresome. Ichigyu Seoul Station Branch is worth remembering for that situation. Being 101m from Exit 10 of Seoul Station makes it easy to reach, and the atmosphere was lively enough with customers still streaming in at actual lunchtime. Naver Reservation is available, and walk-in dining is possible even when reservations are full.

"Isn't all gyukatsu pretty much the same?" That's what I thought before walking in too. After eating, I no longer thought so.