4-hour parking, window bar seats for solo diners: Gyuen-dang Gwanggyo

I'm on a diet, but I'm dead serious about food, and I'm a Suwon native. I go all over Suwon, and even nearby Osan and Hwaseong, chasing gyukatsu (beef cutlet). Gyuen-dang in Gwanggyo is, out of everywhere I've tried, my favorite — the most tender, with the beefy aroma and juices still fully alive.

A Gwanggyo food spot, Avenue France, a Gwanggyo gyukatsu food spot, Gyuen-dang. Basement 1, 85 Central Town-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si.

Gyukatsu... I didn't even know this kind of food existed back in the day, but these days it's the thing kids meet up with friends and eat (kind of like tteokbokki was for my generation, haha). Fancy kids these days!

180g tenderloin cutlet — what's in the gyukatsu set?

The beef-based gyukatsu comes as either tenderloin cutlet or striploin cutlet. At about 180g, it's slightly more generous than the usual gyukatsu place.

The gyukatsu comes with side dishes, wasabi salt, house sauce, lettuce, miso soup, and rice. The rice portion is on the generous side.

The thickly sliced tenderloin has great marbling and is incredibly soft. There's a little over ten pieces, each with rich texture to chew through. The savory beefy aroma is alive in every bite.

The hot stone with Isigny butter, and how to grill it

One whole Isigny butter comes out, and extra is ₩1,000. You put about a quarter of the butter on the hot stone, then grill the gyukatsu on it. The stone is continuously heated by a solid fuel burner, so you need to keep something cooking with the butter on it or it'll burn.

This looked like the basic cabbage salad side dish and (probably) a house-made sauce. It was so good I demolished it instantly.

They grill the thick-cut tenderloin cutlet for you. Since the surface is already lightly fried when it comes out, just think of it as searing the outer surface only (about 10 to 15 seconds), and grill it that way. If you go in thinking you need to cook the meat all the way through, you'll lose the whole point of gyukatsu.

Searing just the outer surface to lock in the juices leaves the inside slightly cool, with juices seeping out — it has that raw-meat feel, and it's incredibly tender. The savory flavor is amazing too, and the beefy aroma is great. Probably because it's fresh, right?

Salt, wasabi, or house sauce — which wins?

I tried it dipped in salt. Then with wasabi on top. Then with the house sauce on top. It's delicious even plain, with nothing added at all.

Still, I like the salt best, since it lets the beef's own flavor and aroma come through.

Bar table seating for solo diners, and the waitlist

The interior is quite spacious. It's L-shaped, with a bar table and group tables. There's a wait during the lunch peak, but the food comes out fast and people eat quickly too, so table turnover is good. But if you eat after the peak time, it's much more relaxed and enjoyable.

The bar table along the window makes solo dining feel completely normal. There really were several people eating alone.

There are also plenty of group tables, so enjoying lunchtime here isn't a hassle.

If a wait forms during peak hours, just put your name on the CatchTable waitlist and wait in the waiting seats.

Location, parking, and 4 hours of support

Gyuen-dang Gwanggyo Branch is located in Atti Zone at Avenue France Gwanggyo. If you park at Atti Zone when parking at Avenue France, it's easy to find once you come back outside.

If you're coming from outside, it's right in front of the main gate of e-Pyeonhansesang apartments.

Parking comes with 4 hours provided as standard, so you have plenty of time to eat gyukatsu and grab coffee afterward. (Avenue France gives up to 4 hours of parking support per day total, even combined across multiple stores.) But Gyuen-dang just gives you the full 4 hours outright!

As a review event, they provide two mini-size okonomiyaki. If gyukatsu or omurice alone feels like it's not quite enough, be sure to join the review event too~