Balsan Station Japanese curry refills and gyukatsu set: Ichigyu

I had a meetup yesterday, so I went to Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch, known as a Balsan Station favorite, for gyukatsu (breaded beef cutlet) and Japanese curry. Just as rumored, the gyukatsu meat and the Japanese curry were both delicious. Let me introduce Ichigyu, a Balsan Station favorite.

Where is Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch, and what are the hours?

Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch is on the 2nd floor of the Hillstate Eco Magok building, a 2-minute walk from Balsan Station Exit 1.

<<Business info>> *Location *2F 211, 269-15 Gonghang-daero, Gangseo-gu, Seoul *Hours *Daily 11:30-21:30 *Break time 15:00-17:00 *Last order 14:30, 21:00

Inside Ichigyu: seating and the Thursday evening mood

From the moment I stepped through the entrance of Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch, I felt that distinctly cozy, warm Japanese local atmosphere.

I arrived around 5:30pm on a Thursday! Since it was before rush hour, I thought there wouldn't be many customers, but it turned out to be quite busy.

Overall, wood-toned tables and low-hanging square wooden pendant lights over each seat added a soft mood, making it really nice for comfortable conversation throughout the meal.

⬆️⬆️⬆️ This is the seat I sat at

Cute illustration frames and cherry blossom decorations scattered throughout made the space feel even more vibrant, and it looked like a great date spot too.

Ichigyu menu and what a group of two ordered

Besides gyukatsu, Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch also has rice bowls, tantanmen, mentaiko cream udon, and other menu items, plus good-value set menus.

The Naver review event offering free shrimp tempura also caught my eye.

Ordering was via table order! I ordered two sirloin gyukatsu sets and one Japanese curry.

<<Order list>> *Gyukatsu set *Japanese curry

How to grill the sirloin gyukatsu set at the table

First, the staff lit the personal grill for us.

Then the gyukatsu set arrived! Gyukatsu is beef coated in breadcrumbs and fried, so the outside is crispy while the inside comes out medium-rare. It's great because you grill it yourself on the tabletop stove to your own taste.

You get three sauces — chili, salt, and wasabi soy sauce — along with rice and miso soup.

After melting a bit of butter on the grill, (at Ichigyu they serve Isigny butter haha, so satisfying ♥️)

you place one or two pieces of the gyukatsu sirloin on the grill, cook, flip, and cook a little more. For sirloin, 7-8 seconds is best!!!!

You can dip it in whichever sauce suits your taste — I liked it best with wasabi.

Japanese curry with king shrimp tempura, and the free refill

Right after the gyukatsu, the Japanese curry came out fast! A bowl of mild, richly flavored Japanese curry topped with two pieces of crispy-fried king shrimp tempura.

The shrimp tempura was quite large and delicious.

The curry flavor was totally my style 👍👍👍

Both curry and rice could be refilled once each, and I refilled just the curry.

Is Ichigyu Balsan Station Branch worth it? Final verdict

With such a clean, neatly presented single-serving table setting, this place would work well not just for office workers near Magok and Balsan Station having lunch, but also for solo dining or a date course! It was delicious, so I'm planning to go back ♡