Jungsan-dong buffet with 12-herb cypress steam: Pyeonbaek Hoegwan

Why visit Pyeonbaek Hoegwan in Jungsan-dong on a weekday evening?

On a weekday evening, I wanted something 'not too heavy but filling, and still healthy,' so I headed to this Jung-san-dong spot.

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Main Branch

• Parking available
• Open daily 11:00–22:00
• No break time
• Lunch discount ₩17,900 from 11am to 3pm

The cypress steam made with 12 herbal medicines is Pyeonbaek Hoegwan's signature dish — piling in that much herbal medicine is pretty unusual.

It's been featured multiple times on food shows hosted by names you'd instantly recognize — Choi Hong-man, Heo Kyung-hwan, Hiibab, Lee Seung-yoon, Yoon Doo-joon, Kwanghee, and more. There's also a playroom for kids, so it's a great 👍 spot for families with young children to eat out.

What's on the salad bar at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan?

Walking in, the 'salad bar' is the first thing that catches your eye — it has not just shabu-shabu ingredients but simple side dishes you can grab too.

Soup, pasta, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), bread, fries

were all on offer, so

even if you come with someone who's not a shabu-shabu fan, there's still plenty to eat

that's the thought I had, haha. This kind of spread is a must, especially if you're coming with kids!

First time at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan? How the course works

Even first-time visitors have no trouble — staff kindly walk you through how everything works.

Cypress steam with 12 medicinal herbs

Cypress steam comes out first, lid closed, and after some time the staff come by themselves to open it, so you don't have to sit there anxiously wondering when to open it. The moment the lid comes off, that gentle cypress aroma drifts up 👏👏👏👏👏👏. In Pyeonbaek Hoegwan's cypress steam,

the meat is genuinely generous

Most places give you more bean sprouts than meat, but here there's way more meat, lol. I dipped it in Pyeonbaek Hoegwan's special sauce and ate it that way,

and also brought over rice-paper roll ingredients to wrap it up as fresh rolls.

The five shabu-shabu broths

Once you've had your fill of the cypress steam, just ask staff to set up the shabu-shabu.

Katsuo, spicy mushroom, doenjang chicken, sagol mala, sagol tomato

With 5 broth options, you can pick whichever suits your taste 🥬🍄🥟

If your broth runs low while eating, there's refill broth ready at the salad bar — just go grab it and pour it in 👍

I also refilled two kinds of meat for the shabu-shabu and tried them,

no gamey smell at all from the meat, so I was satisfied 👍

Finishing with knife-cut noodles, ramyeon or egg porridge

After shabu-shabu, you can't skip the noodles or porridge at the end, hahahahaha. Here you can eat as much knife-cut noodles, ramyeon noodles, or egg porridge as you want. You can finish with knife-cut noodles in the broth, or make it spicy with ramyeon noodles — either works. And finishing off with egg porridge really rounds out the meal properly.

Cypress steam → shabu-shabu → rice-paper rolls → noodles → egg porridge

work your way through all of that and you end up way fuller than expected.

Parking and how to find Pyeonbaek Hoegwan

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Main Branch is near Haneul City's Jinro Mart, so it's not hard to find, and it was convenient that parking support is offered if you're driving. ✔️ If there's no parking space in the building, you can also use the Jinro Mart parking lot!!