Nam-gu, Ulsan shabu buffet after the gym, smoked duck: Shabre Garden

I went to Shabre Garden Ulsan Nam-gu Branch, a shabu-shabu buffet in Nam-gu, Ulsan where you can eat a huge weekday lunch. I already like shabu-shabu (thinly sliced meat and vegetables cooked in simmering broth), so I went in with high hopes, and there were far more dishes and fresher ingredients than I expected. I left very satisfied.

Shabre Garden Ulsan Nam-gu Branch hours and parking

Shabre Garden Ulsan Nam-gu Branch is open 11:00 to 21:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00 and last order at 20:20. It takes group bookings and reservations, and has separate men's and women's restrooms, high chairs, Wi-Fi and mobile payment.

For parking, they say the Suam Raw Fish Center (Suam Hoe Center) parking lot covers you for 2 hours.

Location and exterior

The address is 14 Suam-ro 128beon-gil, Nam-gu, Ulsan, South Korea (Building 4, 2nd floor). It's in a big commercial building right on the main road, so you can spot it from far away.

With its clean, large building, Shabre Garden is easy to find even on a first visit, a shabu-shabu spot with great access.

Is the interior spacious?

The inside is wide and tidy, with plenty of space between tables, so it looked great for family meals or get-togethers. Even at weekday lunchtime there were lots of customers, so it's clearly popular.

Floor-to-ceiling windows let in lots of natural light, so it felt bright and airy even in the daytime, and the window seats had an open, expansive feel. With such roomy spacing, it's comfortable for family dinners, friend gatherings or company meals.

Spacious, comfortable, stylishly decorated and with open window views, Shabre Garden is a big shabu-shabu restaurant where you can eat at ease.

How much does Shabre Garden cost?

• Weekday lunch, adult: ₩24,900
• Weekday dinner, adult: ₩29,900
• Weekends and holidays, adult: ₩31,900
• Elementary school students: ₩16,900

Buffet food at Shabre Garden

The buffet corner was pretty satisfying too. Besides salad and various banchan (Korean side dishes), there were lots of other side dishes, so you can enjoy plenty of things besides shabu-shabu.

With around 50 hotel-dining-style items, hotel-grade salads, fried food and sauces really catch the eye.

There's such a variety that there's plenty to eat beyond shabu-shabu. Fried items, fried chicken, pizza and more are cooked fresh and served piping hot.

The biggest strength of Shabre Garden is that you can enjoy fresh vegetables and all kinds of shabu-shabu ingredients as much as you like. There were piles of fresh bean sprouts, bok choy, napa cabbage and mushrooms, and the meat kept being refilled with no shortage.

Sushi corner and unlimited beer

At the sushi corner, a skilled chef's sushi is laid out looking very tempting. There's salmon, shrimp and eel sushi, and the fish was fresh and the rice nicely firm, exactly my taste.

Beer is usually an extra charge, but at Shabre Garden Ulsan Nam-gu Branch it's unlimited, and that free-flowing beer service with your meal really stood out to me.

Dessert and fruit corner

There's a dessert bar, so I could finish the meal properly with something sweet. Ending with a cup of coffee and dessert felt like more than just a meal.

Soft drinks, bingsu (shaved ice dessert), ice cream and sodas are all there for you to enjoy however you like.

They have cookies, a delicious strawberry jam pie and waffles, and the quality was high, as good as a proper bakery.

The fruit corner had apples, cherry tomatoes, mango, melon, peaches and oranges, plus lychee and rambutan, which are hard to come by normally, so it was a refreshing way to finish the meal.

The fruit was fresh and varied, which raised my satisfaction with the buffet even further.

My plates after the gym at Shabre Garden

I came to Shabre Garden straight from the gym and badly needed protein, so I grabbed meat first. The smoked duck and chicken drumsticks were tender and not too salty, so the very first plate got a thumbs up.

Second up: fried chicken and fried items! There's a huge variety and they come out freshly fried and steaming hot, so they taste even nuttier and crunchier.

The salmon sushi was thick and top quality. I want to go back just for the salmon sushi.

The bakery desserts 🧁 were so good I could keep eating them endlessly.

How was the beef shabu-shabu?

Another point of pride at Shabre Garden Ulsan Nam-gu Branch was the beef shabu-shabu.

When you order, they prepare two kinds of broth. I dropped fresh vegetables into the bubbling broth and enjoyed shabu-shabu too.

There's a wide variety of vegetables, so you can eat to your taste. Even the beef is unlimited refills, the ultimate value for money.

Cooking vegetables and meat in the broth gave a clean yet deep soup flavor. The meat in particular was tender with no gamey smell at all, and it tasted even better with the vegetables.

Rice paper is unlimited too, which is good news for anyone who loves rice paper, right?

One bite of shabu with just the right amount of broth soaked in, and you'll admit Shabre Garden Ulsan Nam-gu Branch is a real good-eats spot.

Rolling the shabu-shabu up in rice paper, I thought, I'm so glad I came to Shabre Garden Ulsan Nam-gu Branch.

One-line review

Shabre Garden Ulsan Nam-gu Branch is a great place for family meals, friend get-togethers and office lunches. A highly satisfying spot I'd happily return to whenever I'm craving shabu-shabu!