Junggye-dong shabu-shabu restaurant with draft beer: Hana Shabu Shabu

Where is Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch?

Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch is a Japanese nabe-style shabu-shabu restaurant on the 1st floor of Brownstone in Junggye-dong. It sits roughly between Hagye Station and Junggye Station, so it was easy to reach by public transit. On a weekday evening, my partner and I were trying to decide what to eat and finally went to this Nowon shabu-shabu spot I'd had my eye on for a while. The exterior already had that Japanese restaurant feel, which got me even more excited.

Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch / 101, Brownstone Junggye, 29 Dongil-ro203ga-gil, Nowon-gu, Seoul ⏰ Hours 11:00 - 22:00 ⚠️ Last order 21:00 🚘 Parking available ✅ Naver Reservation available

Atmosphere, parking and the counter seats at Hana Shabu Shabu

Walking into Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch, I found a wood-tone interior with soft lighting — an upscale yet warm atmosphere. If you're driving, note that you can register for 2 hours of free parking at the Brownstone underground lot.

Even on a weekday evening, it was quite crowded. The table seats were already taken, so we sat at the counter (dachi) seats — there was room below for our legs so it wasn't uncomfortable at all, and being able to get whatever we needed right over the counter was surprisingly convenient. They also have large tables and group seating, perfect for family gatherings or work dinners!

What comes with the dinner shabu-shabu set for two and draft beer?

We ordered the dinner shabu-shabu set for two and had a glass of draft beer each. Sitting there taking a sip of draft beer before the food arrived already put me in a good mood.

The basic side dish, a salad, came out first, and the dressing wasn't too strong, which was perfect for whetting the appetite. There were three sauces — chili sauce, yuzu ponzu, and sesame sauce — and all three paired well with the shabu-shabu.

What does the vegetable broth taste like?

Hana Shabu Shabu's broth is a traditional house-made stock, simmered every morning and evening from fresh vegetables for a long time.

Even without artificial seasoning, it has a deep, clean savoriness, and afterward you get a warm, gentle feeling in your stomach. (The longer it boils, the richer the broth gets, so eventually I found myself sipping draft beer and just scooping up spoonfuls of broth.)

What is on the vegetable plate?

The vegetable plate that got set down had a genuinely huge portion. Napa cabbage, bok choy, bell peppers, an assortment of mushrooms (king oyster, wood ear, enoki, oyster, shiitake), fried tofu, fish cake, sweet pumpkin, potato, bean sprouts, and even quail eggs — a really wide variety. (The sweet pumpkin and potato need to go in before the broth starts boiling so they cook through.)

With so many different kinds of mushrooms, each with a different texture, it never got boring, and the fish-shaped fish cake was cute to look at and had a high fish content, deepening the broth's flavor when added in.

The beef: Black Angus brisket and sirloin

The meat is sliced fresh on the spot as soon as you order, and it looked different from the moment it arrived.

Hana Shabu Shabu uses chilled American Black Angus beef, sourced from carefully selected young cattle under 24 months old that were fed a plant-based diet.

Both brisket and sirloin come out together — the brisket has a mild, clean flavor while the sirloin has a slightly nutty richness, so even blanched in the same broth, each cut tastes different.

It wasn't tough at all and melted in the mouth, and the meat wasn't sliced too thin either, so there was real satisfaction in eating it piece by piece. You could tell the quality the moment it hit your mouth.

Since it's a Japanese-style nabe dish where you lightly blanch Black Angus with fresh, generous vegetables, I didn't feel bloated at all afterward.

Finishing the pot with udon noodles

As we were finishing up the meat and vegetables, they added udon noodles, and the broth infused with all the flavors of the meat and vegetables soaked into the chewy noodles for a clean finish.

Even though I was already full, the noodles still found room to go in. I was glad to enjoy this traditional Japanese nabe-style shabu-shabu — fresh vegetables and meat cooked one by one in warm broth — so close to home.

We went out not really sure what to eat, and ended up enjoying it far more than expected — my partner even said we should come again. If you're looking for a warm, delicious shabu-shabu spot around Junggye-dong or Hagye Station, give Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch a try.