Apgujeong Rodeo hot pot lunch with tamago menchi katsu: Shabu In Seoul

Shabu In Seoul Apgujeong Rodeo: hot pot near Dosan Park

Shabu In Seoul Apgujeong Rodeo is a shabu-shabu restaurant near Apgujeong Rodeo Station, close to Dosan Park. These days, walking around in the cool autumn breeze puts me in such a good mood, and this is where I stopped for lunch.

I've been finding myself at shabu-shabu places a lot lately. The food is clean, and it's a healthy meal I can eat without guilt when I'm trying to diet.

What the interior and table layout look like

Shabu In Seoul has a clean, upscale interior. The window seats with sunlight streaming in are pretty, and the hall tables are sectioned off so you can have a cozy meal with your group.

Private rooms for a quiet meal with your group

Shabu In Seoul Apgujeong Rodeo has round seating good for group gatherings, as well as private rooms. It's nice being able to eat shabu-shabu cozily in a room. The rooms have flowy curtains too, so the atmosphere is nice and private.

What we ordered from the weekday lunch special

I visited on a weekday for lunch and ordered through the lunch special event. Shabu In Seoul has an incredibly wide variety of meat. There are shabu sets with 1st-grade black pork belly, 1st-grade black pork neck, prime Angus, almokssal, salchisal, hanwoo bosupsal, Black Nine wagyu, and more. Since I think hanwoo is the best meat there is haha, I ordered two servings of the hanwoo bosupsal shabu-shabu set with an extra order of salchisal.

You can choose your broth, and I ordered the best one — clear mushroom. Highly recommend, the broth was clean and deep, just excellent. Seriously recommend it~~

Side dishes even picky eaters will order

I really like that Shabu In Seoul has side menu items. Since I'm truly devoted to egg and meat protein, I ordered the tamago menchi katsu on the side. They also have fried pork tenderloin and cream shrimp, so it'd be great to bring a kid along haha. There are a lot of menu items kids would love.

I ordered two servings of the double-plus grade hanwoo bosupsal shabu-shabu set, added salchisal, and got one tamago menchi katsu. That I also ordered matcha ice cream at the end of the meal shall remain unmentioned haha.

The table setting and the how-to-eat guide card

The basic table setting is very clean and upscale. Besides spoons and forks, there are tongs for picking up vegetables and meat, and a dish set with three kinds of sauce. There's also a simple instruction card on how to use everything, which made it super convenient.

Everything came out really fast as soon as I ordered, which I loved. One basket of vegetables and three baskets of meat.

Fresh vegetables and the herb plate

Shabu In Seoul's vegetable basket has scallions, mung bean sprouts, enoki mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, sweet pumpkin, alba cabbage, bok choy, rice noodles, rice paper, and flat rice cakes.

What I liked most is that minced garlic and minced cheongyang chili peppers come out together, so you can make the broth spicy — like an 'ajussi (older man) version,' haha. Honestly I run hot in the body so I should cut back on these aromatics... but garlic and chili are just too tempting to my mouth ㅠㅠ hahaha.

What I strongly recommend is... adding a generous scoop of minced garlic to the chili sauce. That makes the sauce so incredibly delicious... haha. Heaven for anyone who loves spices, haha, at this shabu-shabu spot Shabu In Seoul Apgujeong Rodeo.

How good is the meat at Shabu In Seoul?

I really liked the beef that came out in three separate compartments. The top two are my ordered lunch set's hanwoo bosupsal, and the photo on the right is the additionally ordered salchisal. Since I've been managing my blood vessels lately, meat with moderate marbling like this suits me much better than heavily marbled meat. Overly marbled meat is only tasty in the mouth! Not so great for your health.

Ta-da, the full spread is set and I start eating. Pour out the three kinds of sauce too.

I dip the meat and vegetables into the pot one by one to eat. What I really liked is that the pot boils quickly, hahaha. Sometimes at shabu-shabu places the pot takes forever to boil, which drives me crazy, but this one bubbles up fast, perfect for someone impatient like me, hahaha.

Why shabu-shabu is the cleanest meal out in Seoul

Dunking vegetables and meat into warm broth~~~~ is, in my book, the healthiest dining-out meal there is. You can see the condition of the ingredients with your own eyes, and without a lot of cooking process, they cook gently in the warm broth and are easy to digest.

Tamago menchi katsu, the standout side

The tamago menchi katsu I ordered as a side~~~ has egg tucked between ground meat, fried once, and the sauce is really delicious. It seemed to be a tomato sauce packed with spices, and the staff emphasized dipping it generously into the sauce, so I did, and it really was delicious. Honestly it probably would've been tasty without the sauce too, haha, but the sauce doubles the flavor, haha.

After adding plenty of garlic and chili, the broth got so delicious, hahaha. The more I keep dunking vegetables and meat in, the more flavor comes out and the broth just gets better and better, hahaha. Whenever it seems too salty, you can refill the broth to adjust the seasoning. I dunked the rice paper in too.

Broth and sauce refills are handled easily via a pad, which is convenient for everyone.

Finishing the broth with egg porridge

The dessert carb you can't skip, hahaha. They put vegetables and rice into the shabu-shabu broth, add an egg to make a soft egg porridge, and top it with roasted seaweed flakes and sesame oil — so nutty and delicious. I was so full I told myself I'd just taste one spoonful and leave the rest, but in the end I scraped the bowl clean. So nutty and good.

Apparently the dessert menu changes depending on which broth you order. I'll have to try a different broth at Shabu In Seoul next time to taste a different dessert too, hahaha.

A refreshing drink comes out for dessert. After a warm meal, pairing it with a cold tea for dessert feels like it helps digestion, somehow.

Matcha ice cream from the review event

But the real dessert is something else — matcha ice cream, hahaha. They're running a review event, and if you take part you can get a matcha ice cream. What I really loved is the crispy wafer cookie on top, so eating the cookie with the ice cream together is the icing on the cake, so delicious.

Shabu In Seoul is a sister brand of several dining brands including Schedule Cheongdam, Osteria Eden, Osa Cheongdam, Gukbo Garden, and Capo Carino. If you want to eat vegetables and protein healthily without worrying about calories near Dosan Park in Apgujeong Rodeo, Gangnam, this is a restaurant I strongly recommend.