Geolpo-dong shabu-shabu restaurant with master's onsuyuk: Homilwon

Homilwon Shabu Kalguksu is a Gimpo shabu-shabu restaurant where you can enjoy fragrant minari (water dropwort) and beef in a light but deep agaricus mushroom broth. My spouse and I have already been here several times — the generous portions and healthy feel make it a place we both love.

• 🏠 142-17 Geolpo-ro, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• 🕛 Hours: 11:00-21:00
• 🚘 Parking: private lot at the restaurant
• ✔️ Baby chairs available

Where is Homilwon Shabu Kalguksu Gimpo Main Branch? Parking and the room

Homilwon Shabu Kalguksu Gimpo Main Branch, a Gimpo shabu-shabu favorite, is located in Geolpo-dong, Gimpo. The private lot in front is fairly large, but it could still get busy on weekends when there's a wait. Even on a slightly late weekday evening, the lot already had a lot of cars parked.

The place became even more popular after being featured on the TV show VJ Teukgongdae :D The inside is spacious and clean overall, but it was too crowded with customers for me to get good photos t_t It being evening, there were families as well as groups sharing a drink or two.

Table setting and the self-serve beef, mushroom and radish rice

Heotgae tea is served as a default. And even the individually wrapped spoons and chopsticks felt neat and tidy.

At the self-serve bar there's beef mushroom radish rice made with Gimpo Geumssal rice, plus yeolmu (young radish) kimchi, gochujang, and sesame oil, so you can even make yourself a bibimbap.

It's so good I kept wanting more, but since the set itself is already so filling, we just had a taste haha. We scooped a little and shared it. They say the sesame oil and perilla oil are pressed at a real oil mill, and maybe that's why it tasted even nuttier +_+

What comes in the Hansang-gadeuk Special Agaricus Shabu Kalguksu

And here comes what we ordered — the Hansang-gadeuk Special Agaricus Shabu Kalguksu!

Onsuyuk: boiled pork shoulder made by a certified master

Onsuyuk (boiled pork). The octopus and boiled pork included in the special menu. The onsuyuk uses pork shoulder and comes with radish kimchi, ssamjang, garlic, chili, and garlic sauce. The owner of Homilwon Shabu Kalguksu is apparently a certified master in the boiled pork category of the World Food Masters awards, and it really was light yet chewy and delicious. I especially love the fatty part, so I usually prefer pork belly boiled pork, but this onsuyuk suits my taste every single time.

Ate it with the radish kimchi — and yum, yum with the garlic sauce too.

Stir-fried baby octopus, best mixed into the radish rice

Stir-fried octopus. Chewy, springy octopus in a spicy sauce. It's a bit salty on its own, so it's even better mixed into the self-serve bar's radish rice.

Eating it as an octopus rice bowl is incredibly good too..!! haha

Agaricus mushroom shabu-shabu with Australian chuck N7 beef

Agaricus mushroom shabu-shabu. The deep-colored agaricus broth came loaded with minari, bean sprouts, bok choy, mushrooms, and other vegetables. In particular, they say the minari is sourced directly from a minari field in Gochon, and this time it felt especially fragrant.

The shabu beef is Australian chuck N7. The meat quality is genuinely great. It's not a fatty cut, so it's clean and pairs well with the light, clean agaricus broth.

Meat and veggies, yum yum. With shabu-shabu, you get to eat plenty of vegetables you don't normally eat much of haha. Homilwon's broth is on the light side, so at first I was like ??? since I usually like strong seasoning, but the more you eat it, the more addictive it gets. It's easy on the stomach to sip as soup too — almost like eating a restorative tonic dish? Whenever I start craving this broth, I end up coming back to Homilwon, my go-to Gimpo shabu-shabu spot.

Rye kalguksu noodles, cooked by the 5-minute hourglass

Rye kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup). Instead of regular wheat flour noodles, these are made with rye flour grown in Hamyang, South Gyeongsang Province. Boil for 5 minutes using the hourglass on the table, and it's done.

Once the noodles go in, the starch thickens and deepens the broth compared to before. It also gets a bit saltier, which makes it even more delicious.

Topping it with the fresh geotjeori kimchi they say is tossed by hand at least twice a day — goood bbbb. The noodles have a really nice chewy texture too. But since we had fried rice waiting, we only put in half the noodles haha.

Ending the course with minari fried rice and whole perilla seeds

Minari fried rice. We were already plenty full, but isn't fried rice the true completion of a shabu-shabu full course?!

Homilwon's minari fried rice.. genuinely delicious ㅠㅠ Fragrant, crunchy minari plus whole perilla seeds that pop with every bite — a true genius of texture haha.

As expected.. it was so good it vanished in seconds haha. Even my spouse, who said they couldn't eat any more fried rice, kept moving their spoon haha. It's best topped with the geotjeori kimchi too.

The dessert corner has misugaru (roasted grain powder) and sweet caramel popcorn. Kids would especially love this haha. If you take part in the review event, you can even get a large cup to take home.

Is Homilwon Shabu Kalguksu worth a revisit?

With agaricus mushroom broth, quality beef, fresh vegetables, kalguksu, and minari fried rice all generously served — plus boiled pork and octopus included in the special menu — this is the perfect Gimpo shabu-shabu spot when you want to try a variety of dishes at once. Even after multiple visits, it's always satisfying. I'd recommend it for a date, a family meal with parents, or when looking for a gathering spot in Gimpo. This revisit was delicious as always.