Cheongna shabu-shabu buffet, 10+ meat plates & ₩5,000 beer: Shabuway

Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch hours, parking and payment

Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch is open daily 11:30–21:30, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00. There is no break time on weekends and holidays. Parking is free for 2 hours in the building's underground garage, Zero Pay and the high oil price relief subsidy are accepted, and corkage is free.

It feels like all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu (hot pot) and hotpot places keep popping up lately~ Shabuway was my first visit today and I was really satisfied! I'll go through the things I liked one by one~

How to park at Ruwon Top Plaza's underground garage

Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch is on the 2nd floor of Ruwon Top Plaza, and you can use the building's underground garage. The entrance says "Shabuway parking" in big letters, so finding it was no trouble. There was a Shabuway guide banner down in the garage too, so I went up thinking, yep, this is the place! haha

You can register for 2 hours of free parking when you eat at Shabuway, and going over costs ₩2,000 per 30 minutes. Just tell the counter when you leave to register your parking!

How much is the Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna buffet?

Adults pay ₩24,900 for weekday lunch and ₩29,900 on weekends and for dinner. Elementary school children are ₩16,000 and preschoolers ₩8,900.

It's a buffet, so the menu is simple. Adult prices differ by day and time of visit, but elementary school and preschool prices are the same all the time!

What are the atmosphere and seating like at Shabuway?

Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch is a spacious restaurant with a luxurious, hotel-entrance feel, with regular tables, partitioned seats and even private rooms. I immediately thought it would be a great place for a group gathering.

The moment I stepped out of the elevator I wondered if I had the right place, hahaha It's so fancy!!!!!! Like a hotel entrance,, I took one look and thought it would be great for get-togethers. The restaurant is clean and upscale.

Seating is split between rows of open tables and slightly more private partitioned seats. There are more seats on the other side too, so it's quite large. There were rooms in the back as well! The salad bar is right in the center as soon as you walk in. Kind of an elegant vibe,,

What's on the Shabuway self-serve bar?

The salad bar at Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch has not just shabu-shabu ingredients but salad, soup, fruit, and dishes like pizza, lasagna, mala xiang guo (spicy stir-fry), galbi (marinated ribs), fried rice, chicken and sweet and sour pork. Besides the shabu-shabu ingredients the dishes were varied too, and all of them were delicious,,, seriously, everything was good..

Salad, soup, all kinds of fruit! They had pretty much everything you'd find at a decent buffet.

Pizza, lasagna, mala xiang guo, galbi, fried rice, chicken, sweet and sour pork and more... the cooked dishes were varied too. You could be full on these alone. I wanted to pile on a bit of everything, but I held back so I could eat lots of shabu-shabu T_T

Chicken in five seasonings and thick-cut sweet and sour pork

The fried chicken came with a variety of sauces, so you could enjoy it in different ways~ There were a whopping five seasonings!! The pizza was loaded with cheese and tasted rich and nutty, and the mala xiang guo tasted just like what you'd buy at a mala specialty shop!!!

The sweet and sour pork (tangsuyuk) quality was great too, so I had it several times~ Tangsuyuk = thick meat + tender + crispy batter + tasty sauce. Shabu-shabu is the main event, but the salad bar doesn't feel like a half-hearted afterthought, every single item was good!

Shabu-shabu vegetables, sauces and meats at Shabuway

At Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch all the vegetables are unlimited, and the meats are beef chuck and brisket (usamgyeop) plus pork belly and pork neck. The sauce bar has soy sauce, chili sauce, sesame sauce, wasabi, minced garlic, scallions and chili peppers.

The main shabu-shabu ingredients, do I even need to say? Of course the vegetables were all unlimited too, and they had every ingredient you'd think of for shabu-shabu. I love enoki mushrooms so I ate a ton haha

The sauce bar is divided into clean, nutty and spicy, with recommended combinations posted, so enjoy it to your own taste~

The most important part. The meat. They say they use premium raw meat, and it was tender and delicious~ I think I ate about.. 10 plates of meat.

Finishing with kalguksu noodles, porridge and rice paper wraps

This is the difference between shabu-shabu and hotpot, right~ (maybe not) Shabu-shabu = endless eating. After the meat and vegetables, you eat kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) in the broth, then make porridge in that same broth. There was rice and eggs on the side too~

Next to it there were vegetables for rice paper wraps (wollam-ssam) too~ At shabu-shabu places, making rice paper wraps has become like part of the course. Now I'm a little disappointed if I don't see rice paper at a shabu-shabu place,, The vegetables are here and the rice paper is next to the soda, haha There's really so much to eat...! As I write, I keep thinking again how much there is.

Unlimited draft beer, drinks and desserts at Shabuway

At Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch you can order unlimited draft beer for ₩5,000 with the QR code on your table. The drink corner has soda, plum tea, orange juice, a coffee machine and an ice cream machine.

It's not over yet. There's beer too~ If you like beer, note that you can get unlimited refills! Every table has a QR code (I'll show you later), and you order with it and then help yourself. ₩5,000 is barely the price of one draft beer, so it's a total bargain~ Beside it there was a soda machine, rice paper for making rice paper wraps, and a hot water purifier.

Besides soda there's plum tea and orange juice. I recommend it for anyone who doesn't like fizzy drinks! I love plum tea so I drank several cups~ There was also an ice cream machine with all sorts of toppings, which I enjoyed as dessert. And a coffee machine too, so it's perfect!! The coffee machine has not just coffee but hot chocolate and more.

Lou... is... chocolate....? A certain brand comes to mind but I'm turning a blind eye haha This chocolate was delicious too. I recommend it for dessert.

How do you order at Shabuway, and can you get half-and-half broth?

At Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch, staff help you order the first broth setup on a tablet, and after that you place extra orders with the table QR code. Sukiyaki broth can't be split half-and-half, but all the other broths can.

This is the QR code I mentioned earlier! (the one for ordering unlimited beer) Every table has a QR code like this.

For the very first broth setup, a staff member comes over and helps you order on a tablet, and after that you order whatever you need by QR. Sukiyaki can't be half-and-half, but everything else can!

With sukiyaki and mala, they bring toppings that go with the broth separately. If you order sukiyaki or mala as your first broth, additional servings afterward are free.

The unlimited draft beer is a separate menu item like this!

What do Shabuway's mala and shiitake broths taste like?

At Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch I chose half mala broth (+₩3,000) and half shiitake mushroom broth. The mala broth wasn't very spicy, so it was easy for anyone to enjoy, and the shiitake broth had real depth and totally satisfied me.

Phew, finally eating. There was so much to eat that there was a lot to write down too. At first you get the basic vegetables and 3 plates of meat brought over (I fetched the meat early without knowing, hahaha)

When I chose mala they gave me fuzhu (tofu skin), dried tofu, corn noodles, fenmozi (sweet potato noodles), Niujin noodles and fried tofu. It's a perfect mala tang. The mala tang wasn't very spicy and had a moderate mala flavor, so I think anyone could eat it. The mushroom broth was deeply flavorful and good too~ I ordered it thinking it was just a basic broth, but I was totally satisfied.

More than 10 plates of meat, plus broth refills

As I said above, the meat quality was great and I was really satisfied. It looks delicious just from the color, right....! It looked so good that I kept taking photos every time I fetched meat haha Looking at this, I definitely ate way more than 10 plates... Each of those isn't just one piece, there are 2–3 stacked up. And I wasn't eating only that either..

Dump in the meat and bubble bubble~ one more time bubble bubble~~~~~~~~~ I also refilled the broth a few times and ate heartily.

And finally, ice cream to finish perfectly. Ice cream + cookie crumbles + Lou,,, chocolate. I was really, really full and satisfied with Shabuway!! From the broth to the shabu-shabu ingredients to the salad bar dishes, there wasn't a single disappointment~

Who is Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch for?

• People looking for a group meal spot in Cheongna with clean surroundings and tasty food
• People who want to enjoy all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu to the fullest
• People who want a delicious meal in a nice atmosphere