Yeosu shabu-shabu buffet with basic broth and high chairs: Tongkeun

All-you-can-eat shabu-shabu near Yeosu City Hall: Tongkeun Shabu

Today I'm introducing a shabu-shabu all-you-can-eat spot near Yeosu City Hall — Tongkeun Shabu!!

Hello everyone~~~ When you travel around Yeosu, you tend to reach for crab or seafood dishes a lot. This time I wanted something a bit different and filling, so I went looking for a shabu-shabu spot near Yeosu City Hall. That's Tongkeun Shabu.

You can eat shabu-shabu all you want while also using a salad bar stocked with all kinds of food, so it seemed like a solid choice for a family meal or a meal while traveling. If you're planning a Yeosu itinerary and trying to figure out where to eat, it could also work well as part of an island expo recommended course, so I'm leaving my honest review after visiting haha.

Where is Tongkeun Shabu, and where do you park?

Tongkeun Shabu is on the 3rd floor of a building at 25 Mangma-ro, Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do, and it's open 11:30–22:00. There's a parking lot behind the building, and reservations and group use are available.

• Address: 25 Mangma-ro, 3rd floor, Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do
• Hours 11:30–22:00
• Parking lot behind the building
• Reservations and group use available

Tongkeun Shabu is in the Hakdong area where Yeosu City Hall is, so the location is pretty convenient to reach during a Yeosu trip. There's a parking lot if you go around behind the building, which made it easy to visit by car too. That said, parking space might run short depending on the time you visit, so it's worth knowing about nearby parking options as well for a more relaxed visit.

Inside Tongkeun Shabu: high chairs, window seats and group tables

Going up to the 3rd floor, the restaurant was bigger than I expected, which made a great first impression. The overall vibe was clean, and the tables had enough space between them that I never felt cramped next to other diners.

Shabu-shabu places tend to draw a lot of families, and there were several different seating types set up for comfortable seating.

There were window seats and group tables good for sitting together with several people, so it seemed like it would work well for family meals, trips with friends, or even as a group dinner spot in Yeosu.

There were also kids' chairs ready for families visiting with young children, which made it feel like a low-stress option for family visits.

Tongkeun Shabu prices and broth choices

Pricing for the shabu-shabu changes depending on weekday lunch, dinner, and weekends/holidays. For adults, it's ₩23,900 for weekday lunch, ₩26,900 for dinner/weekends, ₩14,000 for elementary school students, and ₩11,000 for preschoolers. Since the price varies by time slot, it's worth checking ahead before you plan your visit.

Besides the basic broth, there were several other broth types ready too, like mala, chicken bone, and sukiyaki, so you can pick based on your taste. Half-and-half broth is also available, which seemed great for anyone who wants to enjoy two flavors at once haha.

What's on the salad bar at Tongkeun Shabu?

Personally, the part I was most looking forward to at Tongkeun Shabu was the salad bar.

I figured an all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu place would only have vegetables and meat prepped, but there were way more options than I expected, so just browsing was fun.

There was napa cabbage, bok choy, bean sprouts, and various mushrooms for the shabu-shabu, plus a variety of ingredients for making rice paper wraps. With rice paper on hand, you can pile in meat and vegetables to your liking and enjoy them as wraps — perfect.

And besides shabu-shabu, the salad bar had quite a variety of other food too.

There was sushi and rolls, gimbap (seaweed rice roll), pizza, fried chicken,

and familiar dishes like sweet and sour pork and fried rice too.

There was also pasta, along with heartier dishes like smoked duck and dakbal (spicy chicken feet). If you're visiting with kids who might not eat much shabu-shabu, there were plenty of other dishes they could eat, which seemed like a pretty good bonus.

With all-you-can-eat places, sometimes there are tons of dishes laid out but barely anything you actually want to eat. But Tongkeun Shabu had a solid lineup of dishes that pair well with shabu-shabu, which I actually appreciated. Before eating shabu-shabu I had a bit of sushi or rolls, then in the middle mixed in chicken or pizza,

and finished off with fruit or ice cream,

so I got to enjoy quite a range of food in one sitting haha.

I especially liked that fruit and dessert were available too.

You don't need to go find a separate café after eating — you can wrap things up neatly right here.

Beef shabu-shabu and rice paper wraps in the basic broth

Alright~ time for the taste review.

We went with the basic broth for our shabu-shabu. Once the broth started boiling, we loaded in the prepped vegetables generously.

After adding napa cabbage, bok choy, bean sprouts, and mushrooms and waiting a bit, the flavor of the vegetables naturally started coming through in the broth.

Then we added beef in one slice at a time and cooked it — and yeah, this is the shabu-shabu flavor haha.

I didn't cook the meat too long, just a quick cook, and it was tender and savory. Since the basic broth was mild and clean, I could easily enjoy the natural flavor of the vegetables and meat.

I dipped the meat alternately in sesame sauce and chili sauce, and even the same meat felt different each time, so I kept reaching for more.

It would feel like something's missing to skip the rice paper wraps when eating shabu-shabu haha. I prepped rice paper, piled in the cooked beef and various vegetables generously, and rolled it up — with the crisp vegetables and tender beef coming together, plus a dip in the sauce, it was clean and delicious. Rather than just eating shabu-shabu the whole time, mixing it up with wraps in between made the meal even more enjoyable.

Verdict: is Tongkeun Shabu worth a meal on a Yeosu trip?

To wrap up with an overall review.

This shabu-shabu spot near Yeosu City Hall, Tongkeun Shabu, felt less like a place that's only about shabu-shabu and more like an all-you-can-eat restaurant where you can enjoy a wide range of food together. You can enjoy shabu-shabu with fresh vegetables and beef, and the salad bar has plenty of variety too — sushi, chicken, pizza, sweet and sour pork — so it was nice that even a group with different tastes could each pick what they wanted to eat.

Above all, it was a good place to eat a properly hearty meal during a Yeosu trip and then move on to the next part of the itinerary. If you're looking for all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu near Yeosu City Hall, or a Yeosu restaurant to go to with family, give Tongkeun Shabu a try~

If you're figuring out where to eat as part of an island expo recommended course during your Yeosu trip, this would work well as one meal in that lineup haha. Eat well and enjoy your trip to the fullest :)