Wasabi-sauce shabu-shabu dinner in Magok, Seoul: Yangcheon Shabu

After catching a movie at Megabox Magok and walking all the way to Seoul Botanic Park, I was craving something warm but not too heavy. So I looked into it and — tonight's dinner was shabu-shabu and hand-cut noodles! (The owner was so kind, and the broth made with Korean beef bone stock and herbal ingredients was genuinely delicious even for someone with a plain-Jane palate like me.)

What Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu in Magok is like on a weekend evening

I visited around 7 or 8pm on a weekend evening, and there were quite a lot of customers. Weird, because the other restaurants I passed on the way didn't have nearly this many people...? When I searched for shabu-shabu restaurants near Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station, this place came up as the most popular, haha.

Oh, by the way — grab a coupon on Naver Place first. There's a free vegetable coupon and a noodle-refill coupon. I didn't know about it, but you should, haha.

Menu and broth options at Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu

The basic set is herbal tonic broth + shabu meat + vegetables + black garlic hand-cut noodles + perilla oil five-color rice. You can eat shabu-shabu here for prices in the ₩10,000s!

• Choose one of three broths: spicy / clear / perilla
• No half-and-half — everyone at the table has to pick the same broth
• Most other customers went for the spicy broth
• I went with the clear broth

I noticed they'd even released a meal kit, so as soon as I sat down I thought, "this place must be famous, huh?" — and it turned out to be true. And once you taste the broth, you can definitely pick up an herbal aroma. It's at a pleasant level though, not so strong that it puts you off, so anyone can enjoy it regardless of preference.

Minari-packed vegetable platter and one extra portion of shabu meat

They bring out an enormous amount of minari (water dropwort). Bean sprouts and mushrooms come along too!! I also ordered one extra portion of meat, so think of it as two people's base portion plus one extra.

How does the clear herbal broth taste?

A lot of shabu-shabu places popping up these days just use instant broth cubes, but here they say there isn't a single additive. In the end, it's just Korean beef bone stock plus 8 herbal ingredients. But it's genuinely delicious. The clear broth might taste a bit bland at first, but once it boils and you eat it with the wasabi sauce, it's just right.

Adding the minari pancake for 14,900 won

I also ordered a minari pancake (₩14,900). The weather was a cool autumn evening that day, so the crispy pancake plus hot broth combo was just perfect. And like I mentioned, the owner was kind — going around table to table refilling whatever was running low and explaining exactly how to eat everything for the best flavor.

Why the wasabi sauce is the highlight at Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu

Usually you dip shabu-shabu in sesame sauce or soy sauce, right? But this restaurant near Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station serves wasabi sauce instead. And, honestly... this wasabi sauce is the kicker ⭐. Not spicy at all, it cleanly rounds out the flavor — and ever since eating it here, I've been dipping my homemade shabu-shabu in wasabi sauce too.

Black garlic hand-cut noodles and perilla oil five-color rice: enough food for two?

Once you boil the noodles down thoroughly, that's when I started getting extremely full. I wondered at first if the portion would be enough, but it's actually a lot.

And the perilla oil five-color rice I'd been looking forward to. Overall, all the dishes here felt really thoughtful and carefully made. It'd be natural for a place to get sloppy about churning out dishes fast once it gets busy, but not here.

Shake shake. I thought it might be bland at first, but eaten together with the wasabi sauce, the seasoning was spot on. Delicious even without any egg mixed in!!!

Free plum slush and thoughtful service at the counter

When I went to pay, they told me there was a plum slush ready as dessert and insisted I have some before leaving. I usually avoid plum drinks because they leave my mouth feeling dry, but this one was really clean — the sweetness wasn't too strong!!

And at the counter, they had hair ties, lens cleaner, wipes for cleaning broth stains off your clothes, and even mouthwash laid out. Personally, this is the detail that impressed me most, haha. It might seem like a small thing, but it's actually a big deal. On top of that, the owner and all the staff were friendly all around, so I felt like I'd found a real gem of a restaurant after a while!

Why Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu suits a meal after Seoul Botanic Park

So, another new favorite restaurant found! It also holds up well as a lunch spot in Magok, with single dishes like yeolmu guksu (cold radish-green noodles) and kongguksu (chilled soybean noodle soup) available too. Since it's close to Seoul Botanic Park, I'd recommend crossing over to Yangcheon Hyanggyo and giving Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu a try!! I'll definitely be back — next time, I'm trying the perilla broth.