Yongin Korean restaurant for live abalone shabu: Jangwongap

⏱️ Hours: Daily 10:30 AM–9 PM (break time 4–5 PM) 🚻 Restroom: Inside the restaurant building; nice and clean 🚗 Parking: Dedicated restaurant parking available

Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch (장원갑칼국수 용인기흥점) has several locations, but this branch is especially well situated: about a 3-minute drive from Lotte Outlet and 5 minutes from IKEA, making it a great place for a meal after shopping. It is also close to my office, so I had visited several times at lunch. I have had a satisfying meal every time, so I wanted to introduce it.

Location and parking at Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch

Jangwongap Kalguksu is 3 minutes from Giheung Lotte Outlet and 5 minutes from Giheung IKEA. It is well located for a post-shopping visit, but more importantly, it has a roomy parking lot for around 40 cars. Being close to Giheung IC also made it quite accessible from Dongtan or Yongin.

Weekday lunch waits and a spacious dining room

I mainly visited for weekday lunch. I could usually walk right in before noon, though there was occasionally a wait after that. When there was a wait, it was easy to register on-site through Catchtable.

The interior was really spacious, too. The tables were not crammed together, so dining never felt uncomfortable. Even during busy mealtimes, the generous space kept it from feeling overly crowded, and it looked good for family meals or group gatherings as well.

Ordering the live abalone brisket shabu-kalguksu

Jangwongap Kalguksu’s signature is brisket and minari-wrap shabu-kalguksu. You first enjoy wagyu brisket and minari (water parsley) wraps, then kalguksu (knife-cut noodles), and finally perilla oil fried rice, so it feels a little like an omakase-style course. There are two broth choices—spicy red and clear white—so you can choose according to your taste.

I have tried both. The white broth brought out the fresh fragrance of the minari, but personally, considering the kalguksu and fried rice too, I found the red broth tastier. This time, I ordered the live abalone brisket shabu-kalguksu, which includes wagyu brisket, minari wraps, kalguksu, perilla oil fried rice, and abalone.

First, the banchan (Korean side dishes) included Uiseong garlic kimchi. Whenever I go to a kalguksu restaurant, delicious fresh geotjeori kimchi is what I look forward to most. This one was pleasantly spicy and crisp, just as I had hoped, and it went so well with the noodles. Maybe it was the Uiseong garlic, but it had such great savory depth that we kept reaching for it—and even got a refill, haha.

Our order arrived very quickly, too. We ordered the live abalone brisket shabu-kalguksu, which came with three abalones per person. The abalones had been cleaned so neatly and were so fresh that I was excited before even taking a bite, haha.

Brisket-minari wraps and sesame oil sauce

Following the staff’s suggested order, we started with the brisket-minari wraps before moving on to the kalguksu. I lightly cooked the brisket, wrapped it with raw minari, and dipped it in sesame oil. The bright herbal aroma of minari and the nutty sesame oil worked beautifully together, whetting my appetite before the meal really began. They also recommended having it with galchi sokjeot, a salted hairtail innard sauce. It added another layer of savory flavor and gave the wrap a different appeal.

It is really delicious when you give it a good dunk in the sesame oil sauce, haha.

They said they press the sesame oil directly at an oil mill, and perhaps that was why its aroma was so deep and nutty. If you like the sesame oil as much as I did, you can buy it separately at the restaurant.

Live abalone shabu-shabu and cheese noodles

Next, we enjoyed the fresh, moving live abalone as shabu-shabu. I worried that live abalone might be awkward to eat, but it had been prepared in advance, and they said it would slip right out of the shell once cooked. Sure enough, after a brief cook, it came off very easily and was convenient to eat. It was tender yet pleasantly chewy, and dipping it with raw minari in the sesame oil sauce, just like the brisket, brought out its nutty flavor even more.

Next came the highlight: kalguksu. The noodles at Jangwongap Kalguksu are particularly good. They are called “cheese noodles” because of their springy texture—they stretch rather than breaking apart, like cheese.

After 5 minutes in the pot, the noodles had a satisfyingly chewy bite; as time passed, they gradually became softer. They did not feel mushy—rather, their texture changed naturally as they cooked, so you could enjoy different textures according to your preference. Personally, I liked them at around 6–7 minutes, when they were still chewy but a little softened. Everyone I ate with had a different preference, though, so comparing your favorites as you eat could be fun, haha.

The noodles become much nuttier when dipped in the sesame oil sauce, too. Once I tried it, I kept eating them that way. It paired especially well with the softer noodles after about 8 minutes of cooking.

Perilla oil fried rice and after-meal snacks

We finished with fried rice—the Korean dessert. 😂 I was already so full, but there was no way I could skip the fried rice. Crispy scorched rice was mixed with seaweed flakes, minari, and kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), and it was delicious right through to the end.

After paying, you can freely enjoy puffed rice snacks and cookies in the waiting area. They would be nice while waiting, but I had a few on my way out and they were perfect as a palate cleanser. The misutgaru slushie, made with mixed grain powder, was especially delicious. It was sweet and refreshing, a lovely way to finish instead of coffee.

From the brisket and abalone to the kalguksu and fried rice, this was a place where I could enjoy every course in order and have a truly filling, satisfying meal. If you are visiting Giheung Lotte Outlet or IKEA, I recommend stopping by for a hearty meal after shopping. 😊