Diet-friendly Dongtan restaurant, cypress steam and wraps: Pyeonbaek

When you're on a diet but a dinner plan comes up, what should you eat to gain the least weight..? It's such a dilemma. So I visited Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch, thinking it might work as a diet-friendly eating-out spot. I wanted something light instead of greasy, and also thought of the friend I was going with — that's how I picked Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch!

Anyone else out there stressing over what to eat while dieting? Kind of a clever choice, don't you think??!!

Before the long review, let's start with the visual of the cypress steam dish~^ㅎ^

Cypress steam >> spring rolls >> shabu-shabu. If you're dieting you'd really need to watch your portions!! I lost all self-control though haha😋

Went to the self-serve bar and piled up all the ingredients I wanted~ 🥬🥗🧅🫑🫜🌶️

Where is Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch, and what is it like inside?

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch is on the 2nd floor of the Gran Via Star building near Dongtan Station. It's the building right across from Traders!!🏢

Seating was well separated and, above all, the place was really big👍 Perfect for group bookings, I'd say??

There's even a kids' room in the restaurant, so it seems great for extended family meals at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch.

Feed them a spring roll, then off they go to play again~~!

What's on the self-serve bar at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan?

There were two kinds of meat for the shabu-shabu at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch! No labels, but they looked like beef short rib flap and flat iron steak.

The spring roll vegetable corner and the shabu-shabu vegetable corner were kept separate, and the vegetables were nicely prepped.

The shabu-shabu corner had tri-color dumplings, hand-torn dough soup pieces, and kalguksu (knife-cut noodles), so I could mix and match combinations for my shabu-shabu.

The side buffet corner had tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), spaghetti, mukguksu, and more. Fewer options than other buffets, but... it was still fun to enjoy!

I hear Pyeonbaek Hoegwan has a lot of branches nationwide, and I could see the effort throughout the store to keep up with the times.

✅ Leave a Naver review and get a free drink! It's not one per table but one per person who participates, which I really liked~👍

What order do you eat in, from cypress steam to rice-paper wraps?

As soon as you sit down at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch, staff set up the cypress steam right away — it's on a timer, and once it's ready they come by the table to open the lid!

Meanwhile I was busy setting up side dishes, sauces, and the spring roll station••• busy busy~~><

Doesn't this look like you could finish the whole plate without gaining weight? There's bean sprouts hiding inside, and dipping the crunchy sprouts in soy sauce is so good~~!

It'd been a while since I had spring rolls, so it was nice. Making them at home means buying every ingredient separately and a lot of hassle, but coming to Pyeonbaek Hoegwan solves it all in one go🥓

My boyfriend said he liked the chili sauce, but for me the plain soy sauce was the tastiest!

How do you choose the shabu-shabu broth?

Once you're done enjoying the cypress steam, you move on to shabu-shabu — pick two broths you want from the kiosk, and staff will set it up for you~

Soy-based & spicy soybean paste-based.

Gotta make good use of the porridge at the self-serve bar too. Who doesn't have porridge after shabu-shabu!

Once you feel like you've had enough, finish it off with the classic Korean dessert — "grandma-style misugaru" — and you'll walk out completely stuffed!

Is Pyeonbaek Hoegwan a good place to eat out while dieting?

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch was overall clean and a great place to eat well without feeling too guilty. You can enjoy cypress steam, shabu-shabu, and spring rolls all in one visit, so there's no need to agonize over separate menu choices, and you get to eat a wide variety of vegetables too — a decent option for eating out while on a diet.

Being all-you-can-eat, being able to eat as much as I wanted was satisfying, and getting to have meat and vegetables together was more filling than I expected. I'd recommend this as a Dongtan restaurant to visit on a day when you want to cover taste, variety, and value all at once :)