Hwaseong Korean restaurant for pufferfish shabu-shabu: Yubok

Warm, refreshing pufferfish-broth kalguksu in Hwaseong

The weather has gotten chilly enough that mornings and evenings feel cold. With the cool breeze blowing, I found myself craving something warm and soothing😄 This is a great restaurant in Dongtan 1 that I visited yesterday!

Yubok Haemul Kalguksu Dongtan Direct Branch

I’ll attach the map for the location. It is open Wednesday through Monday from 11:00 to 21:00 and regularly closed every Tuesday. You can park in front of the building, but space is limited. If it is full, you can park free for 1 hour 30 minutes at Central Park Public Parking, a 3-minute walk away. High chairs are available, too.

Waiting information. I went after weekday lunchtime, so there was no wait.

Here is the interior. There is a small room with around 10 chairs. It seems fine even for a group of about 10 people. Overall, the white-and-wood interior is neat and comfortable🙂

They make their own noodles. You can feel the owner’s pride, haha.

Ordering pufferfish shabu-shabu kalguksu and stir-fried webfoot octopus

I ordered one serving of pufferfish shabu-shabu kalguksu with extra vegetables, plus one serving of stir-fried webfoot octopus.

Each table has pepper, an hourglass, and hot peppers ready. There are also instructions for the best way to enjoy the meal.

When you order, they bring out the side dishes: kimchi, white musaengchae (seasoned shredded radish), and barley rice. I mixed the barley rice with the musaengchae👍

Clear-broth shabu-shabu kalguksu, with beef and kalguksu noodles. The shabu-shabu has the extra vegetables I ordered. And the stir-fried webfoot octopus looked so appetizing🤗

I thought ordering the stir-fried webfoot octopus would come with a bowl of rice and seaweed flakes🤣 But it only comes when you order according to the number of people. If you do, you get rice with seaweed flakes and clam soup. I debated ordering rice or adding noodles, then decided to eat first and choose later—but I got full as I ate. I had the stir-fried webfoot octopus almost like a side dish😄 I ordered one serving of each, and there was a lot of food!!!

A clear, refreshing broth that tastes like pufferfish soup

Once the broth was bubbling away~~~ Wow, I was surprised after one sip!!! It genuinely tasted like pufferfish soup broth and was so refreshing~ It felt like a hangover cure for alcohol I did not even drink yesterday~ My mouth felt refreshed, and so did my whole stomach!!! It was really so clean! Refreshing and delicious😍 It also had a savory umami without being greasy, so it was truly delicious! 👍

I dipped the nutty beef and fresh vegetables in the sauce, too~

The webfoot octopus was wonderfully springy, with plenty of onion and garlic, and the seasoning was delicious, too!

Late-added kalguksu noodles with webfoot-octopus seasoning

After eating a bit, I added the kalguksu noodles too~! I loved the clean broth so much that I added the noodles as late as possible, but even then the broth did not get very cloudy🙂 I cooked the kalguksu and ate it with kimchi; the kimchi had a fresh geotjeori-style taste and was not too salty, so it was delicious. Mixing the kalguksu noodles with the webfoot-octopus seasoning and eating them with the octopus was a special treat, too🤗

They also sell the pufferfish broth separately. The price is affordable, right? They are running a review event too, so it would be nice to join and take home some pufferfish broth! I enjoyed such a warm, delicious meal that I think I will return on a chilly day!!! I really could not stop drinking that broth, haha. I recommend it~!