Dongtan Station buffet for four, 19,900-won course: Pyeonbaek Hoegwan

I love both meat and vegetables, so I'm a big fan of shabu-shabu, and I finally visited Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch, which came recommended as a must-try restaurant near Dongtan Station. Being able to eat as much good-quality meat and vegetables as I wanted made me really satisfied. Here's the full detailed review ❤️

Where is Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch, and what does the all-you-can-eat course cost?

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch is on the 2nd floor of the Grandbias Star building at Dongtan Station, and the all-you-can-eat course is 19,900 won. Park in the building's basement lot and head up to the 2nd floor — Pyeonbaek Hoegwan is right there haha. You could tell right in front of the store that the all-you-can-eat course was 19,900 won ^__^

Inside Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch and its kids' playroom

The interior of Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch was spacious and comfortable. In particular, there was a playroom for kids, which looked perfect for dining out with children.

Ordering at the kiosk: bonito and spicy mushroom broth for four

You order at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch through a kiosk, where you can choose the flavor of the shabu-shabu broth. Since it was our first visit, we went with the most popular basic option — bonito broth + spicy mushroom broth for 4 people.

On the table, there were detailed instructions on how to eat! The time limit is 100 minutes, and there were very detailed explanations on how to eat the cypress steam and shabu-shabu, plus how to use the all-you-can-eat salad bar, so check those out. Also, there's a receipt review event with a free drink, so be sure to join in and get yourself a drink haha.

What's on the salad bar: spring roll wraps, shabu vegetables, beef brisket and pork neck

The salad bar at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch is divided into a fresh spring roll corner, a shabu-shabu vegetable corner, and a sliced meat corner. I was surprised by the sheer scale of the salad bar, and once again surprised by how spotlessly clean it was haha. Since they bring the cypress steam out first, we headed to the fresh spring roll corner first haha. All the basic vegetables you'd need for spring rolls were there!

The shabu-shabu vegetable corner was packed with a wide variety of fresh ingredients like mushrooms, vegetables, and fish cake skewers! And if you look at the last slide, there were sliced beef brisket and sliced pork neck. The meat looked like great quality, so I was excited ><

Besides the fresh spring roll and shabu-shabu corners, there were also all these different dishes prepared. Salads, fried rice, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), spaghetti — basically all the foods I love were there haha. If you're not careful, you could fill up before even getting to the cypress steam and shabu-shabu, so pace yourself hahaha!

We prepared rice paper, hot water, and vegetables for the fresh spring rolls~! Among the dishes, the jjolmyeon (spicy chewy noodles) was deliciously spicy, and the acorn jelly was tasty too 👍

How the cypress steam arrives and how to wrap it

At Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch, they first place the cypress steam pot on the induction stove. When it's ready, the staff open it for you in person! You can order shabu-shabu even while the cypress steam is still going, so just call a staff member if you want to eat both together.

The cypress steam visuals are amazing, right..?💖💖 Dipping the meat and bean sprouts together into the sauce, it just melted in my mouth haha. Since the meat was steamed rather than grilled, it felt even healthier and better.

Ta-da~~ Wrapping the vegetables, meat, and sauce we'd brought over into chewy rice paper soaked in water and taking a big bite, all the individual flavors and textures of the ingredients blended together so well — it was so delicious..!!

Bonito and spicy mushroom shabu-shabu, plus broth refills

After eating a fair amount of the cypress steam, we ordered shabu-shabu right away. When we told the staff, they brought over the broth we'd ordered immediately. Then we went to the salad bar and brought back whatever vegetables we wanted haha.

Once the broth was bubbling, we threw in the vegetables and meat. With four mouths to feed, we just piled it all in ^__^

At first, the broth had a mild bonito flavor with a somewhat plain spicy-savory taste, but as we kept adding meat and vegetables, the flavors soaked into the broth and it got tastier and tastier! The refill broth is also over at the salad bar, so if you run low, just go grab more! With the delicious meat, even the vegetables tasted amazing — I feel like I ate a whole month's worth of vegetables that day hahaha. The ingredients being so fresh really made it even better and more delicious haha.

Finishing with porridge and a misugaru slushie

Of course, the finale of shabu-shabu is porridge. At Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch, they set up a rice cooker with white rice and, alongside it, raw egg, seaweed, and a kind of porridge seasoning packet. Leave a bit of the bonito broth, then mash in the white rice and raw egg while stirring, and the porridge comes together in no time..❤️ Maybe because it's made with such a tasty broth, the umami flavor was incredible?ㅠㅠ I thought I'd just have one bite since I was full, but my whole family scraped the pot clean hahaha.

As we were paying and heading out, we noticed a misugaru (roasted grain powder) slushie machine. The machine kept churning the slushie nonstop haha, so fascinating! It was the perfect nutty palate cleanser to end the meal.

If you're looking for a healthy, filling, delicious meal, go visit Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch 💕