Hot pot buffet in Songdo: crab, scallops, lean beef at Sangsangcheom

Songdo shabu-shabu and hot pot spot, weekday lunch at Sangsangcheom

I visited Sangsangcheom (상상첨), a new all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurant in Songdo Triple Street. At ₩25,900 per person for weekday lunch, you get hot pot, meat, vegetables, skewers, guobaorou (Chinese sweet-and-sour fried pork), fruit and even dessert, and I was more satisfied than I expected from this new Songdo place. I saw lots of students and also many Chinese customers, and I think it will become better known as a Songdo hot pot spot, so let me introduce it.

Where is Sangsangcheom Songdo Triple Street Branch?

Sangsangcheom Songdo Triple Street Branch is at 33-4 Songdogwahak-ro 16beon-gil, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea, in Triple Street Building D, 1st floor. Since it is inside Triple Street, it is a good place to eat after shopping at Songdo Hyundai Premium Outlets or Triple Street.

• Address: 33-4 Songdogwahak-ro 16beon-gil, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, Triple Street Building D, 1st floor
• Menu: all-you-can-eat hot pot only
• Time limit: 2 hours
• Price: ₩25,900 per person, weekday lunch

The buildings in Triple Street can be confusing, but Sangsangcheom is on the main street of Building D, so it is easy to find.

Inside Sangsangcheom: the atmosphere

Sangsangcheom is a new Songdo hot pot spot where you can enjoy hot pot, shabu-shabu and malachuan (mala skewers) all-you-can-eat.

Lots of mala tang, hot pot and Chinese restaurants have been opening in Songdo lately, and Sangsangcheom made a good first impression with its especially wide self-bar where you pick your own ingredients.

Even at weekday lunch there were quite a few customers, including students and Chinese guests, so it seemed popular with people who like authentic-style hot pot.

How do you order the hot pot buffet at Sangsangcheom?

You pick a broth, order the unlimited meat, then use the self-bar freely. Even as a first-timer, I found the ordering easy.

1. Choose your broth

You can choose a traditional pot (one flavor) or a yuanyang pot (a split pot with two flavors). The broths are mala (numbing spicy), beef bone (usagol), mushroom and tomato. For two people you share one pot, so you can pick at most two broths, split in half.

2. Order the unlimited meat

There are 3 kinds of meat: lamb shoulder, beef brisket and beef foreshank (ujeongaksal). I think meat quality matters most at an all-you-can-eat hot pot place, and at Sangsangcheom the meat was better than I expected, which I liked.

3. Help yourself at the self-bar

The self-bar has 56+ items: vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, noodles, skewers, sides, fruit and desserts. Over 2 hours you can try lots of combinations and eat until you are full.

What is on the Sangsangcheom self-bar, from crab to scallops?

The self-bar has sauce ingredients, vegetables, seafood such as crab, scallops and cuttlefish, noodles, offal and fish cake balls, fried food and guobaorou, fruit, ice cream, iced black tea and soda.

For sauces, you can follow the recommended combination or mix your own.

Even the vegetables that go in first, the base of the broth, were very fresh, so I piled them on.

I was surprised to see crab, scallops and cuttlefish, seafood that can only be served when it is really fresh.

Various kinds of noodles

Various offal and fish cake balls

Fried food, guobaorou, fruit and ice cream

Iced black tea and soda

Is the 25,900-won weekday lunch at Sangsangcheom good value?

We went for weekday lunch as 2 people, and it was ₩25,900 per person. At first I wondered whether that was a fair price for a hot pot buffet, but after using it, meat, vegetables, skewers, sides and dessert were all included, so the value felt quite good.

With a 2-hour limit, there is no need to rush, and plenty of time to go back for the ingredients you want several times. If you like hot pot, I think this lineup at a weekday lunch price will feel quite satisfying.

Three unlimited meats at Sangsangcheom: lean beef shank for dieters

The meats at Sangsangcheom are, from the top: beef foreshank (ujeongaksal) / beef brisket / lamb shoulder. For reference, ujeongaksal is the leanest beef front-leg cut and is often used for shabu-shabu, so if you are eating out while managing your diet, keep it in mind!

I think the most important thing at an all-you-can-eat hot pot place is meat quality, and the meat at Sangsangcheom was better than I expected.

I expected thin, dry meat because it is a buffet, but cooked in the broth, the texture and taste were better than I thought.

Even just getting refills of meat felt worthwhile, and considering the weekday lunch price, this felt like the biggest strength.

Which broth combination works best at Sangsangcheom?

This time I chose tomato broth and beef bone broth. The tomato broth was fresh and savory and went well with vegetables and meat, and the bone broth was mild and clean.

But since we came for hot pot, I felt it would have been better to have one mala broth. If you visit for the first time, I would recommend choosing either tomato or bone broth, and mala for the other half.

The sea urchin roe balls were so good that I took a photo.

Final verdict on Sangsangcheom in Songdo Triple Street

Sangsangcheom, the new hot pot spot in Songdo Triple Street, left me quite satisfied at weekday lunch. The ingredients are varied, the unlimited meat was better than expected, and with guobaorou and dessert available too, I left really full after 2 hours.

Next time I would like to try the tomato and mala broth combination. If you are looking for a hot pot restaurant in Songdo, Incheon, check out Sangsangcheom in Triple Street.