Unlimited beef lunch at Shabu20, a shabu-shabu buffet in Asan Onyang

Why this couple chose Shabu20 Asan Onyang for an all-you-can-eat beef lunch

Shabu20 Asan Onyang Branch is an all-you-can-eat beef shabu-shabu buffet on the 2nd floor of 246 Nambu-ro, Asan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea. We went for an early lunch on a day when both of us happened to be off work.

Today we both had time and were off work, so we agonized over what delicious thing to eat before landing here — Shabu20! We love shabu-shabu and have been to almost every shabu-shabu chain out there, but this was our first time at Shabu20. We showed up with our hearts racing. When I searched 'Asan shabu-shabu,' the reviews were really good.

Is there a wait at early lunch, and how clean is the Shabu20 dining room?

Probably because we arrived during the early lunch slot, there weren't many customers. Before long, though, a wave of guests showed up — looks like a lot of nearby office workers come here too. There seemed to be plenty of staff on hand, which gave the whole place a really smoothly-run feel.

With a buffet, people come and go constantly, so hygiene matters most, I think — and the staff were quick to catch and clean up any spills or mess the moment they happened. The whole place had a really clean, tidy atmosphere!

Aren't those signs above super cute? Sauce, spring roll wraps, spring water, dessert... one glance at the signs and you know exactly where to go, no confusion hunting for food ~

Sauce corner at Shabu20: sesame sauce and chili sauce mixed together

The sauce corner at Shabu20 Asan Onyang Branch has several kinds — sesame sauce, a special chili sauce, and a garlic-based one. Mixing the sesame sauce with the chili sauce was our favorite combo.

Sauce is everything for spring roll wraps, right? Haha. And when I dip the shabu-shabu meat and veggies too, mixing up different flavor sauces keeps things tasty and never boring ~ I especially love the sesame sauce. Mix it with the special chili sauce and it's nutty and spicy at the same time — you just can't stop eating it. You've got to try that combo.

Also, you like garlic, right? Haha, if you're Korean, you're a garlic lover, garlic is the best! One of the sauces here has garlic in it, and it's got a nice sharp bite to it too ~

Vegetable garden and rice-paper roll corner, plus the beef quality

The vegetable garden corner at Shabu20 Asan Onyang Branch had a wide variety of vegetables and several kinds of mushrooms. And the meat quality was the best we've had at any shabu-shabu place so far.

This is the vegetable garden and spring roll veggie corner. So many kinds of vegetables — and hygiene and freshness matter a lot to me, and everything looked so clean and fresh that I just kept piling my plate. Vegetables we don't often cook at home, and so many kinds of mushrooms too — I told myself I should eat lots of healthy stuff while I'm here, and, well, ended up overeating.

I mentioned we love shabu-shabu, right? Out of every shabu-shabu restaurant we've been to, I can say with total confidence this one had the best meat quality. The meat was really good quality. We prefer cuts with less fat, so we could enjoy it in a really clean, light way.

Sides at Shabu20: sweet fried chicken, takoyaki and the LA galbi premium corner

The side dish corner at Shabu20 Asan Onyang Branch has fried chicken, takoyaki, pasta, and tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), and the premium corner brings out LA-style beef short ribs. Of everything, the fried chicken disappeared the fastest.

As you can see in the photos, there were all kinds of side dishes — and was this place secretly known for its fried chicken? It was so good, and people kept grabbing it, so it turned over fast, which somehow made it taste even better. Besides that, there was takoyaki, pasta, tteokbokki... plenty of dishes kids would love too.

And especially that premium corner in the photo above! LA-style beef short ribs?! Served this rich and flavorful too?! Lol. I wanted to just eat rice with those short ribs, but I held back... gotta save room for the shabu-shabu.

There were several kinds of salad too, which was great. The pumpkin mousse especially — light and clean, really good.

Rice cakes, oranges, tomatoes too ~~ I was so full I skipped the rice cakes, but looking at the photo now, why didn't I eat one?? Lol.

A shabu-shabu buffet where you can take the coffee to go

One thing we loved about Shabu20 Asan Onyang Branch is that you can take your coffee to go. Instead of sitting there stuffed, sipping coffee at the table, we could walk around while drinking.

I'm not sure if it's the same at other branches, but one thing I loved was being able to take the coffee out with you. You're so full but you still want coffee — that's how it usually goes at a buffet, right? But being able to take it to go, walking around slowly and sipping, was so nice and comfortable.

What the couple loaded on one plate: mushrooms, soup and fried rice

This is my plate, haha. Yeah, even though this is a shabu-shabu place, it looks like I came for a meat buffet instead, lol.

I love mushrooms. I especially love king oyster and enoki mushrooms, so I really piled my plate with those.

Looks like pumpkin soup and beef cream soup. They settle your stomach nicely before you dig into the real food.

Fried rice, and... more meat, lol. Grabbed as much as I wanted ^^

Five broths to choose from at Shabu20, and which ones cost 1,000 won extra

The shabu-shabu broth at Shabu20 Asan Onyang Branch comes in five choices — spicy, soybean, katsuobushi (bonito), sukiyaki, or hot pot. Some broths cost ₩1,000 extra, and the staff kindly explain which ones.

Finally, the shabu-shabu pot appears. You get to choose the broth — spicy, soybean, katsuobushi, sukiyaki, or hot pot. Just pick whichever soup base you want. FYI, some broths cost an extra ₩1,000, and the staff explain that very kindly ~~

Honestly, after eating a certain amount you feel like 'ahh, I'm full,' but then a cold plum tea comes along and it all just settles down? Ready to go again! But it's so good you just keep eating.

Look at that photo above. The color on that meat is unbelievable, right? Traditionally with shabu-shabu you're supposed to pick up the meat with chopsticks, dip it into the hot broth just until cooked, then pull it right out and eat it. But most big-eating Koreans, it seems, end up dumping all the veggies, meat, and mushrooms in at once and boiling it all together as a soup. Seeing meat with that kind of color, though, made us want to eat it the proper, traditional way — the texture was just too good.

An affogato as a mid-meal dessert

Ugh, looking at this photo makes me want to eat it all over again. I like mixing in dessert partway through a meal, so we made an affogato when we were starting to feel a little tired of the shabu-shabu. The ice cream was so good that the affogato ended up tasting really fancy!

See the sauces? It's kind of fun mixing this and that and customizing your own dip to your taste.

We wrapped up a spring roll too ^^

We're definitely going back to Shabu20 Asan Onyang Branch for beef shabu-shabu in Asan! Officially saved as one of our favorite Asan restaurants!