Date-night cordyceps dinner set at a Nowon shabu-shabu: Hana Shabu

My partner and I went to Hana Shabu Shabu, a Nowon, Junggye-dong restaurant I'd had my eye on for a while, for a dinner date 🥰

Where is Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch, and is there parking?

Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch is on the first floor of the Junggye Brownstone commercial building, so it's pretty easy to get to. Parking is free for 2 hours in the building's underground lot. Every time I pass by there's always a long wait, but luckily we got seated right away.

There's a window on the outside of Hana Shabu Shabu that glows with warm light, and I'd always wondered what the place was like looking at it. Finally got to visit this Junggye-dong favorite, Hana Shabu Shabu 🤩

The menu is simply broth shabu-shabu and pyeonbaek-jjim (cypress-steamed dishes) — they keep it simple and focus on their specialty.

Inside Hana Shabu Shabu: datchi counter seats are easy on your legs

The interior of Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch has counter seats, table seats, and group seats, so it works for all kinds of situations — a Nowon meetup spot or a date spot. The day we went, the group and table seats were almost full, and since we wanted a cozy meal together, we chose the counter seats. There's space underneath the counter seats so you can rest your legs comfortably while eating.

We ordered the dinner shabu-shabu menu. They set us up with a cast-iron pot, meat, vegetables, salad, and three sauces. An unexpected perk of the counter seats — we could get anything we needed right over the bar, which was nice haha.

This is the green salad with sesame dressing, which I love. It tasted good and looked pretty too, great for whetting the appetite before the meal 👍

The sauces are sweet chili, soy sauce, and sesame — three total, so you can enjoy the shabu-shabu in more varied ways.

What we ordered at Hana Shabu Shabu: the dinner shabu-shabu set

Hana Shabu Shabu's dinner shabu-shabu looks neat and pretty right from the vegetable arrangement. This presentation was actually one reason I thought it'd be a great Nowon meetup spot. It's healthy vegetables, but they're a treat for the eyes too. And with precious cordyceps mushroom included, it felt even more like a special treat.

I spotted a cute little fish ball hiding among the ingredients, so I snapped a photo. Dropped into the broth, it looks like it's swimming, which was fun 🤭

Black Angus brisket and sirloin, 170g per person

The strong point of Hana Shabu Shabu is the black Angus beef. Brisket and sirloin combined come to 170g per person.

What is black Angus? It's known as one of the world's best breeds of black cattle, referring to select beef from young cattle under 24 months fed a plant-based diet.

Unlike all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu, the meat here is thick and good quality, so it made me want to come back once more with my parents.

Dropping the meat into the piping hot broth cooked it quickly to the perfect eating state.

How to eat the cordyceps: roll it up and dip it in sauce

Rolling up the cordyceps that came with the meal and dipping it in sauce is basically a health tonic for the changing seasons 🤗

What is cordyceps? A mushroom known to contain antioxidants and cordycepin, said to help with fatigue recovery and immune care.

I was worried the meat portion might be too small, but as we ate, the amount turned out to be pretty generous.

Even full, I kept reaching for more of the black Angus at Hana Shabu Shabu 🤤 The meat was fresh, and the interior atmosphere felt like a trip to Japan, so we had a great time chatting away over the meal.

As we ate, the broth reduces, but they gave us a kettle of broth to refill whenever we needed — so convenient. Eating shabu-shabu out of a cast-iron pot is just the best vibe 👍

Finishing the Hana Shabu Shabu dinner with udon noodles

Even if you order à la carte, Hana Shabu Shabu gives you udon noodles as a kind of dessert(?), and the soft, springy noodles soaked up the broth so well — this was also a delicacy 😜

For anyone looking for a good restaurant in Nowon's Junggye-dong, this is my honest recommendation for a shabu-shabu spot — Hana Shabu Shabu :)