Hwaseong restaurant for spicy mushroom shabu-shabu: Pyeonbaek Hoegwan

A spacious hinoki-steam and shabu-shabu restaurant on the second floor of Dongtan Station Granvia Star

I heard there was a place in Dongtan where you can enjoy unlimited shabu-shabu and hinoki steam, so I visited Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch (편백회관 동탄점).

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch is on the second floor of Granvia Star, so it is very easy to find. You can use the building parking lot, and they validate parking after your meal, so keep that in mind. The restaurant is very spacious, and it seemed perfect for a company dinner or family gathering. There were lots of families dining there when I visited, too.

There were various medicinal herbs displayed by the entrance. There is also a play area on one side of the restaurant. It looked spacious enough for children to run around, so parents can enjoy their meal with peace of mind!

Choosing shabu-shabu broth after the hinoki steam

Once you are seated, it is time to order. You need to choose the shabu-shabu broth that will come after the hinoki steam. Like hot pot, there are various options including mala and tomato. I chose the classic bonito broth and the spicy mushroom broth.

After you finish ordering, they first bring out the hinoki steam like this. It needs to cook for about 6 minutes, and once the time is up, a staff member comes over and opens the lid. While mine was steaming, I looked around the salad bar haha.

What is available at the salad bar and wrap station?

The salad bar had easy palate-cleansing dishes such as fried rice, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), and spaghetti.

This muksabal (cold acorn-jelly soup) in particular tasted like something older diners would enjoy. There were also fries and corn salad for children.

This is the self-serve station where you can make juk (rice porridge) after finishing your shabu-shabu. I was going to try it later, too haha.

On the other side are the Vietnamese-style wrap and shabu-shabu vegetables. The wrap vegetables include carrots, cucumber, sprouts, red cabbage, onion, chili peppers, and pineapple. One plate for filling with wrap vegetables is provided per table, so you can load it up like this and take it back!

For shabu-shabu, there were bean sprouts, napa cabbage, bok choy, oyster mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms, as well as toppings such as dumplings, kalguksu (knife-cut noodle) noodles, sujebi (hand-torn dough soup) pieces, sausages, and fish cakes. There was so much variety that I had a hard time deciding what to add...

Beef brisket and pork shoulder slices, plus broth refills

The long-awaited meat station! At Pyeonbaek Hoegwan, the meat is unlimited, too. There are two types: beef brisket slices and pork shoulder slices. With one tender option and one leaner option, you can enjoy whichever suits your taste!

There is also refill broth for shabu-shabu on one side, so you can help yourself comfortably.

Rice paper and hot water are also provided for the Vietnamese-style wraps! Take the paper bowl from your table to pick up rice paper, and use the dedicated hot-water bowl beside it for the water. There is a container next to the hot-water bowl for pouring out cooled water, so when it becomes lukewarm, it is easy to discard it and refill it with fresh hot water!

Even before the hinoki steam started, I put together quite a spread haha. Every table has chili sauce, peanut sauce, and soy sauce for the wraps, so you can enjoy them without worrying.

Hinoki steam with a gentle cypress aroma and Vietnamese-style wraps

The hinoki steam was finally ready! The quality was so good... The meat was very tender, and it came with plenty of vegetables to enjoy alongside it. Best of all, because it was steamed in hinoki, it had a subtle cypress fragrance.

The hinoki steam was great on its own, but it was also so delicious wrapped in rice paper like a Vietnamese-style wrap. Once I piled in plenty of vegetables, the cross-section looked just like a wrap from a specialty restaurant. The variety of colorful vegetables really made all the flavors come together.

Spicy mushroom-broth shabu-shabu and rice porridge to finish

Once you finish the hinoki steam, ask a staff member to prepare the shabu-shabu, and they bring out the broths you ordered like this.

Then bring back your meat and vegetables for shabu-shabu from the self bar, and round two—shabu-shabu—begins haha.

Shabu-shabu had a different charm from the hinoki steam. With broth, it did not feel rich or greasy, and the spicy mushroom broth in particular was clean and pleasantly spicy, pairing so well with the meat and vegetables.

I did not add noodles or sujebi because I wanted to eat porridge, but I did try these fish cakes. And these fish cakes... they were much chewier and tastier than I expected, which really surprised me. If you go, definitely give them a try.

Now for the final course: porridge time. I gathered the ingredients from the self bar. There was rice, crushed gim (roasted seaweed), furikake seasoning, sesame oil, and raw egg, so you can take what suits your taste.

The porridge... was honestly so delicious. Maybe because I made it in the broth where the meat and vegetables had cooked, it was deeply savory, and adding sesame oil and crushed gim to my taste made it wonderfully nutty... It is a place where you can enjoy a wide range of dishes, from hinoki steam to shabu-shabu, and it is great for all ages. I recommend it if you are looking for a spot for a family meal, gathering, or company dinner.