Seoul Station family shabu-shabu restaurant kids enjoyed: Yunseul

We visited Yunseul while looking for a family dinner spot near Seoul Station. To give you the conclusion first, I liked it way more than I expected. The food was great, but the space itself was so pretty!

Shabu-shabu with floor-to-ceiling windows at Seoul Station Grand Central

It is on the first floor of Seoul Station Grand Central, where sunlight streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows and there is an open view of the area in front of Seoul Station. It felt more like a restaurant with a lovely atmosphere than a shabu-shabu place.

The seating was neat, and the tables were spaced comfortably apart. I think it would be nice for anyone looking for a Seoul Station date spot, as well as a family meal or a meetup.

We arrived right when break time ended at 5, so it was wonderfully quiet and comfortable. The staff were kind, the view was lovely—it felt like we were being properly treated.

We ordered two servings of clear anchovy-broth shabu-shabu and added a platter of prime chuck roll.

Ta-da. It finally arrived, and the presentation was amazing. The meat looked genuinely high quality too 🫶🫶

Clear anchovy-broth shabu-shabu loaded with mushrooms

The vegetable selection was especially generous. Rather than the usual basic combination of just napa cabbage or minari (water celery), there were so many mushrooms: shiitake, wood ear, oyster, enoki, lion's mane (I think, haha), and more. As a mushroom lover, this alone got a pass from me, haha.

We loaded the clear anchovy broth with vegetables and mushrooms, let it bubble away, then lightly cooked the meat. The broth was clean and not overly intense, so I just kept eating. It felt like a properly wholesome meal ♡ My son kept saying how delicious it was. While eating, he said he wanted to come back with his dad.

And the sauces here are delicious. With shabu-shabu, the dipping sauce matters just as much as the meat and vegetables, honestly. I gave the meat a good dunk and kept reaching for more.

The biggest surprise of the day, above all, was our son. He usually does not care much for shabu-shabu, so I was not even expecting him to eat well—but what do you know... he seriously went on an eating spree, haha.

He ate the meat so well that we ended up ordering more prime chuck roll.

That was another point I really liked if you are looking for somewhere to eat out around Seoul Station with kids. Highly recommended for a family meal near Seoul Station.

Finishing with noodles, fried rice, and porridge

Something I really hope you try at Yunseul is the homemade kalguksu (knife-cut noodles)! We put the noodles into the shabu-shabu broth to cook, and they were bouncy and chewy, soaking up all the flavor from the vegetables and meat. Seriously delicious.

Those homemade noodles were a work of art. The kimchi was tasty too, so we properly slurped those noodles down.

But it would be a shame to stop there, right? Haha. We also had the bulgogi kimchi fried rice.

There were rice dishes to choose from, and this one came generously topped with bulgogi and kimchi, plus crushed seaweed. It was nutty and spicy at the same time.

It was a completely different kind of finish, perfect after the shabu-shabu. And I could not pass up the gondre juk (Korean thistle porridge), either. We were already about to burst, haha.

We added the prepared rice to the richly infused shabu-shabu broth and let it bubble into gondre juk, and that was another special treat. Meat, mushrooms and vegetables, homemade kalguksu, bulgogi kimchi fried rice, then porridge—we really ate well right through to the very end that day.

How was it for a family meal near Seoul Station with a child?

If you are looking for a great shabu-shabu spot at Seoul Station Grand Central, Yunseul is a place where I loved both the food and the space. It is right in front of Seoul Station, so it is easy to get to, and its clean, window-filled atmosphere works for a meal for two or a larger gathering. I would recommend it as both a Seoul Station date spot and a shabu-shabu gathering place.

Since we were with our child this time, we chose the clear anchovy broth, but we had already picked our next order by the time we left. Next time, definitely the spicy broth! If the clear broth was this good, I am so curious what the spicy one will be like, so we are planning to return soon :)