Ulsan seafood shabu buffet lunch with a friend back from Canada: Wabom

What is Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch, and why did we go?

Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch (와봄 울산무거점) is a shabu-shabu and seafood buffet on the 10th floor of Hansol Apple Tower in Mugeo-dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan. Yesterday my friend Malrang came over from Busan, so we went for a weekday lunch.

I wondered where to take Malrang for maximum satisfaction, and decided on a buffet where everything is available. Hahaha. Malrang had just come back from Canada, and it had been n years since her last Korean buffet, can you believe it? Nice timing~~ >,,<

Here begins my post on Wabom, the Ulsan shabu-shabu spot where I had lunch with Malrang! 😇

Where is Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch, and what about hours and parking?

Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch is on the 10th floor of Hansol Apple Tower, 2906 Ulmil-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan. It is open 11:30–22:00, with last order at 20:40.

🚗 Park at the blue Malgeunsaem Parking Tower right in front of Hansol Apple Tower! Parking support is available there. 😃 Ulsan Pay is accepted too.

What are the prices and broth options at Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch?

This is a shabu-shabu and seafood buffet: weekday lunch is ₩25,900, and weekday dinner plus weekends and holidays are ₩30,900. For children's prices, check the restaurant's notice. Broth comes mild, spicy, or half-and-half.

They also run a Naver receipt review event: write a review and get 2 ice creams or 1 bottle of alcohol! For a dinner out, the alcohol is the better deal, but I came for a weekday lunch and thought, ice cream, maybe! ...and in the end I was so full I didn't eat anything else all day. Haha.

Is Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch good for groups and kids?

They have children's dishes and cutlery ready, plus a microwave for warming baby food, so it works well with little ones. All the tables were 4-seaters.

Being on the 10th floor, the open view made my chest feel unblocked~ The day I visited was clear, so it was even better~ 💡

And once you walk deeper into the buffet, the interior is s~~~~o huge you could hold a first-birthday party there. No wonder it's recommended as a group venue in Mugeo-dong.

What is on the buffet at Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch?

Wabom isn't only shabu-shabu: it's a premium shabu and seafood restaurant with unlimited sushi, hot food, pizza, fried food, salad and even dessert.

Sushi and shabu-shabu vegetables

The neatly prepared sushi came in many kinds: small squid, octopus, raw shrimp, vinegared shrimp, rolls, fried tofu pouches (yubu) and more. Getting both shabu-shabu and sushi in one place is a huge plus.

The shabu vegetables were well stocked too: bean sprouts, napa cabbage, bok choy and several kinds of mushrooms. You know vegetables are the heart of a shabu place, right? At Wabom, nothing was missing and everything was packed full.

There were also yubu toppings, ramen and fish cake skewers to make shabu-shabu more fun, which kids would love. Even when I eat malatang (spicy Chinese-style hot pot) I always load up on yubu, so with it at the salad bar I piled it on without feeling shy.

Seafood for shabu and rice paper wraps

Since this is a seafood shabu-shabu place rather than just a shabu-shabu place, the seafood for the pot was fresh: mussels, clams, blue crab, shrimp and more! They really deepen the savory flavor of the broth.

The must-have shabu course~ rice paper wraps (Vietnamese-style spring rolls)! The wrap vegetables were neatly prepared too. You know the easy way to roll them, right? I brought them to a big bowl and mixed everything together.

Shabu beef and sauces

The refrigerated showcase was full of max-freshness beef for shabu! There were both brisket and chuck, and the meat wasn't lower quality just because it's for shabu. Not a trace of gaminess, and tender.

There were lots of dipping sauces, so as if I were at Haidilao I mixed one of each and dipped away, haha, and it was like, wow, why is this so good?! I recommend mixing to your own taste too.

Hot food and soy-marinated crab

Hot food included meatballs, suyuk (boiled pork), pasta, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), fried rice and more, from snack food to Western, Korean and Chinese, all set out!

This is the soy-marinated crab (ganjang gejang) and soy-marinated shrimp that I went back for n times. At dinner, on weekends and holidays it seemed they put out more items like octopus and salmon!

Drinks

As a buffet should, it has a huge range of drinks: americano brewed from clean beans without sourness, orange juice, maesil (plum) drink, sujeonggwa (cinnamon punch) and soda, all poured to your taste.

How is the dessert corner at Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch?

The dessert corner was packed with tangy fruits like grapefruit, dragon fruit, mango and passion fruit that make everything you ate slide right down. Desserts included jelly, rice cakes and cake, even ones kids would love = me

At a buffet, this is what really catches my eye: marshmallows, biscuits and a chocolate fountain.. You spear one on a skewer and give it a chocolate-fountain shower, and you know it's max sweetness, max sugar charge, right!?

Near the entrance there are yogurt, ice cream and even shaved-ice toppings, so you can top your dessert any way you like and finish with a full course, sir >,<

How did the half-and-half broth shabu-shabu turn out?

At Wabom I had the half-and-half broth, and I brought so many kinds of mushrooms and vegetables that it could pass for mushroom hot pot, and simmered it happily! I meant to include a photo of it boiling, but it didn't look appetizing, so deleted.. -*~

Verdict: is it good for a Mugeo-dong lunch gathering?

So I went with Malrang to Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch, an Ulsan shabu-shabu favorite?! I loved that you can enjoy a buffet with so many choices without going all the way downtown from Mugeo-dong. The price is fine for a lunch meetup, and the space is big, so I recommend it as a gathering place!

Especially a restaurant with its own parking.. that's rare~ Eat without worrying about parking! >,<