Shabu-shabu lunch near Giheung-gu Office, no wait after 1pm: Deungchon

Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu Giheung Station Branch: hours and info

Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu Giheung Station Branch is open daily 11:00-21:00, with a break from 15:00 to 17:00. Groups are welcome, takeout and parking are available, and you can pay with local currency (Yongin Pay).

I went for the mushroom kalguksu at this Giheung, Yongin favorite. Deungchon is a name I trust... but quality varies by branch, that's the catch! The Yatap branch was good and the Giheung Station branch is good too (especially the broth and the fried rice).

Giheung-gu Office lunch: when to go to skip the wait?

This is a go-to lunch spot for office workers near Giheung-gu Office, so there's a wait if you show up at peak weekday lunch hours. I went a little after the rush. Parking is available in the building's underground garage.

I visited after 1pm on a weekday and most of the office workers had already left, so it was a comfortable meal at this Giheung-gu Office-area restaurant.

The restaurant is kept very tidy, so the meal felt hygienic.

Mushroom kalguksu price and broth choices

The mushroom kalguksu at Deungchon Giheung Station Branch is ₩10,000 per person, and you can choose from three broths: spicy, perilla seed, or clear. Everyone usually goes for spicy, so I thought that was the only option, but with three choices it would be easy to split the order if you came as a family of four with kids.

You need to order for at least 2 people. The ₩10,000 covers vegetables like minari (water dropwort), mushrooms and potato, plus kalguksu noodles, dumplings and even fried rice, which makes this a great Yongin lunch. The shabu beef is ₩10,000 for 190g, so one portion shared between two people is just right. You can also add fish roe (algon-i) for ₩10,000.

Extra add-ons and side dishes

You can order extras beyond the basic set.

• Fried rice ₩3,000
• Kalguksu noodles ₩2,000
• Dumplings ₩3,000
• Potato ₩2,000
• Vegetables ₩4,000
• Self-made sujebi (hand-torn dough flakes) ₩3,000

Since it says "self-made sujebi," it's probably not the usual frozen kind but pre-made dough they hand over. I'll have to try the sujebi next time... You order on a tablet, and the side dishes include a barley shrimp and minari pancake, plus half-pour makgeolli (rice wine) for just ₩1,000!

What did the ₩30,000 spread for 2 adults look like?

You get fresh-looking beef, the fried rice ingredients, plus the kalguksu noodles and dumplings. For the fried rice, ask the staff once you've finished the noodles and they'll stir-fry it nicely for you. Seriously, Deungchon Giheung Station Branch is a fried rice paradise...

Cook the vegetables thoroughly first, pick out a little minari to eat, then add the beef. It's a flavor I know, and that's the scary part, haha.

₩30,000 for 2 adults and so much food... vegetable shabu-shabu, beef, kalguksu, and fried rice at the end make for a filling meal at this Giheung, Yongin lunch spot.

Loads of minari, I love it..🔥❤️

Kimchi and the shabu soy dipping sauce

Shabu-shabu absolutely needs good kimchi, and the kimchi at Deungchon Giheung Station Branch is good too...

Soy sauce and mustard sauce. I always dip in this. It's not plain soy sauce but a soy dipping sauce made for shabu, and the savory depth is amazing... Great with the beef and great with the vegetables, so good.

Weirdly, the mushrooms here are really good too... You can order extra mushrooms, so I'll add some next time.

Shabu kalguksu tip: when to add the noodles?

Once the pot has boiled for a while, pick out the vegetables to eat first, then move on to the beef and noodles. Adding the noodles makes the broth a bit thicker, so if you want a clean broth, add them last. That's my Deungchon shabu-shabu tip.

One portion of beef is plenty, so for two adult women I recommend ordering just one!

Eat the beef too, and when you feel you've eaten most of it, add the kalguksu noodles. Heaven...

The noodles don't taste floury at all, and they're chewy and good.

Finishing with egg fried rice and a yogurt dessert

And now the grand finale, the egg fried rice... I wonder why it never tastes like this when I make it at home. It's seriously so good. It doesn't look like there's much in it, just minari, carrot, egg and the Deungchon broth. The broth is probably the secret. It's amazing eaten with that soy wasabi sauce from earlier.

Sometimes I just want to eat only this egg fried rice..

Dessert is a yogurt drink!! It's been a while since a restaurant gave me a dessert. It's a nice palate cleanser after the meal.

Deungchon Giheung Station Branch: no worries about branch differences?

I'm glad to have found a good Deungchon shabu kalguksu place again. The branch in my last neighborhood was so bad that I went once and never returned, so Deungchon probably varies a lot by branch. Anyway, I recommend Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu Giheung Station Branch as a good spot in Giheung, Yongin!