Namwirye shabu-shabu buffet for a family of five, 21,900 won: Dadam

When eating out as a family, you end up looking for a menu everyone can enjoy together rather than catering to just one person's taste. Warm broth with plenty of meat and vegetables sounded perfect, so I headed to Dadam Shabu Shabu near Namwirye Station.

You can enjoy beef along with fresh vegetables and wolnamssam (Vietnamese-style rice paper wraps), all on an all-you-can-eat basis where you take as much as you like. It's a great spot to visit as a family. The place was spacious and clean too, making it comfortable to eat with a group. Here's my detailed review of this Namwirye Station favorite :)

Walking to Dadam Shabu Shabu from Namwirye Station, plus parking in the building

Dadam Shabu Shabu & Wolnamssam Wirye Branch is within walking distance of Namwirye Station, so it's fine to reach by public transit, and there's parking available in the building too, making it convenient to visit by car as a family.

Walking inside, the tables felt less cramped than expected and everything was kept neat and tidy overall, which made a great first impression. Shabu-shabu is a dish you cook right at the table with simmering broth, so tables tend to get crowded fast when there's a group — but here, there was still room to sit comfortably as a family.

In fact, a lot of visitors come here for family meals or gatherings, and the spacious, comfortable interior gets a lot of praise. It felt like a good atmosphere for multiple generations — kids to parents — to eat together, so it seemed like a solid pick for anyone looking for a family restaurant in Wirye.

Weekend lunch at Dadam Shabu Shabu is fully booked: reserve a day ahead

I visited on a weekend lunch and the place was completely full, with reservations booked solid too, so I had to wait a bit before getting a table. It's a good idea to book a day in advance if you're planning to visit.

How much does Dadam Shabu Shabu Wirye cost?

For adults, it's ₩17,900 for weekday lunch, and ₩21,900 for weekday dinner and weekends. For that price you get all-you-can-eat meat and vegetables — the value is really great!

What is on the self-bar: vegetables, sides and sauces

In the center of the restaurant there's a self-bar where you can grab all the ingredients you need for shabu-shabu and wolnamssam. Being able to take as much as you want of whatever you like made it easy to adjust everything to my own taste.

Napa cabbage, bean sprouts, bok choy, minari (water dropwort), various mushrooms, fried tofu, rice cakes, fish cakes, dumplings, kalguksu (knife-cut noodles), and all sorts of other vegetables were laid out fresh and in great variety.

There were also sauces to choose from depending on your taste — peanut sauce, chili sauce, spicy soy sauce — and adding minced cheongyang chili to any of them gave it a whole different kick.

You can wrap all kinds of ingredients in rice paper for wolnamssam, and ramyeon noodles, dessert ice cream, and coffee are all free to enjoy too.

At the end there was rice, dried seaweed flakes, sesame oil, and eggs all prepared so you can make porridge — isn't that thoughtful?

Two cuts on unlimited refill: beef short plate and beef chuck

There are two kinds of meat — beef short plate (usamgyeop) and beef chuck (umokshim). The short plate has both lean meat and fat together, making it tender, while the chuck is leaner and has a clean, mild flavor.

Eating both cuts together made the shabu-shabu taste even better, so we piled up a full plate of each.

Splitting the pot: clear broth and spicy broth, half and half

You can pick a single broth or go half-and-half — there are three options, clear, seafood, and spicy, so we went with clear and spicy.

We ate as a family of five, and piled up plenty of meat and vegetables to add in once the broth started boiling.

Sauces gathered to our own taste too — all set!

At first we loaded the broth with vegetables to let it simmer, and once it started bubbling we added plenty of beef, cooking it lightly. When eating it in wolnamssam, we wrapped the meat and vegetables together; when we wanted warm broth, we just scooped it out straight and dipped it in sauce!

Being able to enjoy two kinds of meat meant we never got tired of it and kept going back for more. And since you can keep grabbing more of whatever ingredient you want as you eat, the value just kept feeling better the more we ate.

These days a lot of places serve a fixed portion of meat with only vegetable refills, so having unlimited beef too was especially satisfying.

Finishing with porridge, then a self-serve affogato

Of course, the finale of shabu-shabu is carbs. After eating plenty of meat and vegetables, you can make kalguksu noodles or porridge in the broth, now rich with all the flavors that cooked into it.

We made porridge, and cooking it in the clear broth — deeply infused with vegetables and meat — turned out absolutely delicious!

After finishing everything, we made affogato with the ice cream and espresso for dessert, and had iced americano on top — dessert fully handled!

Shabu-shabu is also available to take out, so bringing it home to enjoy sounds great too.

If you're looking for somewhere near Namwirye Station to go with your parents or for a family meal with kids, I highly recommend this place! Definitely worth a visit :)