Siheung buffet with half-and-half shabu-shabu broth: Pyeonbaek Hoegwan

Friday evening, and it was the three of us — my husband, our son, and me. Deciding what to eat as a trio is honestly a bit of a chore. If we go for meat, we miss out on shabu-shabu; if we go for shabu-shabu, we still want to eat proper meat too. So this time we went somewhere that lets you have both: Pyeonbaek Hoegwan in Janggok-dong, Siheung.

Where is Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Siheung Janggok Branch, and what are the hours?

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Siheung Janggok Branch is on the 3rd floor of Janggok Edu Tower, 8 Jinmal1-ro, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. It's open daily from 10:30 to 22:00.

Inside Pyeonbaek Hoegwan in Janggok-dong

We arrived around 6pm on a Friday, and the tables were about half full. There was plenty of parking inside the building. The interior had been renovated not long ago, so the dining hall was clean and pleasant overall.

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan menu and prices: how much is the all-you-can-eat set?

• Buffet set — from ₩20,900
• Buffet set (weekday lunch) — ₩17,900
• Child (elementary school) — ₩12,900
• Toddler (4–7 years) — ₩7,900

The set includes all-you-can-eat cypress-steamed beef, shabu-shabu, summer rolls, beef, kalguksu (noodles), and porridge, plus the salad bar. We chose the katsuo + spicy half-and-half broth.

Tender cypress-steamed beef, eaten first

When you go with a kid like we did, everyone likes something slightly different, so starting with the cypress-steamed beef and then letting each of us pick our own ingredients for the shabu-shabu made choosing the menu really easy.

The plate came with beef and a variety of vegetables and shrimp. The meat was so tender — it practically melted in my mouth! The cypress aroma had gently soaked into the meat, so it was light and satisfying even without dipping it deep into sauce. I thought the cypress-steamed beef went really well with vegetables on the side. It felt less heavy than eating meat alone, and you got a nice crisp texture from the vegetables too.

Half-and-half shabu-shabu broth: katsuo and spicy

We went with half spicy, half mild. The spicy broth was spicier than expected, while the katsuobushi broth was smooth and full of umami — so even with the same ingredients, each side felt completely different. Switching back and forth between the two broths meant we never got tired of one flavor.

What's on the salad bar?

The vegetables and side dishes were neatly laid out, and there were plenty of options to add to the shabu-shabu too.

Instead of eating meat nonstop, adding vegetables and other dishes in between made the whole meal feel more well-rounded.

There was a good variety of shabu-shabu vegetables and summer roll ingredients too. The set is designed so you can finish with porridge and kalguksu noodles. Unfortunately, we didn't get around to trying the porridge and noodles that day.

Prepping vegetables at home is honestly such a chore, haha. So it was nice to get our fill of them here. Haha.

On the other side there was fried rice, japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), takoyaki, fried snacks, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), and more to enjoy.

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan isn't just a place to eat cypress-steamed beef and call it a day — you can keep going with shabu-shabu and the salad bar, which made it a good pick for the three of us to visit together.

Is Pyeonbaek Hoegwan good for a family dinner for three?

If you're after a Friday night family meal that leaves you properly full after a tiring week, Pyeonbaek Hoegwan in Janggok-dong, Siheung, where you can have meat and shabu-shabu together, is worth checking out.

The shabu-shabu broth had a mix of ingredients that added depth to the flavor. Near the entrance, the herbal ingredients used were displayed. We ate the cypress-steamed beef first before moving on to shabu-shabu, and pairing it with salad bar dishes along the way made the meal feel relaxed and unhurried.

It was convenient that everyone in the family could pick what they wanted to eat even with different tastes. Next time I want to try the kalguksu noodles and porridge too. This time, we enjoyed everything from the cypress-steamed beef to the shabu-shabu and came home happy.