Sunday-night 20-minute wait at a Yongin shabu-kalguksu: Yun Ujae

This is Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu, a well-known spot in Gogi-ri, Yongin.

Hi everyone~~ It's Chami! I was driving around Gogi-ri on the weekend and saw a crowd bunched up outside Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu, and I got curious — is shabu-kalguksu really that special? So we decided to stop in, and wow... it turned out to be the best shabu-kalguksu I've ever had! Unlike your typical kalguksu, the flat noodles here were really something special and delicious. Let me introduce this Gogi-ri favorite, Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu~~~

How long is the weekend wait at Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu?

We visited Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu Gogidong Branch on a Sunday around 7pm and waited about 20 minutes. The waiting system was easy — you register on CatchTable and fill out an order sheet ahead of time~~

• Register on CatchTable
• Fill out the order sheet
• Submit the sheet at the counter when your number is called

That's all you need to do~

Inside Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu: mood and seating

The moment we walked into Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu, what struck me was how bright and modern the space felt! The rattan light fixtures gave it a warm, cozy atmosphere~~

Even with so many customers, it wasn't as loud as I expected, so it was easy to chat comfortably while eating. There was also a separate room-style seating area inside, which looked great for group customers~~

Overall the place felt clean and tidy — a great Gogi-ri spot for bringing your parents, or for hosting guests.

The noodle-making room at the back of the restaurant

Inside the restaurant, there's a transparent noodle-making room! They knead the dough by traditional foot-kneading and let it age for 48 hours, putting real time and care into the noodles. Being able to watch the noodle-making process up close made it feel even more genuine and trustworthy~~ I started getting even more excited for Yun Ujae's special flat kalguksu~~

Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu menu and what we ordered

Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu offers two broths: red and white. That day we were craving something spicy and tangy, so we picked red broth without hesitation 🌶️

There were two of us, so we ordered:

• ✔️ Red broth, mild spice, for 2
• ✔️ Crispy seafood pancake (pajeon)

That's what we went with~~

The best way to eat shabu-kalguksu at Yun Ujae

Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu even has instructions for how to eat it best. I'd recommend reading this through once before you dig in!

First, mix the soy sauce and wasabi sauce in a 2:1 ratio, and the staff will ask if you want cheongyang chili peppers added — we said yes right away~~ 🌶️

Eating it this way, the sweetness combined with the wasabi kick and the spiciness of the cheongyang pepper went really well with the shabu-shabu meat.

Kimchi and kkakdugi (radish kimchi), which pair so well with shabu-kalguksu, plus extra broth, are all set up at the self-serve bar! Nice to be able to grab more if you run out.

What does the crispy seafood pajeon taste like?

One bite of Yun Ujae's crispy seafood pancake (pajeon) and I understood exactly why it's called 'crispy'! Truly crispy, cooked right up to the edge of being perfectly charred!

The batter coating was really thick, almost like deep-fried texture — so crunchy...!!! The edges especially were cooked even crispier, so you could really feel that crunch~~ Can you tell how crispy it is just from the photo? Haha.

Sliced up like a pizza, it turns into a Korean-style seafood pizza~~! There was also a generous amount of scallions packed in, so each bite had a fragrant scallion aroma that filled your mouth.

There were also chunky shrimp scattered throughout, so every bite had that savory seafood flavor. The pancake dipping sauce was sweet and paired really well too! With the crispy coating plus the generous scallions and seafood, it had rich texture and full flavor — a really satisfying seafood pancake!

What comes in the Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu base set

Here's what the Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu set includes~~~~

• ✅️ Slow-simmered bone broth + 70g sirloin + vegetables and mushrooms + flat kalguksu + kalguksu + fried rice

I loved that the set lets you go through shabu-shabu, then kalguksu, then finish with fried rice, all in one meal! I was especially excited about the flat kalguksu, which I'd never seen before!

We followed the instructions from the 'how to eat' guide earlier~~

• ✔️ Before the broth starts boiling, add about half of the meat!

Once the red broth started bubbling, it looked so appetizing!! Another thing that stood out was that Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu doesn't pre-slice the meat! Have you ever had shabu-kalguksu somewhere and the meat's color looked off, or there was a slightly gamey smell?

To avoid that, Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu only uses beef within 6 months of slaughter, and specifically only chuck-eye roll cut. Chuck-eye roll is low in fat but has a tender texture, so it's light yet well-suited for shabu-shabu. Knowing they're this careful with the meat made me even more excited for the shabu-shabu flavor!

Signature flat kalguksu wrapped around meat and vegetables

• ✔️ Once it starts boiling, tear off the flat kalguksu sheet by sheet and add it in.

The flat kalguksu is a self-made noodle with a texture somewhere between regular kalguksu and Sanuki udon!

The flat kalguksu, Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu's signature item, is made using a Japanese-style flat udon noodle-making method~~ They said it's even more delicious if you wrap the meat and vegetables together with the flat kalguksu, so I gave that a try!

The lightness of the meat and the freshness of the vegetables paired with the flat kalguksu, which melted softly while still having a chewy bite — the flavors really matched each other's rhythm~~

Dipping this into the special sauce on top added a savory-salty sweetness, finishing with a spicy, tangy kick that made the flavor feel really full in the mouth~~

Personally, I liked wrapping meat + vegetables + flat kalguksu all together and dipping it in the special sauce way more than just eating the noodles plain! So good!

This special sauce was seriously delicious! Even dipping just the meat alone into it tasted great~~ It had a savory quality like Japanese-style tsuyu mixed with a hint of wasabi, finishing with the distinctive spicy tang of Korean cheongyang chili. So good~

Kalguksu: 6 minutes on induction setting 8

• ✔️ After eating the meat, once the broth starts boiling again, add the kalguksu, set the induction to 8, and boil for 6 minutes.

As the noodles cooked, the flavors from the meat and vegetables kept deepening the broth!

The kalguksu itself had a great chewy texture! Chewy yet smooth going down, and eating it together with the broth was so delicious~~! Having already eaten the meat and vegetables, the broth was fully infused with their flavor by the time the noodles came, making it taste even deeper and richer. This kalguksu was totally my style.

Finishing the course with fried rice

• ✔️ After finishing the kalguksu, the handle won't be hot, so pour the remaining broth into a large bowl, set the induction to 5, and stir-fry the rice.

Now it's fried rice time~~ They say just one ladle of broth makes it taste perfect~

I tried the final fried rice, and it was truly a special treat. Adding just one ladle of broth while stir-frying gave the fried rice a deep, savory flavor!!

Sweet yet spicy, with a glossy sheen and a nutty aroma — addictive! From shabu-shabu to kalguksu to the finishing fried rice, it was a meal we really enjoyed from start to finish!

Is Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu in Yongin worth the wait?

From shabu-shabu to the chewy flat kalguksu and regular kalguksu, all the way to the finishing fried rice, this was a genuinely satisfying meal at Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu. What stayed with me most was the combination of fresh meat and vegetables dipped in the special sauce, the self-made flat kalguksu, and the deeply savory fried rice — every part of it was delicious. If you're looking for a hearty, tasty meal in Gogi-ri, Yongin, be sure to stop by Yun Ujae, the local favorite for shabu-kalguksu~~~