Mapo shabu-shabu restaurant for sukiyaki: Shabu in Seoul

Lately, I had been craving shabu-shabu, where you can have plenty of meat and vegetables in a warm broth, so I went to Shabu in Seoul Hapjeong Branch (샤브인서울 합정점).

What I liked most was how easy it was to get there, since it connects directly to Hapjeong Station! You can travel underground, so it would be easy to visit even on a day with bad weather. It also seemed like a nice place to have a meal when you have plans in Hapjeong.

Shabu in Seoul Hapjeong Branch via Hapjeong Station’s underground passage

📍 Shabu in Seoul Hapjeong Branch (샤브인서울 합정점) Address B2, Delight Square 1 14 World Cup-ro 1-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea Hours Daily 11:00–22:00 Weekday break time 15:00–17:00 Parking Delight Square 1 commercial parking is available Up to 3 hours of free parking Getting there It is connected to Hapjeong Station’s underground passage, making it easy to visit by subway. Head toward Exit 8 at Hapjeong Station, but instead of going up to the exit, take the passage marked “Way to Kyobo Book Centre” to reach Delight Square.

When I went inside, the clean atmosphere made it a comfortable place for a meal. After considering the different broths that day, I chose my favorite: sukiyaki broth.

They had neatly prepared individual plates and sauces for shabu-shabu. It was convenient because I could cook the ingredients and dip them into the sauces to my taste. A shabu-shabu table can get crowded as you add ingredients one by one, but the basic setting was so tidy that it was pleasant to eat.

They prepared chili, sesame, soy sauce, garlic, and Cheongyang chili pepper sauces!

Cooking boseopsal and al-moksim beef in sukiyaki broth

After considering the different broths that day, I chose my favorite, sukiyaki broth. Its distinctive sweet and savory flavor made it great with the meat. It felt different from a clear shabu-shabu broth, and it suited my craving that day for something richer and more savory.

Then the shabu-shabu ingredients we ordered arrived. The vegetables were colorful and beautifully arranged, so they were lovely to look at. They were neatly arranged by type, which also made them pretty for photos.

For the meat, I chose boseopsal and al-moksim beef. The thinly sliced meat was tender and moist when I briefly cooked it in the hot sukiyaki broth. Adding only as much as I was about to eat, without overcooking it, gave the meat a great texture too.

In particular, the sukiyaki broth naturally soaked into the meat and added a sweet, rich flavor, which was delicious. Having a piece of meat with the beautifully arranged vegetables made for such a good combination.

As I added the vegetables to the broth one by one and cooked them, their flavors seemed to build up and make the broth deeper and deeper. Alternating between meat and vegetables made me keep eating.

Adding egg to the sukiyaki broth made it feel different from the shabu-shabu I usually eat, and it was delicious.

As I ate the meat and vegetables together, all the ingredients that had filled the table were gone before I knew it. Eating fresh vegetables and meat together in a warm broth somehow feels healthy as you go.

Finishing with aki udon and omija tea

Once you have eaten a fair amount of shabu-shabu, you cannot leave out dessert, right? That day, I finished with aki udon.

When I added udon to the sukiyaki broth that had held the meat and vegetables, the broth’s flavor soaked beautifully into the noodles. The chewy udon noodles went so well with the sweet broth, making for a hearty finish.

After eating everything from the meat and vegetables to the final udon, I felt full and like I had really had a proper meal.

For the final dessert, they gave us omija tea, a tart-sweet magnolia berry tea. It was refreshing and clean, perfect for cleansing the palate after such a filling meal.

When you are craving warm shabu-shabu in Hapjeong

This time, I cooked boseopsal and al-moksim beef in sukiyaki broth, dipped it in egg, and finished with aki udon, and it was a satisfying meal overall. The meat cooked in sukiyaki broth and dipped in egg was especially delicious and memorable. With the beautifully arranged vegetables too, it was as fun to look at as it was to eat.

Because it is connected to Hapjeong Station, Shabu in Seoul Hapjeong Branch was easy to reach and a good place to visit when I wanted a hearty meal of meat and vegetables in warm broth. The next time I crave shabu-shabu in Hapjeong, I would like to have that sukiyaki-and-meat-dipping combination again.