Weekend lunch waiting for beef shabu-shabu buffet in Wirye, Seongnam

The weather's been so nice lately that I went out for some fresh air in Wirye, and suddenly I was craving something healthy and filling like shabu-shabu! So for weekend lunch, I finally checked out Dadam Shabu Shabu & Wolnamssam Wirye Branch, a Wirye restaurant I'd only heard about by word of mouth haha.

What kind of place is Dadam Shabu Shabu & Wolnamssam Wirye Branch?

I went in with high expectations since it's an all-you-can-eat spot for shabu-shabu and Vietnamese wraps (wolnamssam), and honestly nothing disappointed — from the fresh food quality to the open view of Changgokcheon stream, the modern interior, and even the dessert cafeteria at the end. I'm satisfied enough that I want to write a detailed review~

• 📍 45 Wiryegwangjang-ro, 3rd Floor, Unit 305, G&G Plaza, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• ⏰ Daily 11:00–21:00

How long was the weekend lunch wait?

We went around weekend lunchtime, and since it's famous as a Namwirye Station restaurant, the place was packed and we had a bit of a wait. Even close to 2pm, well past peak time, customers kept streaming in — made me realize this was the real deal that only we hadn't discovered yet lol.

Dadam Shabu Shabu apparently sources grade-1 fresh vegetables and top-grade beef hand-picked daily at Garak Market, plus a variety of wrap ingredients and a dessert cafeteria, all in one all-you-can-eat spot.

The self-bar — vegetables, noodles, and wrap ingredients

The whole system is self-serve, take what you'll eat, and the moment I went to check out the self-bar I was struck by how fresh and green the vegetables looked.

Beyond basics like napa cabbage, bean sprouts, and bok choy, there was a variety of mushrooms, chewy rice cakes, fish cakes, fried tofu, and other add-in ingredients — fun to pick through.

The wolnamssam corner was also really well stocked. Fragrant perilla leaves, sprouts, crab sticks, sweet pineapple, carrots, cucumber, crunchy cabbage — about 10 colorful ingredients neatly arranged, perfect for building your own to taste.

Broth refills are also self-serve at the bar

Tip: the broth is on the salty side, so if it gets too salty, adding plain water works better than adding more broth!

Two kinds of beef — umoksim and usamgyeop, also unlimited

At a lot of shabu-shabu buffets, only the veggies are unlimited and the meat is a one-time serving, but at Dadam Shabu Shabu, a Namwirye Station restaurant, both the vegetables and the beef are unlimited — loved it!

They had two cuts to choose from: lean, clean-tasting umoksim (beef neck) and tender, flavorful usamgyeop (beef short plate), so you could take whichever suited your taste.

We mixed the two half and half, and the meat quality was so good there wasn't a hint of gaminess — really savory and delicious. We dug in without holding back until we were stuffed >_<

Can you see the color of that meat?? Got my protein in properly for once :)

Three sauces

There were three sauces available — peanut, chili, and spicy soy. There were also cheongyang chili peppers next to the sauce bar to add to taste.

The peanut sauce, rich and nutty, was my personal favorite! The spicy soy sauce was also great — not too salty, with a slight kick that kept it clean-tasting. And of course the classic chili sauce that everyone, young or old, loves — nice to have all three options.

Shabu-shabu simmered in half-and-half broth

With a full haul of fresh vegetables and various add-ins from the self-bar, it was time to actually make shabu-shabu~!

There are three broth options to choose from, and we went with the most popular one — half-and-half. (Once you sit down, you order via tablet first to register your headcount and broth choice haha.) Simmering the deep, clean clear broth together with the spicy broth, which has about Shin Ramyun-level heat, meant we never got tired of it, all the way to the end haha.

Square rice paper wraps

Oh! And Dadam Shabu Shabu's rice paper was unusually square-shaped! Compared to round rice paper, it made wrapping the filling and folding much easier — the contents didn't burst out the sides, and it looked and wrapped more neatly. A small but clever touch!

There were quite a lot of wrap ingredients to choose from, but I'm a picky eater so I only grabbed the ones I like lol.

Piling in lots of vegetables, adding a piece or two of shabu-shabu beef, wrapping it neatly, and dipping it lightly in sauce — so delicious!! I think I inhaled about 5 of them lol.

After munching on wraps, round two of shabu-shabu began!! You know it tastes even better once the broth has soaked up the vegetable and meat flavors, right?? I was starting to get full but it was so good my hand kept reaching back in lol.

I couldn't skip the highlight of shabu-shabu — the noodles and porridge — so I grabbed a bit of kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) and hand-torn dumpling dough too!

How to make the finishing porridge

There were also ingredients at the self-bar for making porridge, so I grabbed just enough.

I took a raw egg, added rice and seaweed flakes, and topped it generously with sesame oil and sesame seeds!! Thought it'd taste even better with a bit of vegetable in it, so I grabbed some carrot from the wrap corner too lol.

Ahh, and with that porridge, the perfect meal was complete~! Even after eating shabu-shabu until stuffed, my stomach didn't feel heavy — just healthily full, which left me in a really good mood afterward.

Homemade affogato at the cafeteria

After finishing the meal completely, we got to enjoy fragrant coffee and sweet vanilla ice cream at the cafeteria set up on one side of the self-bar.

Scoop vanilla ice cream nicely into a coffee mug, pull a shot of espresso over it, and you get a homemade affogato tastier than anything from a proper café♥ The combo of sweet, soft ice cream and bitter fresh espresso was truly art — we shared one cup between the two of us, but it was so good we made a second one lol.

There are also ice cream cones, so kids who can't drink coffee can go with that instead. (There were a lot of families visiting — like a lot!)

Takeout available for shabu-shabu and wraps

Dadam Shabu Shabu also offers takeout. Both shabu-shabu and wraps can be packed to go, and the great part is that as long as you meet the minimum order amount, you can customize exactly which ingredients and how much you want haha.

Store hygiene and parking

Restaurants this busy with an all-you-can-eat setup can easily get messy around the self-bar, but I was genuinely impressed by how spotless Dadam Shabu Shabu Wirye Branch was kept overall! Staff were constantly wiping down the self-bar area and quickly restocking empty vegetable and meat trays, and the tables and floor were kept clean without a trace of grease. Even though it must take a lot of effort, their attention to hygiene made the meal comfortable and reassuring :)

Parking is also easy in the building's underground lot!