Suwon shabu-shabu buffet, 8th-floor window seats: Pyeonbaek Hoegwan

I went to Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Cheoncheon Branch, an all-you-can-eat restaurant in Cheoncheon-dong, Suwon, famous for its incredibly tasty cypress-steamed meat. I got to enjoy all sorts of vegetables, tteokbokki, fried food and more all at once. Let's get into it~

Where is Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Cheoncheon Branch, and what are the hours and parking?

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Cheoncheon Branch is on the 8th floor of a building at 11-7 Manseok-ro 19beon-gil, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi. Hours are Monday, Wednesday through Sunday 11:00–22:00 (last order 21:00), and it's closed every Tuesday.

Parking is available in the building lot, though it's a bit tight. You can also park at the nearby Lotte Mart Cheoncheon lot, Sehwa parking tower, or Rian parking tower!

How much is the Pyeonbaek all-you-can-eat set?

The Pyeonbaek all-you-can-eat set is ₩17,900 for weekday lunch, and ₩20,900 for dinner, weekends and holidays. Children were listed at ₩12,900 and preschoolers at ₩7,900.

Weekday afternoon wait and the restaurant vibe

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Cheoncheon Branch has a fresh, clean feel right from the entrance. Being the popular spot it is, there was a waiting list — but since we came on a weekday afternoon, we got in with no wait at all!!

On one side of the entrance there was a sign for the 'Pyeonbaek Unlimited Course' that even a KCM celebrity apparently tried and raved about — already got my expectations up!!

The seating is laid out spaciously, making it great for family gatherings or friend meetups. The 8th-floor window seats gave a full view outside, which felt open and airy with no sense of being cooped up.

At the self-serve bar, along with rice paper roll ingredients, there was tteokbokki (spicy stir-fried rice cakes), vegetables and various fruits — great to be able to taste so many things at once.

How do you eat the cypress-steamed meat and rice paper rolls?

Order the Pyeonbaek all-you-can-eat set and you first get to enjoy the cypress-steamed meat. The staff set the steaming basket down and set a timer for us. Once the timer went off, opening it revealed beautifully steamed meat and vegetables.

Taking a big bite of the well-steamed bean sprouts along with a piece of beef brisket, the subtle scent of the cypress wood combined with the moist, well-cooked brisket was seriously amazing.

Each table also had rice paper roll sauce ready to go. I portioned out some sauce into a bowl, briefly soaked a rice paper sheet in hot water, laid it on a plate, and topped it with brisket, bean sprouts, onion, pineapple and perilla leaves before rolling it up and popping it in my mouth,

and the chewy rice paper wrap combined with all the vegetables and sauce was so harmonious it made me happy!!! Couldn't stop there — endless bites followed. Moist yet tender, it just kept sliding in.

Shabu-shabu broth: mala and bonito-mushroom

Once we'd cleanly finished the cypress-steamed meat, we requested shabu-shabu on the tablet, and the staff cleared the steamer and brought out the shabu-shabu pot. We ordered mala and bonito-mushroom broth. The mala seasoning came separately.

With shabu-shabu, having lots of vegetables makes it so much tastier. Firm napa cabbage, bok choy, oyster mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and a huge pile of bean sprouts underneath it all — a total vegetable heaven.

Self-serve bar skewered fish cake and bunmoja

There was skewered fish cake at the Pyeonbaek self-serve bar too, so I brought some over and put it in. I accidentally pulled the skewer out, so it ended up looking like fish cake stew, haha. There was also bunmoja (glass noodles) at the self-serve bar — I can never resist bunmoja — so I brought that over too.

I put the vegetables in first so the broth's flavor would fully soak into them, adding plenty.

Beef brisket vs beef chuck — which is better?

The meat counter at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Cheoncheon Branch has both beef brisket and beef chuck. Beef chuck is mostly lean meat, so anyone who prefers a less fatty cut would like it. Beef brisket has a fifty-fifty mix of meat and fat, which looked great for enjoying that savory fatty flavor.

The meat we brought from the counter cooked quickly since we only added a little at a time. Dipped in soy sauce, it was tender and the soy sauce's saltiness made it really delicious.

The fish cake we'd added earlier seemed fully cooked, and taking a bite, the broth had soaked all the way through, giving it a savory, well-seasoned taste.

Scooping up well-cooked meat and bean sprouts onto a rice paper sheet, rolling it up generously and taking a big bite — chewy, moist, tender, an explosion of amazing flavor in my mouth.

The bunmoja was bouncy and cooked quickly too. Fully soaked in the broth, it carried the mushroom broth flavor along with a hint of mala aroma — chewy with a really fun texture.

Even a charger at the self-serve bar — final thoughts on Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Cheoncheon Branch

There was even a phone charger tucked into one side of the self-serve bar at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Cheoncheon Branch, showing the owner's thoughtfulness. No need to worry about a low battery!!

If you're looking for a really delicious shabu-shabu or all-you-can-eat spot in Cheoncheon-dong, I highly recommend Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Cheoncheon Branch, the all-you-can-eat restaurant in Cheoncheon-dong, Suwon!!