Clear-broth shabu kalguksu in Byeollae, Namyangju: Onjeongban

Inside Onjeongban Shabu Kalguksu in Byeollae, Namyangju

I felt like I'd been eating too much spicy, heavy food lately and was craving something mild but good for you, so I went looking for a good-value spot in Byeollae — and found a shabu-shabu place said to be great on both taste and value. Between the clean interior, the private room feel, the reasonable prices and the fresh ingredients, I was very happy!

Parking was available so it was an easy drive there, and I liked that they're open every day too. The tidy interior seemed great for dates, family meals, or treating someone.

What comes in the 11,000 won shabu set for one?

Thinking it'd be quieter before lunch, my husband and I went right when they opened. As soon as we sat down, we checked out the menu.

The one-person shabu set was a cheap ₩11,000, and that price included shabu vegetables, beef, your choice of kalguksu noodles or sujebi, porridge, salad, and geotjeori. If it wasn't enough we could always add sides, so we started with two servings. You choose between clear broth and spicy broth — today, wanting to avoid anything too intense, I went with clear!

How generous is the clear-broth shabu for two?

Not long after ordering, our two servings of Onjeongban self-serve shabu kalguksu arrived. The pot was piled generously with bok choy, king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, napa cabbage, oyster mushrooms, bean sprouts, sweet pumpkin and minari (water dropwort). There was also salad, sujebi, shabu beef, porridge (plus a raw egg), and napa kimchi — really generous. Not a secret that we also ordered extra guringmandu dumplings 🎶

Given how much prices have gone up lately, I was surprised the meal for two came to just over ₩20,000 — and this generous a spread made it even more satisfying at Onjeongban Shabu Kalguksu Namyangju Byeollae Main Branch.

From gondeure rice refills to the beef shabu

If we wanted more, the self-serve corner had extra geotjeori, salad, broth and sauces to grab. There was also unlimited gondeure rice and plain white rice, which was great to have a bowl of before diving into the shabu-shabu. Gondeure rice with seasoning sauce and sesame oil — top combo 🥄

While we polished off a bowl of gondeure rice, the shabu vegetables and broth were cooking away nicely, so we dropped the shabu meat in alongside.

As soon as the meat was cooked, we pulled it out with the vegetables and dipped it in sweet chili sauce and soy-wasabi sauce, and one bite in — amazing 👍🏻 Not the least bit heavy, and the meat-and-vegetable combo was really good.

Finishing with guringmandu dumplings, sujebi and porridge

After happily working through the self-serve shabu-shabu, we added in the 8 pieces of guringmandu we'd pre-ordered. I would have regretted not ordering these — they were so plump and springy and delicious, personally a huge highlight!

At first I wondered if the shabu portions were already too much and hesitated on ordering the guringmandu, but every table around us seemed to have ordered them, so we did too. Turns out they're shaped without any dumpling wrapper, just pure filling packed in — bite-sized and easy to eat! They didn't fall apart even after going into the broth, and they were delicious. If you're on the fence about ordering guringmandu, definitely get them 😀👍🏻

After the guringmandu, we made self-serve sujebi to refuel on carbs, and finally added a raw egg to make porridge — a perfect finish 🥄🥄🥄 Even when I'm full, porridge always seems to find room, since it digests so easily, haha.

Oh, one more thing! Onjeongban Shabu Kalguksu also has coffee, ganjeong and slushies for dessert, so if you visit, make sure to try them after your meal!