Hapjeong shabu-shabu with a guided ingredient order: Nahonsha

Today's review is a very satisfying meal at Nahonsha in Hapjeong! There are plenty of places to eat alone these days, but shabu-shabu is oddly awkward to have solo, right? This place is set up specifically so you can enjoy shabu-shabu by yourself with a proper single-serving configuration, so I was curious and went to check it out. If you've been looking for a shabu-shabu spot near Hapjeong Station, or just want a warm solo meal, this review is for you :)

Where is Nahonsha, and what about parking and hours?

Nahonsha is a solo shabu-shabu specialty restaurant at 42 Dokmak-ro, 1st floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul, near Hapjeong Station. Parking is available, but you need to call the restaurant ahead to park there!

📌 Hours: Weekdays and Saturdays 10:00–21:00 (break time 15:00–18:00), closed Sundays

Nahonsha — the name itself basically means 'solo shabu-shabu' haha. I hate being limited on menu options when eating out alone, so personally I was really happy to find a place where you can enjoy shabu-shabu solo like this. If you're looking for solo mala tang in Hapjeong but want something a bit cleaner with vegetables and meat, this could be a good option too.

Is Nahonsha comfortable for eating alone?

The moment you walk into Nahonsha, it's genuinely clean enough to like right away. A lot of solo-dining-focused restaurants are built around eating fast and leaving, but Nahonsha is well kept overall, so it was nice to sit and eat slowly by myself too.

It's especially set up so each person can enjoy their own shabu-shabu comfortably — no need to worry about anyone else, just add ingredients one by one at your own pace haha. The vibe makes coming here alone for shabu-shabu feel completely natural!

What I ordered: clear-broth shabu-shabu, 14,900 won

Nahonsha has more than one broth option. That day I ordered the most basic one — the clear broth shabu-shabu, ₩14,900. There was also a tomato broth on the menu that caught my eye! I heard the tomato broth tastes similar to a well-known hotpot brand's Ha-XX-lao style. If you like that flavor, this could be a much more affordable way to enjoy it!

Here's my clear broth shabu-shabu :) It comes out as exactly one serving at a time, and the spread was heartier than I expected.

What comes in Nahonsha's one-person clear-broth set

• Oyster mushroom
• Enoki mushroom
• Bok choy
• Meatballs
• Mul mandu (water dumplings)
• Sweet pumpkin
• Bean sprouts
• Napa cabbage
• Meat

All this! For a solo meal, the variety of vegetables was good, and it even came with meatballs and mul mandu on top of the meat — more properly stocked than I expected.

What order do you add the ingredients?

At Nahonsha, since it was my first time, the staff walked me through the order for adding ingredients. Once the water starts boiling, you add the napa cabbage and sweet pumpkin first, then lower the heat a bit before adding the rest. It was nice that they explained it clearly even for someone eating solo shabu-shabu for the first time.

Adding everything one by one as instructed :) The method itself isn't hard, so once you hear it explained once, you can just go at your own pace after that. And if the broth runs low while you're eating, refills are available too!

Once the vegetables are mostly cooked, add the meat piece by piece. Since it's a single-serving pot, you can decide exactly how well-done you want the meat, which was convenient. That's probably the perk of solo shabu-shabu haha.

The dipping sauces set at every seat

Nahonsha has sauces prepared at every seat to go with the shabu-shabu. Personally I liked this too — no need to ask for more sauce, you can just help yourself to as much as you want haha.

Mixing sauces to my taste and dipping the meat and vegetables in generously :) For people who love sauce, there's always that moment of running out and having to ask for more. Here it's right in front of you, which was genuinely convenient.

And it's not just meat and vegetables — with meatballs and mul mandu in there too, it was fun fishing one out here and there in between. For a solo meal, it had a surprising variety of things, so it never got boring all the way through. Once you've mostly finished the vegetables and meat, you might think you're done... but you're not yet.

Kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) included at no extra cost

The finale of shabu-shabu — kalguksu (knife-cut noodles)... The fact that kalguksu noodles are included as standard at this price! And it's not a stingy portion either — the quality was solid too. After having plenty of vegetables and meat, it's just the right amount to finish with, not too heavy.

The whole time I kept thinking, 'the price here is really good.' Solo shabu-shabu with a wide variety of vegetables, plus meat, meatballs, and mul mandu, broth refills, all the sauce you want, and kalguksu included at the end!

On top of that, the restaurant itself was so clean that honestly I would've accepted a higher price haha. Being affordable didn't mean any letdown in the store or food quality — if anything, I thought this setup at this price is genuinely great value. I'd like to come back and try one of the other broths next time haha.