Gogi-ri drive-stop shabu-kalguksu with a fried rice finish: Yun Ujae

A shabu-kalguksu stop on a Gogi-ri drive in Yongin

I went for a drive out toward Gogi-ri in Yongin and wanted something hearty afterward, so I stopped by Yun Ujae Gogiri Shabu Kalguksu, a Yongin restaurant I'd had my eye on. Gogi-ri has so many great restaurants and nice-vibe cafes that I was torn on where to go, but that day I was craving something with warm broth and meat, and shabu-kalguksu hit the spot. So I ended up at Yun Ujae Gogiri Shabu Kalguksu.

Meat and vegetables first, then mushroom and meat add-ons

With shabu-kalguksu, I think it's tastiest to eat meat and vegetables first, then add the noodles, and finish with fried rice — that order, haha. When the meat plate arrived, it looked pretty fresh right away. The color and condition looked good, so cooking it in the broth with the vegetables made for an easy, no-pressure meal.

We added mushrooms and ordered one more round of meat. Once the mushrooms went into the broth and cooked through, the soup flavor got deeper and deeper, and eating the meat and vegetables together was genuinely fun. With shabu-shabu, fishing things out one by one like this, time really does fly. And the thing that surprised me most was the kalguksu!

House-cut noodles: where the Yun Ujae kalguksu really starts

This place makes its own noodles in-store, and that gave me a real sense of trust in the noodles themselves. Knowing they make the noodles right there just makes you believe in it a bit more, somehow. Cooking the noodles in the shabu-shabu broth let the soup soak in nicely, and it was delicious. Since we'd already eaten the meat and vegetables first, the broth had deepened a bit more than at the start, so honestly the kalguksu felt like the real beginning of the meal for me, haha.

Finishing the pot with fried rice

The kalguksu was so good I kept eating and eating. If you love noodles, you might find yourself even more satisfied by the kalguksu than by the shabu-shabu itself. And then, finally, the fried rice! I'm the type who loves finishing a shabu-shabu meal with fried rice, and here it was genuinely delicious too. Even with my stomach already pretty full, it was the kind of flavor that kept me eating happily all the way to the last bite, haha.

Why a full meal at Yun Ujae still felt light

Between adding meat and mushrooms and then finishing with kalguksu and fried rice, I ended up completely full before I knew it. But oddly, afterward I didn't feel that heavy, weighed-down discomfort. These days, even a delicious meal can leave your stomach feeling uneasy if it's too greasy or heavily seasoned, but this time, even though I ate a ton, my stomach stayed relatively comfortable — and that made it even better.

And with this kind of shabu-kalguksu place, beyond the food itself, I personally really liked that they make the noodles in-house. These days, there's something reassuring about a place where you can see things being made from scratch. Using house-made noodles also gives the sense that they're putting a bit more care into the food. Overall, from this visit, Yun Ujae felt less like a place you go for flashy, special dishes and more like a place where you eat great shabu-shabu, then finish properly with kalguksu and fried rice.

Waiting area and all: a Yongin restaurant worth a second visit

What stuck with me most was how good the kalguksu and fried rice were that day. Adding both meat and mushrooms made the whole meal feel satisfying, haha. If you're driving around Gogi-ri or looking for somewhere to eat, Yun Ujae Gogiri Shabu Kalguksu — a Yongin restaurant where you can have warm broth with meat, vegetables, mushrooms, kalguksu, and fried rice all in one sitting — is a solid choice.

Since it gets busy enough to have a wait, I noticed they've set up a dedicated waiting space too, which felt like a thoughtful touch. Most of all, I was satisfied that despite eating so much and feeling so full, my stomach still felt comfortable afterward, haha.