Weekend hot pot lunch in Dongtan with extra beef and minari: Deungchon

Isn't a proper meal the essence of a good weekend lunch? I was trying to figure out what to eat this weekend when suddenly shabu-shabu was calling my name, so I went to the most fundamental of fundamentals, Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu haha.

Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu Gran Passage Branch

Where is Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu Gran Passage Branch, and how does parking work?

📍Business hours📍

This place is inside Gran Passage, so the accessibility is great! Since it's inside the building, it's easy to find, and it was nice to be able to park and go straight to eating haha.

And they have a separate waiting zone too~ I thought it might be crowded since it was weekend lunch, but having a dedicated space to wait was also nice. Best of all, they support parking for a whopping 3 hours~ Since there was plenty of time to move around slowly after eating, it felt comfortable bringing the car on a weekend haha.

Kalguksu for two, extra beef and a pile of minari: the classic Deungchon order

We sat down and ordered the fundamental combo right away!! Kalguksu (knife-cut noodle) for two, one extra beef, and a big extra order of minari. Isn't this literally the fundamental Deungchon combo haha. If you're here for shabu-shabu you've got to have the beef too, and it only tastes right with a ton of minari added~

And here comes the food~~ Isn't the minari visual amazing? Seeing all that green minari piled up made me feel healthier just by looking at it haha. Of course I'm not eating it to be healthy, I'm eating it because it's delicious lol.

The beef, kalguksu noodles, and rice came out next haha. But it suddenly made me think of the old days lol. Back when I was a student, I remember not being able to order extra beef even though I wanted to, because I had no money... But things are different now. I'm an adult who can order an extra beef now, you know~? I added the extra beef with total confidence haha.

How do the beef, mushrooms and minari taste together?

Now they boil it all up with a big load of beef added, hahaha. With mushrooms and minari going in and simmering together, the broth smell alone was amazing, T_T. Isn't watching shabu-shabu bubble away while waiting for it to cook faster part of the fun haha.

Then I skillfully fished out the beef and vegetables and dug in, nom~ Eating mushroom, minari, and beef all together like this, that's what you call a trio right there~ Wrap the minari around a piece of beef, grab a mushroom along with it, and the texture is great and the minari fragrance really comes through, super delicious. Ordering a big extra minari was such a good call haha.

Finishing the course with knife-cut noodles and fried rice

After eating a whole bowlful of beef and vegetables, it's time to move on to the kalguksu~ Adding the noodles to the broth and boiling them up, you really can't resist this either haha. Honestly, doesn't Deungchon really start from here?

And finally, the moment we've all been waiting for: fried rice! They set up the perfect buildup for the fried rice from the very start haha. After eating the beef and vegetables and then the kalguksu, when they finally add fluffy rice to the broth and fry it up until it's nice and moist... that's true paradise haha. With the broth soaked slightly into the rice, once you take a spoonful you just keep eating, T_T.

Getting a Deungchon meal in for weekend lunch filled me up nice and solidly. Working my way through shabu-shabu, kalguksu, and fried rice all in one course left both my stomach and my heart very full~ Remember Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu Gran Passage Branch for the next time shabu-shabu is calling your name in Dongtan 🫶🏻