Cheongna shabu-shabu buffet with guobaorou and soy shrimp: Shabuway

[ Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch ]

• Address: 619-6 Gajeong-dong, 2nd floor, Seohae-gu, Incheon
• Location: 5-minute walk from Gajeong Station Exit 4, 2nd floor of Ruwon Top Plaza
• Hours: daily 11:30–21:30 (break 15:30–17:00, no break on weekends)
• Menu: weekday lunch ₩24,900 / weekday dinner ₩29,900 / weekends and holidays ₩29,900

A weekend evening at Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch

I was craving shabu-shabu one weekend evening, so I headed to Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch. I found it while searching for a shabu-shabu buffet around Gajeong-dong and Ruwon City, and I liked that everything, from the meat and vegetables to the salad bar dishes and desserts, is all-you-can-eat. (And all of it is good quality!)

Parking and the interior

For parking, you can use basement levels 1–2 of the building, and the Ace Tower parking lot in front of the building is also available. Ace Tower is about 10 m diagonally to the right of the restaurant's parking entrance, so it was easy to find.

The interior was really clean and bright, and the salad bar area is spacious, so it never felt cramped even with lots of people using it at once. Shabu-shabu tables tend to fill up with ingredients, so having plenty of room made it comfortable to eat.

Order by QR code, with a half-and-half broth option

You can order with the QR code on the table, but the staff member who showed us in took our order right away. You don't have to stick to one broth, since half-and-half is possible, so I ordered half regular broth and half mala (Sichuan numbing-spicy) broth. (Mala broth costs ₩3,000 extra.)

The salad bar lineup: guobaorou and soy shrimp are the best

The biggest strength of Shabuway is definitely the salad bar. From fresh vegetables to mushrooms, noodles and porridge ingredients, there is a really wide range of basics for the pot, and you can keep bringing back as much as you like, so there's no pressure.

The guobaorou (Chinese-style sweet and sour fried pork) was especially good: crispy outside, chewy inside, and it went really well with the sweet and sour sauce.

It's buffet food so I didn't expect much, but I kept going back for more. (Soy shrimp and guobaorou are the best!)

How the regular broth and mala broth tasted

After you order, they set the table like this. Since I added mala, they brought over plenty of ingredients that suit mala broth, like fried tofu pouches, wide sweet potato noodles (fenmozi) and corn noodles.

There are several kinds of unlimited meat too, including pork neck, beef brisket (usamgyeop) and pork shoulder, so I could eat as much as I wanted.

The regular broth is clean and mild overall, and the mala side is about as spicy as Shin Ramyun, and I really enjoyed it. (If you like mala, adding the mala broth is a must!)

I'd have a bite from the mild broth, then a bite from the mala, then go back to the regular one, and they balance each other out, so I never got tired of it until the end. Being able to put in whatever you like and make your own combination is definitely what makes this a proper Cheongna shabu-shabu spot.

With the quiet atmosphere and classy interior, I thought it would also be a great place for a group gathering.

Finishing with self-made porridge and topped ice cream

After finishing the shabu-shabu, you can't skip the porridge! You bring rice, vegetables, egg and whatever else you need from the salad bar and cook it yourself in the leftover broth. The flavor of the meat and vegetables has soaked into the broth, so even without adding strong seasoning it was deeply savory and nutty.

You can make as much as you like yourself, so of course I made sure to get ice cream too.

The topping lineup, with brownie, coconut, caramel syrup and more, was so good that I went back twice. Finishing hot shabu-shabu with cold ice cream cleans up your palate and ends the meal on a happy note.

Overall, the variety of meat, vegetables, sides and desserts, plus the unlimited refills, made this a very satisfying place. I'd recommend it for a weekend family meal or a comfortable meal with a group in Cheongna's Ruwon City, and for anyone looking for a Cheongna shabu-shabu spot where you can enjoy a variety of broths and ingredients to your heart's content.