Sejong Lake Park restaurant for kids with free baby rice: Italy Shabu

Today I'm introducing Italy Shabu Kalguksu (이태리 샤브칼국수) in Eojin-dong, Sejong, which we stopped at on our way to a walk at Sejong Lake Park with the kids. It has baby chairs and kids' tableware, so eating with little ones is easy, and for just ₩13,800 you get shabu-shabu, kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) and even vegetable porridge. Great value!

Italy Shabu Kalguksu Sejong Eojin Branch at a glance

• Address: 528 Eojin-dong, Sejong, Taehan Press Center, 3rd floor, Unit 302
• Ordered: 2 servings of the Italy-style shabu kalguksu (6 types on the menu), Jeonju-style seafood pajeon
• Parking in the building (parking convenience ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Baby chair ⭕️ Kids' tableware ⭕️
• Free baby rice service (baby rice/seaweed)
• Free makgeolli when you order the seafood pajeon 👍 (they refill it too 💕)
• Puffed-rice snack and ice cream for dessert 🍦
• House-made kimchi / unlimited house-made kalguksu noodles 😆

Getting to Italy Shabu Kalguksu and what it's like inside

Taehan Press Center, 3rd floor, right across from the elevator

Take the elevator in Taehan Press Center up to the 3rd floor and the entrance is right across from it, so it was easy to find! It also has the "Good Price" sign, the badge for good-value restaurants. The ₩9,800 mushroom kalguksu seems to be the budget pick. The smell of tasty kalguksu hit us right at the entrance, so we hurried in.

A spacious hall and a private room for 20–30 people

This restaurant near Sejong Lake is much bigger inside than it looks from outside! The interior is clean, with aprons set out here and there. There were plenty of tables, arranged to fit groups of all sizes.

One side has a cozy, room-style space. It holds about 20 to 30 people, so it would be great for company dinners or gatherings!!!

Is parking easy at Italy Shabu Kalguksu?

Taehan Press Center, the building with Italy Shabu Kalguksu, has a large underground car park with EV chargers too. A restaurant with easy parking is rare these days!!

The building isn't old, so the entrance and exit ramps are roomy, and there are lots of parking spaces. With EV chargers, you can also eat while your car charges, which is nice!

Italy Shabu Kalguksu menu and prices

Here is the menu at Italy Shabu Kalguksu.

• Shabu kalguksu, regular/spicy: ₩13,800
• Shabu kalguksu, perilla seed: ₩14,800
• Mushroom kalguksu: ₩9,800
• Perilla mushroom kalguksu: ₩10,800
• Jeonju-style seafood pajeon (savory pancake): ₩15,000
• 💕 Free makgeolli when you order pajeon 💕

Since we were eating with the kids, we ordered 2 servings of the regular shabu kalguksu (₩13,800) and the Jeonju-style seafood pajeon (₩15,000) too.

Why Italy Shabu Kalguksu works with kids: baby chairs, tableware and free baby rice

We came to Italy Shabu Kalguksu to eat with the kids, and the owner set up two baby chairs right away. As soon as we sat them down, she brought free rice and seaweed for the kids, plus kids' tableware too. We were so grateful!!🥹 When you eat out with kids you usually have to bring everything from utensils to side dishes yourself, but here they prepare kids' tableware, baby rice and seaweed, so it's really easy to visit💕

What's at the Italy Shabu Kalguksu self-serve bar?

After the baby rice, here's the second sign of the owner's generosity: the self-serve bar! There's house-made geotjeori (fresh, unfermented kimchi) and salad, plus house-made kalguksu noodles and ramen noodles, and you can help yourself without feeling awkward. Right next to it, the puffed-rice snack and ice cream served as dessert were set out too, and my kid's eyes lit up and he ate super fast haha

How does the Hanwoo beef bone broth shabu kalguksu taste?

We didn't wait long before the shabu kalguksu was set up! We turned the heat up to the max right away and waited for it to cook. The light, healthy Hanwoo (Korean beef) bone broth came with mushrooms, vegetables and even dumplings, and the meat on top was quite generous. They also brought the ingredients for egg fried rice and the kalguksu noodles, along with their house-made geotjeori 👍

We let it bubble on high heat, then turned it to low once everything was cooked just right! The Hanwoo bone broth, with the mushrooms and vegetable stock mixed in, was really rich and light at the same time, and unusually it had bean sprouts in it, which gave a clean, refreshing taste. It's healthy food, so I ladled lots of broth for the kids to have with rice, and they ate it so happily😆

House-made kalguksu noodles and geotjeori

After eating for a while, we added more broth from the self-serve bar and dropped the house-made kalguksu noodles they'd given us into the pot. The noodles and geotjeori go together amazingly😆 Soft noodles soaked in light broth, eaten with salty, crunchy geotjeori. Oh my gosh, so good!!

Finishing with egg fried rice

Even though we were full from the kalguksu, we hurried to stir-fry the egg fried rice. Over high heat, mixing with a ladle so it wouldn't burn, it cooked quickly, and we polished off the mild, savory fried rice with geotjeori too! Honestly, the geotjeori here is the all-purpose side dish!! It goes with everything, and I refilled it twice!

Jeonju-style seafood pajeon with free makgeolli

Italy Shabu Kalguksu's signature dish! The Jeonju-style seafood pajeon (₩15,000), the perfect partner for kalguksu! On top of the big round pancake, they'd made a smiley face out of chili peppers, which looked so fun and put us in a good mood right away, and they set out the free makgeolli (rice wine) too!! True to its name, the seafood pajeon was packed with squid and shrimp, with a crispy outside and moist inside, and of course it went so well with makgeolli 👍

Verdict: a kid-friendly stop on a Sejong Lake Park walk

Italy Shabu Kalguksu is a hearty, great-value restaurant that's perfect to stop at on a cool day like these, on the way to a walk at Sejong Lake Park with the kids. There's a shabu kalguksu the kids can eat, baby chairs and kids' tableware, and when you come with children they give you free baby rice and seaweed, so it's a really good place to visit with kids!

They give free makgeolli when you order pajeon, and the self-serve bar has house-made kimchi and salad and house-made kalguksu noodles, with puffed-rice snack and ice cream for dessert. You can feel the owner's generous, warm heart in every detail of this filling, tasty meal. We're definitely coming back😆

• Restaurant near Sejong Lake Park / in Eojin-dong, Sejong
• Good restaurant for kids in Sejong
• Shabu-shabu kalguksu restaurant in Sejong
• Great-value restaurant in Sejong

If that's the kind of place you're looking for, I highly recommend Italy Shabu Kalguksu Sejong Eojin Branch💙