Shabu restaurant in Magok, Seoul: anniversary date, dumpling hot pot

I went to Magok again to see my boyfriend, haha, and I suddenly wanted shabu kalguksu (shabu-shabu with noodle soup) for the first time in a while. So I went to Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu, Magok Main Branch (양천샤브손칼국수 마곡본점), a famous spot near Seoul Botanic Park!

Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu, Magok Main Branch: location, parking and hours

The restaurant is at 46 Magokdong-ro 10-gil, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, Magok Botanic Park Plaza 1F, Units 107 and 108. It's open 11:00–21:00. You can park in the Botanic Park Plaza building, and I heard they cover 1 hour of parking for free.

It's about a 5-minute walk from Exit 7 of Yangcheonhyanggyo Station, so it's not hard to get to. Just look for a sign like this one. You can spot it from far away, so there's no way you'll get lost, haha.

What's the atmosphere like at Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu?

The inside is nice and clean! We went early, so there weren't many people yet, but after work hours lots of families came in, and a lot of company dinner groups too!!

I heard it's also busy at lunch, so it's known as a Magok lunch favorite. It felt like a place the neighborhood trusts for a hearty meal, haha.

What two people ordered, and the prices

At Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu, Magok Main Branch, we ordered the rolled dumpling hot pot (₩14,000) + 1 extra serving of meat (₩10,000) + crispy potato pancake (₩6,900)!! Here's the order!

• Rolled dumpling hot pot ₩14,000
• 1 extra serving of meat ₩10,000
• Crispy potato pancake ₩6,900

A shabu kalguksu place for our KakaoTalk one-year anniversary

Hahaha, sudden flower brag... what I mean is, this day was our one-year anniversary of starting to KakaoTalk (Korea's main messaging app), haha. So I walked into the restaurant in an even better mood~~ ^.^

A year feels like it went by so fast, yet also like so much time has passed~ I think celebrating little days like this and going out for good food is a small happiness! Thank you, my one and only happiness.

What is the broth at Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu made with?

Back to the point... they said the broth at Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu, Magok Main Branch is boiled with various herbal medicine ingredients. It felt healthy the moment I saw it! It's not just about taste, it felt like eating something good for your body, so it was even more satisfying.

They also serve hovenia fruit tea, and drinking it before and after the meal left my stomach feeling comfortable :)

I could also read a nice note about the owner's philosophy. You could feel the care that goes into every dish, so it earned my trust, haha. I think little details like this create the atmosphere of a restaurant!!

Perilla oil five-color rice and the quality of the shabu meat

Perilla oil five-color rice!! The owner told us it tastes best made into something between porridge and fried rice, haha (it's written in front of the kiosk). The perilla oil aroma spreads gently, and the nutty rice is mixed with various ingredients, so it looks pretty and tastes great!!

And the shabu meat clearly looked high quality. The color, the marbling, all of it is good, right???!! Lots of shabu-shabu places have so-so meat, but the meat at Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu was really tasty, hehe.

Minari shabu kalguksu and the kimchi

Shabu kalguksu piled high with minari (water dropwort)!! Can't you feel the fragrance just from how it looks? The minari aroma blended with the broth, making it clean and full of flavor!

The kimchi was really good too... I kept scooping it up. It's spicy yet savory, and eating it with the shabu kalguksu, I couldn't stop reaching for it.

Is the crispy potato pancake worth ordering?

The crispy potato pancake at Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu is crunchy and chewy, haha. Crisp outside and chewy inside, so the price of ₩7,000 (₩6,900 on the menu) wasn't a waste at all! Definitely order it!

Herbal broth shabu and the rolled dumpling hot pot

Need I even talk about the shabu~ Lightly cooking the meat in the herbal broth gave a deep yet clean taste, and the kalguksu noodles were chewy too, so slurping them up with the broth was really filling, haha.

And the rolled dumplings were really good! My boyfriend kept raving while eating them, haha. The wrapper is chewy and thin but the filling is packed, so one bite was full of juices and filling!! If you like dumplings, definitely get the rolled dumpling hot pot.

And I worked hard on that in-between of porridge and fried rice, haha. I made the perilla oil five-color rice just as the owner said, and the nuttiness doubled and it was really delicious. After finishing the meal, I felt naturally full yet comfortable in the stomach!

Plum slush for dessert and overall review

Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu, Magok Main Branch even finishes with a thoughtful plum slush!! Cooling off with the sweet, icy plum slush was the perfect end to the meal, haha. Seeing them look after details like this, you can feel the restaurant genuinely cares about customer satisfaction (they were even running a customer survey!).

Healthy herbal broth, fresh ingredients and dumplings too, a solid lineup that I was happy with!!! Since we went on our own kind of anniversary(?), I think I'll remember it even more specially, haha. If you're looking for a shabu spot near Yangcheonhyanggyo Station, or want a hearty meal near Seoul Botanic Park, I highly recommend Yangcheon Shabu Son Kalguksu, Magok Main Branch 😊