Junggye-dong shabu-shabu dinner for two: brisket and sirloin at Hana

I visited Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch, a shabu-shabu place in Junggye-dong I'd wanted to try for ages, with a close friend!

Where is Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch, and when is it open?

Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch is at 101, Brownstone Junggye, 29 Dongil-ro203ga-gil, Nowon-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It's open daily from 11:00 to 22:00, last order 21:00, and parking is available.

According to my friend, a Nowon local, this shabu-shabu spot in Junggye-dong has waits on weekends — apparently a well-known favorite among Junggye residents!

Luckily it was a heavily rainy Monday, so we got seated right away with no wait!

Inside Hana Shabu Shabu: floor tables, private rooms and kids' tables

The interior of Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch was as tidy and clean as an upscale Japanese restaurant. Being a well-loved shabu-shabu spot in Junggye-dong, the decor felt like something older guests would enjoy too.

They had regular tables, floor seating, and it looked like there were private rooms upstairs too! It was a huge space. Since it was just my friend and me, we were seated at a two-person table!

There were even kids' tables — such a thoughtful touch from the owner for anyone in Nowon looking for a shabu-shabu spot to bring children along to.

What we ordered: dinner brisket + sirloin shabu-shabu, 29,000 won

The signature menus at Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch are shabu-shabu and seiro-mushi (cypress-box steamed dish), and the lunch and dinner compositions seemed to differ slightly! The seiro-mushi looked amazing too, but after much deliberation my friend and I ordered the (dinner) shabu-shabu basic brisket + sirloin for ₩29,000 for two people!

After ordering, they brought out our dishware, sauce bowls, and wet wipes!

The chopstick rest even had instructions printed on it for how to eat seiro-mushi and shabu-shabu. Between that and the tidy owner and interior, it honestly felt a bit like an omakase shabu-shabu experience. They even pour the water for you.

Salad, side dishes and the yuzu ponzu + chili sauce mix

Before the main dish arrives, they serve a salad topped with sesame dressing first — tangy and nutty, a great appetite-opener before the main event.

For side dishes we got pickled chili peppers and pickled radish. The owner kindly explained what the chili peppers were for — apparently you're meant to put them on top of the yuzu ponzu sauce!

With the chili added, the sauce turned slightly spicy, which paired really well with the shabu-shabu afterward. My friend, who prefers clean-tasting sauces, loved the yuzu ponzu + chili combo so much she just ate that sauce on its own.

Plus, it's an open kitchen, so we could watch the whole cooking process — a nice bonus. Among the shabu-shabu spots I've tried in Nowon, none feel as upscale as Hana Shabu Shabu.

Tabletop broth, vegetables and beef — enough for three refills

A little while later, they brought out the broth in the same kind of tabletop hot pot you'd see at an upscale Japanese restaurant.

Then the star of the show arrived — the shabu-shabu vegetables and meat! The meat cuts were really generous, and the vegetables weren't just bok choy, bean sprouts, and napa cabbage but also an incredible variety of mushrooms, all in generous quantities.

At first, the owner put a few vegetables in for us and kindly explained which ones to add first, which made eating so much easier! Since the owner explains everything so patiently, this place is great to recommend to anyone bringing along parents or looking for a spot for a family gathering.

We added the vegetables in order, and the portion was so huge that after putting in just about a third of it, the pot was already about to overflow.

There were so many different kinds of mushrooms too — highly recommend this spot to any mushroom lovers looking for shabu-shabu in Nowon.

Can you believe this much was only a third of what we had?! The portions were incredibly generous, and the meat — must have been good quality — had no off smell and was soft and delicious! The broth itself was super clean-tasting, so I'd highly recommend this to anyone who loves a clean flavor profile.

I especially love bean sprouts in shabu-shabu and tend to eat a lot of them, and the broth itself was so tasty that they were great plain, and also great with my favorite chili sauce! Overall, the food at Hana Shabu Shabu in Nowon was wonderfully clean-tasting.

We ended up adding ingredients into the pot three separate times that day, that's how generous the portions were ☺️☺️☺️ On top of the quantity, the flavor and the quality of the vegetables and meat were fantastic! My friend kept raving about how delicious it was.

Finishing the meal: tadaki, udon noodles and ube pudding

There was a bit of a happy accident that day, so the owner also brought us tadaki (seared beef), and it was so cute-looking! Each piece of the tadaki was seared individually with a torch.

The seasoning had soaked in beautifully and it was genuinely delicious! Apparently you can get this if you leave a receipt review, so make sure to review and try it — with how well the tadaki was seared, you won't regret it.

After we'd thoroughly worked through the shabu-shabu, they finished us off with udon noodles! Even the udon noodles were presented so neatly and beautifully.

Adding the udon let even more flavor seep out of the broth, so it tasted twice as good. The noodles were chewy and delicious, so everyone should definitely finish the whole bowl of udon too.

And finally, ube pudding 🥰🥰. Even my friend, who's not usually into dessert, raved about how good the pudding was.

We finished every last bit at this favorite shabu-shabu spot in Nowon, Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch!

Taste, service and atmosphere at Hana Shabu Shabu in one line

Taste: 🍲🍲🍲🍲🍲 (Truly clean-tasting shabu-shabu! The broth itself was really refreshing, and both meat and vegetables were high quality and delicious. I heard from a resident of a nearby apartment complex that this is already a well-known favorite around Junggye-dong! Anyone looking for a restaurant near Junggye Station should highly consider Hana Shabu Shabu Junggye Main Branch)

Service: 👍👍👍👍👍 (The owner is incredibly kind and tidy — I want to bring my parents next time. Explains everything so well and is genuinely so friendly that I want to come back just because of the owner)

Atmosphere: 🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷 (Feels like an upscale Japanese restaurant! Clean enough to be great for a family gathering, a date, a meal with parents, or any kind of get-together)