Ulsan shabu-shabu buffet for team dinners with soy chicken: Wabom

My shabu-shabu craving came around again pretty quickly, so I searched nearby and found Wabom, a well-known shabu-shabu place in Ulsan, and went. Unlimited beef plus a buffet with lots of variety? Excited 💜

Parking and atmosphere at Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch

Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch (와봄 울산무거점) is a shabu-shabu buffet in Mugeo-dong, Ulsan. Use the Maldeunsaem Parking Lot (맑은샘주차장) right behind it, and tell the staff you want to register your parking when you pay at Wabom: 3 hours free! The parking building is bright blue, so you can't miss it.

It feels lush and green from outside the shop. The interior looks like you could eat a ton of vegetables here 😋

Does Wabom have group seating for team dinners and family gatherings?

The inside of Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch is sooooo huge, I'd guess around 100 seats. I figured it would be empty on a weekday evening, but I was wrong: there were two group parties, in the rooms on both sides and in the hall. They looked like a company dinner and a family gathering. It's spacious and the food is varied, so nobody's going to complain. It's a perfect meeting place in Ulsan.

Wabom prices, broth options and time limit

Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch has different prices for lunch and for dinner/weekends, and elementary school and preschool children pay less. There are two broths, mild and spicy, and in line with the current trend you can get half-and-half broth. To serve more guests and keep quality up, the time limit is 100 minutes.

What's on the buffet at Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch?

The buffet zone is in the middle of the restaurant. Just looking at it, the variety is obvious, so I got excited haha Even with that many people, I noticed the staff kept it neat and clean the whole time.

Salad bar and shabu-shabu vegetables

The entrance side is packed with salads. Basic ones like sweet pumpkin, lettuce and crab-stick flowers, but also yangnyeom gejang (spicy marinated crab), angelica and wild chive salad, and yukhoe (Korean beef tartare). It doesn't feel like they just filled a quota; these are dishes you actually want to eat 😆

The vegetables for loading into your shabu-shabu also come in lots of varieties and look fresh. Nothing was wilted or soft, so Wabom is a shabu-shabu place in Ulsan I can trust.

The shabu-shabu golden rule, the porridge ingredients for dessert, is there too, along with ten dipping sauces.

Nearly ten kinds of sushi at a shabu-shabu buffet?

What surprised me was the sushi zone at Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch. Unlimited shabu-shabu places rarely have sushi, and if they do it's only a few kinds, but at Wabom in Mugeo-dong, Ulsan there are almost ten: the basics like salmon, shrimp and hanchi (squid), plus clam, raw shrimp and duck. I wondered if this was a seafood buffet. It's also good for family gatherings: there's crab stick, rolled omelet and yubu chobap (tofu pouch rice), so it looked easy to visit with a kid.

Hot food zone must-eat: soy sauce fried chicken

The hot food zone has tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), soy-marinated chicken, pasta, beef bulgogi and more. The lineup could pass for any regular buffet, which is amazing 😭 The one thing you must eat here is the soy chicken! The soy marinade is sweet and salty in just the right balance.

Bossam (boiled pork wraps), fried foods and porridge are all fully prepared too. With this much, isn't the buffet the main event rather than the shabu-shabu? 😋

Which beef cuts are unlimited?

The real main event is the unlimited beef! Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch uses brisket and chuck (목살), with a soft, tender texture. It isn't old meat; it's a vivid pink, and I wanted to grab a big handful right away 😭

Desserts: ice cream, fruit and a chocolate fountain

Desserts you can't walk past! The ice cream alone has so many kinds that my eyes spun 🤤 The fruit, like mango, grapefruit and dragon fruit, isn't easy to find elsewhere, and I enjoyed it.

The kicker at this Ulsan shabu-shabu spot is the chocolate fountain! If you think only kids go crazy for it, think again. Adults love it too... I refilled twice and dipped cake in it haha

How did Wabom's half-and-half broth shabu-shabu taste?

I ordered half-and-half broth, and the burner only goes up to 5, so it's a bit weak. It takes a while to boil. But you can just go load up at the buffet in the meantime, so no problem haha

I'm impatient, so I threw the vegetables in right away~! The spicy side is clearly redder and looks properly spicy.

Starting with the fresh beef. One bowl is a generous amount, so refilling a plate at a time seems best! Eaten while still slightly pink, the beef is even more tender. No gamey smell, and the texture is tender and the best.

My appetite came roaring back, so straight to the buffet. I picked a bit of everything, and who would look at this and think unlimited shabu-shabu 😭 It's a plate that looks like any regular buffet.

The bossam is kept warm and is absolutely delicious. The kimchi is really good, so you have to eat it!

I piled on the vegetables, and this is what I like about shabu-shabu: you end up eating loads of vegetables without any effort 😋

While I poured in extra broth and boiled it up again, I dropped in an odeng (fish cake) skewer to go with it. The fish cake is thin and cooks fast, so watch it and pull it out in time. Tasty fish cake, as always haha

Window view from the 10th floor of Hansol Apple Tower

When you look up, this is the view, so I kept glancing at the window between bites of beef. The open view is refreshing, like, is this even a city? I bet it's prettier in the daytime than at night~!

The finish is of course the chocolate fountain. Chocolate ice cream and chocolate cake were ready too. I dipped everything I could grab into the fountain haha There's ice on its own as well, so I made an iced Americano. A perfect course all the way through dessert, so I was very satisfied.

Final verdict on Wabom Ulsan Mugeo Branch

• Unlimited beef + choice of half-and-half broth
• Buffet lineup with sushi, hot food, bossam and more
• Wide variety of desserts: chocolate fountain, ice cream, fruit
• Group seating and rooms: recommended for company dinners and family gatherings
• 3 hours free parking at Maldeunsaem Parking Lot

I went just for shabu-shabu and came away having enjoyed a full buffet too. From the fresh vegetables and beef to sushi, hot food and dessert, the variety is real, so Wabom's shabu-shabu buffet in Mugeo-dong, Ulsan suits all ages. I especially recommend it as an easy pick for a group meal 💜