Dongtan Station restaurant with a mini jungle gym: Pyeonbaek Hoegwan

Today I'm sharing a review of Pyeonbaek, a well-known restaurant near Dongtan Station, after going with my parents and my 5-year-old son!

As a rice-paper-wrap lover, I love this type of restaurant where you can eat wraps and meat unlimited haha. Even when I had gestational diabetes during pregnancy, I stuffed myself with this and my blood sugar barely went up, which was so nice lol. I'd been putting it off for a while, then finally went with my parents the day before a holiday, and it was delicious! 💕

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch: location, parking and hours

Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch is on the 2nd floor of the Granvia Star complex at Dongtan Station. You can park in the complex's underground parking lot.

Hours are daily 11:00–22:00 (last order 20:30).

What comes with the course, and how to pick your broth

• The basic course is hinoki steam + shabu-shabu + rice-paper wraps + kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) + porridge + salad bar
• You can choose two broths half-and-half for the shabu-shabu (we went with basic bonito + spicy mushroom broth)
• There also seemed to be other broths like bone marrow mala and tomato broth!

Inside Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch: the room and the playroom

Once you go up to the 2nd floor, you see a restaurant that looks like this. First off, it's spacious so it feels super comfortable. Families with young kids get stressed out at cramped restaurants lol. Here, the tables are spaced well apart and it's a new building, so it feels clean and fresh.

The playroom is located in the back.

It's not huge, but it has a mini jungle gym, so before the food arrives, or after the kid's done eating and the adults still need to finish, it's great for keeping them entertained without resorting to videos!

So here's a tip for you!!! 🍯🍯 Sit at the table right next to the playroom lol. We sat two tables away and thought it would've been even better to sit right next to it!

What's on the self-serve bar at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch

Most of the basic side dishes are self-serve. The self-serve bar is in the center of the restaurant haha.

Vegetables for the shabu-shabu

First off, the vegetables are all fresh and there's a good variety!

Bean sprouts, napa cabbage, bok choy, oyster mushrooms

There are also dumplings, sausage, fish cake, noodles, enoki mushrooms, kimchi, and more.

Vegetables for the rice-paper wraps

Onion, carrot, cucumber, cabbage, chili pepper, baby greens

Cooked dishes on the self-serve bar

Vegetable fried rice, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes)

Spicy-sweet pasta, mukbap (mung bean jelly rice)

Jjolmyeon (chewy cold noodles), salad

French fries, dinner rolls and jam

There are also ingredients for making porridge yourself (rice, egg, seaweed, etc.).

The hot water for rice-paper wraps is also self-serve and endlessly refillable. You can take as many scissors, tongs, and kids' tableware as you need, and both the basic seafood broth and spicy broth look self-refillable too.

Meat is unlimited refill too, of course. On the left is thin-sliced beef brisket and on the right is sliced pork neck!

Hinoki steam first: beef brisket and bean sprouts

As you bring dishes over from the self-serve bar, the hinoki steam comes out first! It's got sliced beef brisket and various vegetables inside. Once everything's cooked, a staff member comes and opens the steamer lid, and that's when you can start eating!

There are bean sprouts lining the bottom too, so dipping the sprouts and brisket in the sauce together is so good lol 👍👍

Before the actual shabu-shabu came out, we also made wraps with various vegetables and brisket on rice paper.

I fed my son a bit of everything — brisket hinoki steam, vegetable fried rice, fries, dinner rolls.

Half-and-half shabu-shabu broth: can a 5-year-old eat it?

Once we finished the hinoki steam and asked staff, they brought out the shabu-shabu broth! We chose the basic broth and the spicy mushroom broth. The basic broth wasn't spicy at all so my son could eat it, and the spicy broth was a bit much for me since I can't handle spice, but my mom, who's good with spicy food, said it was just right!

To buy the adults some time to eat, we let my son put the meat into the shabu-shabu pot himself lol. Once it's bubbling, you add in the various vegetables and the meat you've brought over!

Piling on lots of vegetables and the shabu-shabu meat, wrapping it in paper, and dipping it in chili sauce is so, so good. 😊😊 The sauce options are chili sauce, peanut sauce, and soy sauce. My top pick is the chili sauce 👍

Usually when my mom comes to places like this, she even wraps bites for my dad lol (classic Gyeongsang-do style), but this time she told him to wrap his own, so the two of them diligently made their own wraps.

I always try not to overeat, but once again I failed to pace myself — still, the whole family ate really well! We were too full for the porridge and kalguksu though..! 😭

Don't leave without the misugaru (roasted grain drink) dessert

Oh, and there's misugaru (roasted grain powder drink) for dessert! It's not too sweet and really tasty! I had two cups lol. It was my son's first time tasting it, and at first he said "This tastes like coffee," but then kept sipping away happily haha. Make sure you try the misugaru 👍

If you're looking for a restaurant near Dongtan Station to bring your kids and grandparents to, give Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Dongtan Branch a try 💕