Gimpo Korean restaurant for perilla seed minari fried rice: Homilwon

I went to Gimpo with my boyfriend for dinner. The place we visited that day was Homilwon Shabu Kalguksu Gimpo Main Branch, known as a great shabu-shabu spot in Gimpo! I was curious because it had been featured on VJ Teukgongdae, and after trying it myself, I could see why so many people come here. The two of us ordered the Full Table Special sanghwang shabu-kalguksu! To give you the conclusion first: we were seriously full, and I’d absolutely come back. The whole perilla seed minari (water dropwort) fried rice we had at the end was especially memorable ☺️

Homilwon Shabu Kalguksu Gimpo Main Branch visit information

It is open daily from 11:00 to 21:00, with last orders around 20:10–20:30. The dedicated parking lot right in front was spacious, so parking was easy. I visited at dinner time and didn’t have to wait, though plenty of people were already eating inside.

Sanghwang shabu-kalguksu menu and prices

• Homilwon sanghwang shabu-kalguksu ₩12,900
• Chewy cold boiled-pork set + sanghwang shabu-kalguksu ₩14,900
• Master's amazing boiled pork + sanghwang shabu-kalguksu ₩15,900
• Luxurious webfoot octopus set + sanghwang shabu-kalguksu ₩17,900
• Full Table Special sanghwang shabu-kalguksu ₩19,900
• Restorative king galbi shabu hot pot ₩22,900
• Extra shabu meat 160 g ₩9,900 / extra shabu vegetables ₩5,000 / extra rye kalguksu noodles ₩3,000
• 100% perilla oil fried rice ₩3,000 / Korean pork warm boiled pork 150 g ₩13,000 / 300 g ₩25,000
• One whole octopus and shrimp crispy minari pancake ₩18,000

Even the basic sanghwang shabu-kalguksu includes shabu vegetables, pork shoulder, rye kalguksu, 100% perilla oil fried rice, and beef mushroom radish rice. The beef mushroom radish rice has unlimited refills at the self-service bar. Menus and prices may change, so please use this as a reference.

What comes with the Full Table Special?

The Full Table Special sanghwang shabu-kalguksu (₩19,900) is a special menu made up of sanghwang shabu-kalguksu, warm Korean pork boiled pork, and fire-kissed stir-fried webfoot octopus. It also comes with the basic shabu course—shabu vegetables, shabu meat, rye kalguksu, and 100% perilla oil fried rice—so the table really was packed!

The spacious, tidy dining room

The interior was roomy and clean. There were lots of diners when I first came in, but by the time we had finished, many seats had opened up, so I took the chance to snap some photos 😆 With so much space, it seems like a good place for families, company dinners, and group gatherings!

When you enter the restaurant, there is this well-shaped installation that somehow made me feel relaxed.

Unlimited beef mushroom radish rice

One great thing about Homilwon: the beef mushroom radish rice comes with unlimited refills. I had heard from all over that it was delicious, and it really was! Still, I only had a little to save room for everything coming next 🤣

Springy boiled pork and spicy webfoot octopus

I started with the boiled pork, and it was much more delicious than I expected. The meat was springy with a nice texture, not dry at all, so I kept reaching for it. I went in thinking the shabu-shabu would be the star, but the boiled pork was so good that my expectations went UP UP.

The webfoot octopus is tasty but a little spicy!

It had that smoky fire flavor and a tasty sauce. It was fine for me, but a little spicy for my boyfriend 😅 He couldn’t eat much of it. I kept eating because I liked it, haha. Pairing the webfoot octopus with the beef mushroom radish rice from the self-service bar was such a good combination. But there is so much food here that I recommend having only a little of the radish rice lol.

How was the sanghwang mushroom shabu-shabu broth?

Then it was time to properly get into the shabu-shabu. When I first tasted the broth, my thought was…

Oh? It tastes like a restorative herbal tonic, lol.

It definitely felt different from ordinary shabu-shabu broth. The herbal medicine flavor was not so strong that it was hard to eat; if anything, it grew on me as I ate. It was interesting because the broth had a character that felt unique to Homilwon.

The meat, mushrooms, and vegetables were all good, and I especially liked dipping them in chili sauce. Meat dipped in it, mushrooms dipped in it, vegetables dipped in it… I just kept going back for more, haha.

Bouncy kalguksu noodles after shabu-shabu

After the shabu-shabu came kalguksu (knife-cut noodles)… and the kalguksu was seriously delicious.

After eating some of the shabu-shabu, we added the kalguksu, and the noodle texture was exactly my style. They were not the kind of noodles that go soft and mushy; they were slightly firm and bouncy, which I loved. Once the noodles went into the broth, it felt like a whole different dish. I was already pretty full but kept eating anyway. You can’t give up kalguksu, lol.

The whole perilla seed minari fried rice was the best

There was something else that was the very best. Of everything we ate, my number-one pick was the whole perilla seed minari fried rice! It was honestly so delicious. We had already eaten shabu-shabu and even kalguksu, so I was quite full, but one bite of the fried rice made me gasp!

With one bite, the aroma of minari really bursts out. Its distinct fresh flavor went so well with the fried rice, and the most interesting part was the whole perilla seeds inside! They popped as you chewed, adding a lovely nutty flavor. I loved this fried rice so much that I would order it again on my next visit.

And while eating, I suddenly thought, “They really don’t hold back on ingredients here.” From the minari to the whole perilla seeds, it felt generously loaded, which I liked. This was not just fried rice thrown together to wrap up a shabu-shabu meal—it felt properly prepared right through to the end!

Full Table Special overall review

I tried the Full Table Special sanghwang shabu-kalguksu, and it really was a meal that filled the whole table, just like its name. The boiled pork was good, the webfoot octopus was good, the shabu-shabu was good, and the kalguksu was good—but my clear number one was the whole perilla seed minari fried rice!

The sanghwang mushroom broth felt a little like a restorative tonic at first, but it was not overwhelming. More than anything, I liked that every dish felt generously made. There were quite a few diners even at dinner, though we got in without waiting. The large parking lot directly in front of the restaurant also made it easy to visit by car. I would recommend it to anyone in Gimpo who wants shabu-shabu and kalguksu together, or a big variety of dishes in one hearty meal. And if you love finishing with fried rice, you have to try the whole perilla seed minari fried rice!