Shabu-shabu buffet near Gajeong Station, Incheon with mom: Shabuway

Picking a restaurant to eat out with my mom is always a little... tricky. I'll pretty much eat anything, but my mom has pretty picky taste, so whenever we go eat together, I end up watching her reaction more than paying attention to my own taste buds.

This time we went to Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch together, and guess what... my mom kept saying it was delicious the whole time she was eating!

I was satisfied too — not just with the taste of the food, but the cleanliness of the place, how kind the staff were, and how the salad bar was put together. It's become a Gajeong Station spot I want to go back to.

Where is Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch, and what is the restaurant like?

Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch is on the 2nd floor of Ruwon Top Plaza. As soon as we walked in, the space was bigger than I expected, and the overall vibe was bright and clean!

There was also plenty of space between tables, which made it comfortable to eat with my mom.

Whenever I go to a buffet-style restaurant, if the area around the food is messy, I completely lose interest in going back no matter how good the food tastes... but here, everything from the salad bar to the tables was well kept, which I really liked!

What's on the Shabuway salad bar: rice-wrap vegetables, fresh noodles, fried rice, salmon salad

The salad bar at Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch had a wide variety — from rice-wrap vegetables to noodles, fried rice, warm dishes, salads, and fruit.

There were also buckwheat noodles and prickly pear noodles, good for adding a noodle sarie after finishing the shabu-shabu.

Fried rice and other cooked dishes were also available, so I grabbed a plate while the meat was still cooking — and before I knew it, my plate was already piled full,,

I tried the salmon salad too — for me, having plenty of side dish variety like this is exactly what makes an all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu place fun!

Instead of just eating shabu-shabu the whole time, it was fun to pick different things in between — I ended up making pretty good use of the salad bar :)

Weekday lunch set: prime pork shoulder 180g with half mild, half spicy broth

We ordered the weekday lunch adult set and had the prime pork shoulder 180g.

For the broth, we chose half a clean, mild broth and half a spicy, tangy one!

The meat was sliced thin too, so lightly cooking it in the broth made it nice and tender.

Piling in plenty of vegetables and simmering them made the broth taste richer the more we ate — really good.

And seriously, why does shabu-shabu keep going in even after you say you're full..!

We also grabbed rice-wrap vegetables to our liking, wrapped meat inside, dipped it in sauce — so, so good >_<

Is Shabuway good for taking your parents? Mom's reaction

Me enjoying the food was great, but the most important thing that day was my mom's reaction.

My usually picky mom grabbed all kinds of things from the salad bar and genuinely enjoyed the shabu-shabu too!

Later on, when my mom said herself that it was good, I thought, ah, we can definitely come back here again.

The vegetables were fresh and the food stations were kept clean, so it was a good place to bring parents too :) Parking is free for 2 hours as well, which made it easy to visit by car.

Dessert at Shabuway: fruit, coffee and ice cream in one place

Haha... we really made the most of it, didn't we?

Even though my stomach was already full, dessert is a whole separate matter! There was fruit, plus drinks and coffee, so we didn't have to go find a café afterward — we could wrap everything up in one place.

Ice cream too, nom nom.

The shabu-shabu itself was good, but the salad bar, cleanliness, friendly service, and dessert all came together without a single weak point!

If you're looking for a place for a family meal near Gajeong Station or a clean shabu-shabu restaurant, I'd recommend Shabuway Ruwon City Cheongna Branch.