Mild for kids, spicy for parents kalguksu lunch by Dongtan Lake Park

Eating out with kids, it's oddly hard to satisfy adult tastes and kid tastes at the same time, right? This time we went for lunch near Dongtan Lake Park to a place where our whole family could enjoy both shabu-shabu and kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) together. That's Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu Gran Passage Branch (등촌샤브칼국수 그랑파사쥬점).

But what was truly unexpected that day was that the kids ate more kalguksu than mom and dad! My 9-year-old daughter said that evening she wanted to eat it again, and days later she's still talking about going back to Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu. Let me start our lunch review with the kids at this Dongtan Lake Park restaurant.

Right next to Dongtan Lake Park, 2nd floor of Gran Passage

Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu Gran Passage Branch is located in Dongtan's Gran Passage. It's right next to Dongtan Lake Park, so it's a great spot to eat and then walk over to the lake park.

We visited for lunch with the kids, and afterward we wandered around Gran Passage, played some claw machine games, and had coffee, spending some relaxed time together. Now that the weather has cooled down for fall, this lunch → café → lake park walk course would be great.

Basic store info

Menu and prices — meat is ordered separately

The menu at Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu isn't complicated, which actually made it easy to choose. The mushroom kalguksu comes in spicy, mild, or perilla seed. But there's one important thing to know if you're visiting for the first time — despite being called 'shabu kalguksu,' the meat doesn't come included by default.

Ordering the mushroom kalguksu gets you mushrooms and vegetables, kalguksu noodles, and dumplings, and at the end you can even have fried rice. But the shabu-shabu beef has to be ordered separately.

If you want the shabu-shabu experience at Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu, remember you need to add the meat as a separate order.

How our family ordered

That day we ordered 2 servings of mild mushroom kalguksu + 2 servings of spicy mushroom kalguksu + 2 orders of shabu beef. The total came to ₩60,000. At first I actually considered just ordering 3 servings for everyone to share, with an extra noodle refill.

But since the kids love shabu-shabu and kalguksu just as much, we ordered spicy for mom and dad and mild for the kids separately. In the end, it was a great call. If we'd only ordered 3 servings, we'd have been in trouble — the kids ate so well.

By the way, the kimchi at Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu was really good too??

Spicy for mom and dad, mild for the kids

We split it up — mom and dad had the spicy mushroom kalguksu, the kids had the mild version. The spicy mushroom kalguksu had a broth that was fiery yet refreshing, and it paired really well with the shabu-shabu beef, mushrooms, and minari (water dropwort).

The mild mushroom kalguksu the kids ate wasn't strongly flavored, so they ate it happily too. But the kids ate way more than we expected.

They kept eating the meat, kept eating the noodles, and in the end the kids ate way more shabu beef and kalguksu than mom and dad did. If we'd only ordered one meat portion to share, that would have been a real shame. I'm really glad we ordered 2 portions of meat.

Shabu-shabu first, then kalguksu, then fried rice to finish

The fun of Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu is that it doesn't end with just one dish. First you eat the shabu-shabu beef, mushrooms, and minari, then you add the kalguksu noodles and let them bubble away.

Add dumplings on top of that and you're already pretty full — but our kids weren't done there. Even after eating that much kalguksu, they still finished the fried rice at the end.

The fried rice ingredients come pre-prepared, so you just fry it all up at the end — and the kids scraped the pan completely clean. That day we really had no worries about leftover food; the whole family ate well and happily.

My 9-year-old keeps asking to go back

As a mom, there's nothing better than a restaurant where the kids eat well. But this time really stuck with me. My 9-year-old daughter even said that same evening,

Mom, I want to eat that shabu-shabu we had earlier again.

And it didn't stop that day — days later she's still saying 'Let's go to Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu again!' It seems to have really won her over. If you're looking for a Dongtan shabu-shabu spot to bring kids to, this is worth keeping in mind.

Check parking ahead of time

Since it's inside Gran Passage, you can use the building's parking lot. But Gran Passage has so many shops that finding a spot can be tricky, especially on weekends or during meal times, ugh. So I'd recommend also checking the Dongtan Lake Park parking tower right next door.

Since it's right next to Dongtan Lake Park, if you're planning a walk after your meal, using the parking tower and moving on from there works out well. If you're visiting on a weekend, it's a good idea to check the location ahead of time so you don't waste time hunting for parking.

Apparently if you have your receipt or payment record, you can also get a discount at True by Cafe!!

A full Dongtan Lake Park course after lunch

Another advantage of Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu Gran Passage Branch is the location. Being right next to Dongtan Lake Park means there's a lot to do afterward. If you're with kids like us, a full-day course of tasty lunch → browsing Gran Passage → claw machines → coffee at a café → walking Dongtan Lake Park works great, and it would also make a nice Dongtan Lake Park date course for couples. Especially in this cool weather, eating and then walking the lake park is just perfect.

Looking for a lunch spot near Dongtan Lake Park?

Having visited, Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu turned out to be a solid pick not just for adults but for family visits with kids too. Mom and dad can eat spicy, kids can eat mild, so it works even when everyone's taste preferences differ. I also liked that within one meal you get to eat a range of things — shabu-shabu beef, mushrooms, minari, kalguksu, dumplings, and fried rice.

Most of all, our kids ate so happily! Especially seeing my 9-year-old daughter still asking to go back days later, it clearly won her over. If you're looking for lunch near Dongtan Lake Park, or a Dongtan shabu-shabu restaurant to bring kids to, give Deungchon Shabu Kalguksu Gran Passage Branch a try — it's right next to the lake park. I have a feeling next time our kids will be the ones saying 'Let's go eat kalguksu again!' first. :)