Yongin shabu-kalguksu restaurant for family dinners: Yun Ujae

Returning to Gogidong shabu-kalguksu on a chilly day

Our family's favorite restaurant for years: comforting Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu. As the weather suddenly turned chilly, I found myself craving a warm soup dish—of course. While wondering what to have for dinner, we headed to Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu, a Gogidong favorite that the whole family loves. Honestly, this is a place our family has been coming to regularly for years.

My son especially loves it, so it naturally comes to mind whenever we eat out with the kids! Now that the children are growing up, we hardly have leftovers after dining out these days haha. Sure enough, we cleaned every last bit off our plates that day too.

No wait at dinner

Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu is open daily from 11:00 AM to 8:50 PM. It can get quite a queue at lunchtime, so we have always factored in a wait when visiting. But we came at dinner this time and were able to go straight in without waiting, which was lovely.

The dining room is quite spacious too, with a comfortable atmosphere for family visits. Best of all, it is great with children: high chairs and children's tableware are fully stocked, so eating out with very young kids does not feel like a burden.

A set that runs from sirloin to fried rice

And one of Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu's biggest strengths! The price is honestly so reasonable. Shabu-kalguksu is ₩11,500 per person. But it is not just shabu-shabu: the price includes 70 g of sirloin, vegetables and mushrooms, freshly made kalguksu (knife-cut noodles), and fried rice. Considering restaurant prices these days, ₩11,500 per person for all this is unbelievable, right? haha. Even when ordering for every family member, it feels less costly, which makes it a great place to visit with kids. We had not been in a while and noticed they had installed a new kiosk too. Order easily, wait for the food, and that is it!

Mild white broth with the kids

Since we were eating with the children, we ordered two portions of mild white-broth shabu-kalguksu. And there was one thing we absolutely wanted alongside it that day! We also ordered a crispy seafood pajeon (Korean scallion pancake).

The shabu-kalguksu normally comes with mushrooms, minari (water celery), and vegetables, but they said minari can be a little tough in autumn, so they swapped it for water spinach that day. I actually quite liked the water spinach. With plenty of water spinach and oyster mushrooms bubbling in the broth, it had a lovely texture and gave us a generous serving of vegetables.

The mild white broth is not overpowering; it is clear, light, and clean-tasting. It starts out delicate, but as you add and simmer the sirloin, mushrooms, and vegetables one by one, their flavors naturally seep into the broth and it gradually becomes deeper.

Shabu-shabu is especially fun because the broth changes as you add more ingredients, isn't it? Fresh vegetables and mushroom fragrance join the light broth, then the sirloin adds its savory richness, so it stays delicious until the end without becoming tiresome. It is mild and easy to eat with kids, which is why we always choose the mild white broth.

Once the broth is bubbling, it is time to swish those thin slices of sirloin through it! Shabu-shabu is best when you do not cook the meat too long, but gently cook it in the hot broth. The fresh sirloin with vegetables was light, tender, and delicious. My child kept fishing out pieces of meat and, as expected, ate so well.

House-made kalguksu and kimchi

Another thing I truly love at Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu is the house-made kalguksu. Maybe because the noodles are made right at the restaurant, but they are wonderfully soft and chewy.

After eating some shabu-shabu, adding the kalguksu noodles to the broth feels like turning it into a completely different dish all over again, as the noodles cook in a broth already full of meat and vegetable flavor!

The broth soaks deliciously into the noodles, and once you start slurping them, you just keep reaching for more. My son ate an unbelievable amount of kalguksu that day haha—he practically inhaled it. As a mom, you know that when your child eats well, you are going to return to that restaurant, right? haha.

Kimchi cannot be left out with kalguksu, either. Yun Ujae's kimchi is just right for my taste too. One bite of noodles and one bite of kimchi freshens up your palate, making it a combination you keep eating! Shabu-kalguksu plus kimchi really never fails.

Crispy seafood pajeon and fried rice to finish

Crispy seafood pajeon. But seriously... why is this pancake so good? haha. True to its name, the edges were cooked wonderfully crisp, with such a satisfying crunch. It was especially full of shrimp, so every bite had that springy seafood texture. Crispy outside, moist inside, and properly nutty too! I kept saying, “Why is this so delicious?” while eating it haha.

The outer bits had a crisp, nutty texture almost like soboro crumbs, making it so nice to snack on between bites of shabu-kalguksu. A soup dish alone can feel a little lacking, but ordering one crispy seafood pajeon alongside it meant the whole family ate very generously.

Finally, we scraped up every bit of fried rice too! And this is the final course at Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu: it is not really over until you have the fried rice. They stir-fry kimchi and minari in the remaining broth after the shabu-shabu and kalguksu, and the broth's meat and vegetable savoriness makes the fried rice truly delicious.

Even when you are already full, fried rice somehow has that magical way of still going down haha. So we cleaned up every last bit of that too! When the kids were younger, there used to be leftovers, but the older they get, the less food seems to remain these days haha. Even after a long time away, Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu was still such a perfect match for our family's taste. At the easy price of ₩11,500 per person, you get sirloin, vegetables and mushrooms, house-made kalguksu, and fried rice! The set is substantial and the portions are generous, so we were especially pleased with it for a family meal with the kids. The restaurant is spacious, and the high chairs and children's tableware make visits with young children easy too.

Above all, the biggest reason we have kept coming back as regulars for years is the taste! Whenever we want warm broth on a chilly day and want the whole family to enjoy a delicious meal, Yun Ujae Shabu Kalguksu is always the answer in our household. It had been a while, but it was still one of those dinners that made us think, “Our family's favorite restaurant is still right here!” :)

They were also running a receipt review event. Leave a receipt review and you receive one serving of sirloin for free, so be sure to check that out if you visit! One serving of shabu-kalguksu is already a reasonable ₩11,500, and you can receive an extra serving of sirloin too.