100-min lunch buffet, 2 broths, at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Hwajeong, Goyang

I went to Pyeonbaek Hoegwan, a Hwajeong Station restaurant where the pyeonbaek-jjim (cypress-steamed platter), shabu-shabu, and salad bar are all-you-can-eat.

Location and hours of Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Ilsan Hwajeong Branch

The address is 47 Hwasin-ro 260beon-gil, Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, 3rd floor. Free parking is available in the building. It's open daily 11:00–22:00, and weekday lunch orders are taken from 11am to 3pm.

The inside is huge with lots of tables, so it looks great for work dinners, group gatherings, or family meals.

Menu and lunch prices at Pyeonbaek Hoegwan

Pyeonbaek-jjim, shabu-shabu, salad bar, kalguksu, porridge, Vietnamese lettuce wraps — everything is all-you-can-eat, though prices vary a bit by time and broth. Order the lunch menu and it's the same food but ₩3,000 cheaper than dinner, so come for lunch if you can (you just need to order before 3pm!). Prices also differ slightly by broth, by ₩1,000–2,000, so just order whichever you're craving.

There are separate menus for preschoolers and elementary schoolers, plus various drinks and alcohol. Kalguksu and tricolor dumplings aren't on the salad bar, but can be ordered through the kiosk.

We wanted the doenjang chicken and beef-bone tomato broths, so we ordered the Lunch All-You-Can-Eat Set, pick 2 broths, ₩19,900 × 2 people.

100 minutes to eat — order matters

Since the time limit is 100 minutes, you have to eat strategically (lol). The pyeonbaek-jjim comes out first and takes 10 minutes to steam, so that's your window to raid the salad bar haha.

Salad bar lineup

The salad bar has a huge spread of food, and it looked clean enough that I trusted the hygiene.

For meat there's woo-samgyeop (beef short plate) and al-mokshim (beef chuck flap), plus refillable broth.

The vegetables for the lettuce wraps and shabu-shabu are all fresh too.

There's tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), fried snacks, pasta, and soup, which make good appetizers.

There's also porridge and Vietnamese lettuce wraps, and it's all refillable, which is amazing!!!

Eating the salad bar food while the pyeonbaek-jjim steamed was perfectly timed.

The sauces are on the table — ponzu, sesame, and sweet chili sauce — and all three are delicious!

How was the pyeonbaek-jjim?

Bean sprouts usually sit under the meat, but we added extra ourselves haha. You can already tell there's a lot of meat and it looks delicious.

Dipped it in ponzu sauce for my first bite, and the pyeonbaek-jjim here is insane.

The meat is moist and tender with a deep savoriness that pairs perfectly with the crisp vegetables.

The shrimp is springy too, the sweet pumpkin is sweet, and it's one of the best pyeonbaek-jjim I've ever had. You can tell why this is a Hwajeong Station favorite!

Wrapping it in a lettuce wrap is amazing too ㅠㅠㅠ I genuinely wanted another whole plate, but we moved straight to shabu-shabu because of time.

Switching to shabu-shabu is also done through the kiosk, so it's simple.

Comparing the two shabu-shabu broths

On the left is the beef-bone tomato broth, on the right is the doenjang chicken broth.

We piled up the vegetables and meat we wanted and dropped them into the broth to cook.

Doenjang chicken broth

A clear yet savory doenjang (soybean paste) soup mixed with chicken stock — a flavor no one would dislike.

Dipping it in ponzu sauce especially let the original ingredient flavors really come through!

The broth was delicious even on its own, and I think I'll want it again next time.

Beef-bone tomato broth

Beef bone plus tomato with a hint of mala or Taiwanese-style spice mixed in — it had an exotic flavor that I loved.

It went really well with the sesame sauce and sweet chili sauce, and even writing this now, my mouth is watering.

The meat was delicious, the vegetables were delicious, the broth was delicious, so we really inhaled it without thinking haha.

The shabu-shabu meat is also great in a lettuce wrap. My partner doesn't usually like lettuce wraps, but he said the vegetables and sauces here were so good that even the wraps were delicious, and confirmed this is a real Hwajeong Station favorite haha.

We got so full off just the pyeonbaek-jjim and shabu-shabu that we couldn't even get to the kalguksu or porridge, but we really ate well!

Overall verdict on Pyeonbaek Hoegwan Ilsan Hwajeong Branch

Pyeonbaek-jjim, shabu-shabu, salad bar, kalguksu, porridge, Vietnamese lettuce wraps — everything is all-you-can-eat, and the place is clean and delicious, so it's saved in my heart as a Hwajeong Station favorite.

Go for lunch and it's ₩17,900 — the value is genuinely insane. Being all-you-can-eat didn't hurt the quality at all; it was better than plenty of regular shabu-shabu restaurants, so I'll definitely be back!!!