Shabu in Seoul 샤브인서울

Shabu in Seoul is a shabu-shabu restaurant at 61 Hangang-daero 62-gil in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, about 400 meters from Samgakji Station. The dining room uses subdued lighting, broad table spacing, and an orderly individual table setup for cooking broth, vegetables, and thin meat in sequence. The order begins with one of four broths. Clear mushroom broth carries mushroom savoriness in a transparent base and leaves the taste of meat and vegetables easy to distinguish. Crab doenjang broth adds the sweetness of crab and the earthy density of soybean paste, creating a heavier liquid from the beginning. Clear mushroom suits a meal where the broth changes gradually as ingredients cook, while crab doenjang establishes a concentrated seasoning at the first boil. Meat is selected as beef or pork and swished briefly through the hot liquid in thin slices. Leaf vegetables, mushrooms, and stems go into the pot in stages, adding water and sweetness. Alternating vegetables with meat instead of cooking all the protein at once keeps the pot from becoming cloudy too quickly. Three dipping sauces place different levels of acidity, nuttiness, and salt around the same ingredients. The first piece can be eaten with only broth, followed by separate sauces to compare their effect without changing the meat. The finishing course depends on the broth chosen at the beginning. Noodles or rice absorb the accumulated vegetable and meat flavors differently in the clear mushroom and crab-doenjang bases, so the initial soup decision controls the last starch as well as the first bowl. The table spacing and composed room support family meals with children, dinners with parents, and small celebrations without placing each group close to the next pot. Reservations occupy a substantial share of the room on some dates, making a fixed time useful for planned gatherings. The meal follows a defined progression rather than a buffet pattern: broth first, beef or pork second, vegetables cooked in stages, three sauces used one at a time, and a finish tied to the remaining soup. The clearest decision is between a transparent mushroom base that develops slowly and a crab-soybean base that begins deeper and carries more seasoning into the final course.