Modern Shabu House at D Tower Gwanghwamun (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★★☆☆

After a run of Korean cuisine that included fried chicken and grilled meat in the last couple of days, we are finally having something that mom isn't afraid of eating - Shabu shabu. Yes, Japanese shabu shabu is a peculiar choice for most tourists in Seoul but certainly not for us traveling with young and old.

Located just a few blocks from Jonggak station, Modern Shabu House is situated on the fifth floor of D Tower Gwanghwamun, which is also home to a number of upscale restaurants.

 

Modern Shabu House is highly touted as a premium hotpot restaurant where diners can choose from their nine unique broths.

There will also be a final, complimentary dish prepared by the kitchen that matches the theme of the selected broth (more on that later).

I have requested a private room for the four of us so we could all enjoy some privacy and chit chats.

Dinner buffets here aren't cheap by any stretch of imagination. The price varies depending on the tier of meat (3 tiers in total) you're looking for. We went with the middle-tier option which comprises of beef from United States and premium pork from Korea (confirmed that the pork wasn't from Jeju Island). For 1++ Korean beef, it would cost an arm and a leg.

While all the vegetables, side dishes and drinks were available at the self-service area, all the beef and pork could be ordered via the tablet on the dining table. All done within a few clicks. Very convenient and the meat generally arrives within a minute or two.

Some observations from tonight's shabu-shabu experience.

• The mushroom broth we ordered was very light in flavor, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

• The chili soy and yuzu infused sesame sauce tasted almost exactly the same as the ones we had at Shabutei (涮肉亭) in Osaka last December.

• Everyone was happy with the marbling from the US beef.

• The Korean pork was good but I'd prefer beef for my hotpot on any given day.

• Each one of us got a generous portion of vegetables to start off the meal. No refill really needed here.

• And I wish they had a little more variety when it came to drinks. 

An hour since we started, and suddenly our server came in to inform us that the last order time had already passed. We were absolutely stunned. I knew we arrived late (and we called to inform the restaurant about it) but an hour was pretty short for an all-you-can-eat buffet. And if you want to inform your customers about the last order time, tell them 15 minutes ahead not 5 minutes after, OK!!! 

That really sucked and we let our server know how we felt about it. She did try to make us feel better by offering us two small boxes of beef but no more drinks or vegetables at this point. 

And just when we thought we were done, they came in with the complimentary dish they had told us about on our arrival. Since we picked mushroom as our broth, we were going to have porcini risotto as our final savory dish.

The female chef first filtered out the fat from the remaining broth that we had left and started pouring in cream and cheese (presumably Parmesan), that was followed by some (chicken) stock and it didn't take long before the risotto was ready to be served. This looked really good and very fragrant. 



Lastly, a strawberry sorbet bar for everyone.

I would much prefer a scoop of matcha ice-cream but this guy seemed to think it's a good deal.

Finally, mom got something she liked for dinner. That's the whole point of this shabu shabu dinner. Following the meal, we took a slow walk down to Cheonggyecheon to get some fresh air.

As it was getting late (and cold), it was time to wrap things up and head back to the hotel. Just one more night in Seoul after this one.....

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: ₩₩₩₩

Address: 5/F D-Tower, 17 Jong-ro 3-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Closest Metro Station: Jonggak

Tel: +82 02-2251-8501

Website: www.modernshabuhouse.com

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:00pm (Last order: 9:00pm) daily