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I’ve been eating Shabu at home, in restaurants in California, and in Japan for over a decade and I would have to say Shabu Shabu is one of my favorite Japanese meals. I see criticism from other people in these reviews that the broth was not “flavorful” enough. I challenge these people to first research the traditional meal and understand that the focus is on the quality of the meat not the soup. The hot broth is merely a tool to cook the delicate thinly sliced high quality meats. The broth is made to not over power it. So let’s just get that straight. If you’re looking for hotpot soup please take soup loving self to a Chinese hotpot and enjoy. Back to my review, a friend and I had tried to get reservations for this place for over a month, it’s quite popular but when we arrived we were shown to our seats quite promptly (your entire party has to arrive). The meal was amazing and on top of it the attention to detail with the plating, utensils, ambiance was top notch. We each got the Tatsu-ya Omakase set for $65. There’s a more basic one for $45. And a larger set for $95. The veggies were so fresh and cut with care and attention. The ponzu (citrus soy-sauce) was so flavorful and fresh. Made in house. Rice was cook perfectly. Tender. Sesame Goma sauce had fresh sesame shavings on top ready to serve and was up there with some of the best I’ve tasted over the years. The truffle sukiyaki egg sauce was a fun twist but I honestly could not really taste much truffle. The beef was amazing! I could probably eat 2 of these plates. The pork was high quality and melted in our mouths. The dumplings and pockets were a fun twist. I did not care for the beef wrapped around foie gra, tasted too gamey like Lamb meat. All in all I would say I recommend getting the Tatsu-ya set for your first visit and branch out from there. Next time I come in I will probably stick with the beef selection and veggie box. (Good staples)

Oseyo Shabu Shabu – Menu with Prices – 2879 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena

Found this shabu shabu place and based off the yelp reviews I ended up dining here. First off, the parking lot is tiny. 1/4 of the parking lot is dedicated to the liquor store and the rest is a free for all unless you park on the street. Second, the placement of the burners are a little weird. You have your traditional tables and the bar… but there’s also these two separate islands where they face each other. It’s kinda weird. To the shabu shabu – I ordered a sukiyaki base with a large angus prime beef which is considered the leanest beef. The beef was great quality. The base however was very very light – almost bland. Also the sauces that accompany every shabu shabu is sesame and ponzu. The sesame sauce was way off point and it tasted like mayonnaise with a touch of sesame. Also, the assortment of vegetables was plenty BUT there was no refill on vegetables except for ONE refill on the cabbage. Someone else in my party also ordered a bulgogi bibimbap. It was average and the bulgogi was also very lightly marinated. Overall, between the light/bland food, $16 lunch price, lack of vegetable refill, and off tasting sesame sauce, I wouldn’t come here again. If you’re in the mood for shabu shabu, better options are out there – travel a little bit further to Tokyo Shabu Shabu on Lake or farther to AYCE shabu shabu in Rowland Heights (mo-mo paradise).

Taste of Sichuan – Menu with Prices – 515 State St, Madison

This is the same restaurant as the old Soga Shabu Shabu if people are unable to locate it! 3.5-4 stars. I’ve only tried their hotpot and nothing else, but am a big fan of it. In Madison, there aren’t too many options for hotpot. Here, the portion sizes are great, and half and half (spicy and non-spicy broth) is always the best option for sharing. Their prices are better than Double-Ten if you’re not big eaters and share one combo with another person and it is located right on state street. Their vegetables are plentiful and fresh and all of their fish balls are always delicious. I also like that the veggie plate doesn’t come out obviously frozen. The one downside is the sauces. The sauce options are much better at Double-Ten and they have unlimited noodles. Here, I feel that the sauces are left out all day under the fluorescent lights and I wish that they were put on ice (I personally love spicy and don’t really need sauce anyways, so it’s not really too much of a problem for me). They also include a free small dessert bar, which is a thoughtful gesture. I haven’t tried any of their other dishes, but it seems like family style eating. Prices can get a little high for the other dishes, I’ve noticed, but I really can’t comment on how good they are. All in all, this is my go-to for dinner in Madison if I’m craving some hotpot.

J?s Mini Hot Pot – Menu with Prices – 2174 Pleasant Hill Rd #101, Duluth

This is my go-to place for mini hotpot. The price is very reasonable with the amount of vegetables and meat you get for each order. My most favorite thing about this place is their sauce bar. They have several house special pre-made sauce that were super delicious to dipping. I usually order the sea and land combo with beef and beef bone soup. But recently, I discovered they have snow crab option and it was amazing. The snow crab was fresh and sweet. They came pre-cooked, so you just need to put them in the boiling hotpot so couple minutes to heat them up. They also have fresh fruit smoothies and boba tea. My two favorites are watermelon smoothie and taro milk tea. I love to make my dipping sauce and broth soup super spicy, so these cold drinks are great for cooling me down and make a perfect combo with the hotpot

Little Dipper Shabu Shabu – Menu with Prices – 46573 Mission Blvd, Fremont

Habu tried Little Dipper Shabu Shabu? This Chinese individual style all you can eat (“AYCE”) hot pot institution is located in Fremont, in the far stretch of the (new) 99 Ranch plaza behind the Pink Pantherz Expresso coffee stand and serves up a decently “lit” all you can eat Shabu Shabu experience – do not let the name fool you – for a not-so-little appetite and a menu of delicious opportunities. Note 1: To avoid a long wait, you can request to be added to the virtual waitlist via Yelp. How does it work? The procedure: (1) Choose 1 of 7 soup bases: Mala (hot and spicy); beef bone; miso; tomyum; sour cabbage; chicken broth; and royal herb. Note 2: I tried the mala, the beef bone and royal herb and enjoyed them all. If you can handle spicy, mala is a great choice. The royal herb is not that strong as I had envisioned and made for a nice light broth option. You can’t go wrong with standard beef bone broth. (2) If you choose the ala carte menu option (the yellow menu), you may select items from the ala carte menu items. If you choose the AYCE option, enjoy the unlimited options on the AYCE menu (the white menu). Note 3: I highly recommend getting the AYCE option. For $29.99 per person, enjoy up to 100 minutes of intimate one on one you and Shabu Shabu time. (3) Cook the chosen food items in the broth and enjoy! Things I like about this place: (1) Clean atmosphere – I like that this restaurant is open, expansive, and clean. The decor is minimal and the air does not feel stuffy. Nothing crazy impressive on the design front, rather comfortably ordinary. (2) Attentive Service – The waiters were generally friendly, attentive and helpful to first time patrons. (3) Decent quality red meats and vegetables – The sliced beef and pork as well as vegetables were generally of a decently reasonable quality considering the price. (4) Individual Shabu Shabu – I like the fact that each person has an individual hot pot so a group can enjoy and share multiple different flavor profiles. It is also practically easier to control the contents of the hotpot and avoid gunk build up/burning. (5) Ecofriendly – I appreciate that the menus are laminated and filled in with erasable markers as to conserve paper. Things that could be improved: A) Need more menu options – I would have appreciated more menu options, particularly the addition of konjac, tofu puffs, and more varieties of vegetables. B) Soups could be improved – The soup quality was fair and tasted more on the synthetic side, overall missing the taste of natural bone broth. C) Poor quality seafood items – The seafood items such as the fish balls, squid, and fish are the frozen type akin to those available at ranch 99. They are not fresh. Must try items? The Chinese donut, tomatoes, pumpkin and king oyster mushrooms. Feeling a little dapper @ Little Dipper.

Gom Shabu Shabu – Menu with Prices – 3502 Satellite Blvd, Duluth

Thanks to this place, purple makes my mouth water. If you don’t get it, you need to give this place a try! Gom Shabu Shabu has a special place in my heart. The warm purple broth, the mound of veggies and thinly shredded beef will always be my go to when I need to recover from a cold, or just warm up in general. Each person is given a stove and pot to cook however they wish, whatever they wish! There is also 2 sauce bars; guest bar for diy sauces, and employees if you trust them to make yours for you. I make my own because Im the best sauce maker. The sauce bar consists of cilantro, garlic, green onion, jalapeno, white peanut/sesame sauce, chili sauce, chili oil, ponzu, and other bottled sauces. In my honest opinion their white sauce is the best in the area. so good! For the meats you can order a variety of things, like beef, premium beef*, chicken, pork, lamb, and seafood. each protein comes with a mound of vegetables like napa cabbage, spinach, purple cabbage, corn, bok choi, broccoli, sweet pumpkin, sweet potato, along with a sausage, crab imitation, fish cakes, tofu, rice cakes, an egg, and rice noodles. Its alot, but no refills! They also bring a bowl of fresh bean sprouts for the table too. This is refillable. We always get the premium beef which is served frozen and shaved into little rolls. The only reason I take one star off is because lately the beef has been getting way too thin. Before, the beef was a little thicker so that it would hold its shape even when it melted. But when I went recently, it was so thin that it would just break apart into pieces when it melted or cooked. Normally one order of beef was enough for me but I ordered another one because i was still hungry :(.. Hopefully that will change soon, but either way I will always come back here.

Kaizen Shabu – Menu with Prices – 303 N Spurgeon St, Santa Ana

My friends and I decided to meet up at Kaizen fusion shabu shabu bar since it was a fair midpoint that complied with their dietary retrictions. Kaizen is located in downtown Santa Ana a few doors down from the famous YOST theater. There is a parking lot with meters you can pay for with credit card nearby. Lamson and Joselyn were helping us out and they were very welcoming and informative. They were passionate and thorough about the menu and their specials knowing it was our first visit. They made our meal extremely enjoyable! They have this awesome Combo bases (additional $2) where you can 2 soup bases, and they have a 10 oz Combo plate where you can choose from angus beef, chicken, kurobuta pork, pork belly, salmon, swai fish or shrimp. All of their shabu shabu plates here come with veggies, noodles, goma and ponzu sauce and rice. My first friend started off maximizing his options with the combo bases ($2) with spicy miso and tonkotsu and with combo protein ($25) option with angus beef and kurobuta pork. He had this with the white rice. My other friend went with the fancy coconut curry soup base (additional $2) with 7oz Angus Beef ($19) and white rice. I decided on the Tonkotsu broth since I enjoy the rich pork flavor for my soup base. For my proteins I definitely wanted variety so I also went with the combo ($25) and opted for the angus beef and pork belly. I know my eating habits well, so I asked for no rice, since I knew I would not be able to finish it. In addition to their complimentary sauces, I also asked for the Garlic Cilantro sauce (additional $1). The food came out pretty quickly and everything was delicious. 10 oz of meat does not sound like a lot but when the slices came out, I knew I would have to pace myself to finish the meal. I am so relieved I did not ask for rice! I am really happy with the richness of the tonkotsu base. They gave us garlic and chives to season our broth in which I really took advance of that garlic in my soup base and my sauces. The veggies were fresh. I wish they were cut a big more consistently in size, but overall still very good quality. With every shabu shabu meal I always start off eating about half of the meat with the vegetables I don’t love but eat for health reasons. Then I saved the things I enjoy like bokchoy and mushrooms for the udon soup portion. I asked them for their house soup base, then mixed it with my broth and some goma and pozu and made myself a nice bowl of udon soup with the remaining meat. It was such a DELICIOUSSSS bowl of udon. I was so full but still finished it. We loved the ambiance at Kaizen so much, we hung out while we recovered from our food coma and even decided to get desserts. My first friend had ube ice cream ($2.99), my other friend had mixed mochi ($3) with strawberry and green tea. I had the green tea ice cream ($2.99). It was a sweet way to end an incredible meal! I can definitely see this as a go-to spot to enjoy a fun and healthy-enough meal with friends.

Hesperian Health Guides Menu with Prices 1919 Addison St # 304, Berkeley

I took my daughter here for her birthday. She had been here once before but was a bit apprehensive because she read some bad Yelp reviews. My experience was great. We ordered the AYCE shabu shabu with the spicy miso broth. We considered ordering the set menu but the AYCE was a better deal especially if you want anything other than regular broth. Next time I’ll order the ramen rather thanto eat with the broth at the end of the meal. We ordered lamb, beef, pork, and vegetables (good variety). Everything was very fresh and plentiful. We rolled out of the restaurant. We ordered a bit too much, at the end, but didn’t want to waste food. The service was spot on. The waitstaff made sure we had enough of everything. We went for an early dinner so it wasn’t crowded. The restaurant is serving sushi again but we didn’t order any. The table next to us did, and they seemed to enjoy it. I plan to return with my husband Feb 19 Returned tonight with my husband. Service was still excellent. Food was great. We tried the ramen at the end of our meal and it was so good – the broth made it. We got there at 6pm & there was a birthday party just starting. While we were eating the place filled up. There’s a new menu. If you get the all-you-can- eat shabu shabu (Happy Hour), you get 50% off of small plates & non-alcoholic beverages. Also the automatic 18% gratuity is gone so you may leave a tip as you see fit. The menu indicates the all-you-can-eat Happy Hour dinner is from 5-7:30 but the server says they can make exceptions.

Dagu Rice Noodle – Menu with Prices – 3710 Payne Ave, Cleveland

I am EXCITED to welcome this unique addition to the Asiatown food scene. I’m all about the new and exciting, but at the same time, when I’m trying out a new restaurant, I think about how it stacks up to other favorites I have in the area, and whether it’s worth revisiting. One question I ask myself is whether I’d visit this new restaurant over an old favorite, and given that I have a LOT of old favorites in the Asiatown area, there’s a lot of healthy competition for tasty options. On top of that, given that there are always food trends that come around, it’s interesting to think about the sustainability of certain trends, and whether they will stack up over time. After that very long winded introduction, I have to say that after visiting Dagu, I’m very confident both in its ability to hold its own in the growing Asiatown area, and in its ability to become a staple of the area and not just a food trend. All that being said, I bet you’re wondering, so what is this place all about? I think Wayne W. did an excellent job of summing up the concept, but I’ll add here where I can. If you’re familiar with Chinese style hotpot, or Japanese style Shabu Shabu, I would say that “crossing the bridge noodles” is a very specific variation of that. One key difference is while hotpot typically is served with the pot on top of a heating element, so you can constantly keep the broth simmering and add ingredients as you go, Crossing the Bridge noodle broth is served extremely hot (300 degrees!) so the ingredients only need to be dipped very quickly into the broth before ready for eating. Beware though, as the broth is extremely hot! The broth is served in an earthenware bowl that is also extremely hot, but there is a protective container that protects you from possibly burning yourself on the bowl itself. If this all sounds very intimidating to you, don’t be! I actually found that Crossing the Bridge noodles may be more approachable way of eating for some as you don’t need to choose your fillings (all bowls come with the same accoutrements) and there’s no waiting around for things to cook, making this a great quicker meal option. The only thing I would say is that the type of rice noodles they use are one of the more unwieldy of noodles, and can easily slip off your chopsticks, so be sure to utilize the big spoon they also provide to help with getting those delicious noodles from your bowl to your mouth! As for the food itself, I really appreciate that the menu is somewhat streamlined and clearly explained. There are descriptions of the dish titles so the customer can know what to expect in terms of flavor profile, and it can pretty simply be summed up into two categories: “A” noodles come with everything but the noodles already in the broth, and “B” noodles come with a those same ingredients, but served on a tray on the side so you can add them as you go. There are variations in the broth itself, as well as if you want to add things like sliced lamb or meatballs (which are an extra charge) My husband ordered the A3- sour & spicy broth with pulled beef, while I ordered the B1- original crossing the bridge noodle soup. Both were excellent, but I will say the complexity in the sour & spicy broth is really something special. You’ll notice that all of the broths has a milky appearance, which comes from the concentration of collagen in the bones the broth is made from. It makes for a really rich and satisfying taste, I can’t wait to eat this in wintertime! The fillings are fairly traditional, there’s things like dry paste, a substance with a lot of flavor and depth, and more simple items like ham, tofu, bamboo shoots, and quail egg. It doesn’t look as though the portions of the fillings are a lot, however I will say I was extremely full at the end of our meal, and I didn’t even finish half of the rice noodles. At $10-$12 for this filling

Angus Meat Market – Menu with Prices – 3742 Sepulveda Blvd, Torrance

I custom ordered some A5 Japanese Wagyu from them. OMG, best thing ever. Japanese rating system goes from C to A on meat quality, 1 to 5 marbling. A5 being the best. For reference, Kobe beef is generally starts at A3 to be considered Kobe. This meat is beyond heavenly. The store owner, nice Korean guy, was great. He gave me advice on how to best cook it, and talked to his butcher to make cut it in a certain way. I had it sliced thin, but thicker than a shabu shabu to survive the grill for 2 seconds, but thin enough to be shared as dessert meat with my friends, given how expensive A5 is. Doesn’t take much, just light salt, a quick sear on both sides, and a dab of real wasabi, this is easily the best beef I’ve ever eaten.

Shabu Shabu Kyoto Japanese Restaurant Menu with Prices 627 156th Ave SE, Bellevue

Went here for lunch with my colleagues and we were greeted and seated right away; it’s nice to have a place near work that doesn’t have insane lunch rush every day. We started off with the Spicy Chicken Kara-age. It was absolutely outstanding; perfectly crispy on the outside, very juice chicken on the inside and a coating and sauce that was beautifully seasoned and spiced. We would have loved to order more of it for sure. I got the Rib Eye Sukiyaki while my friend got the Rib Eye Spicy Miso Shabu Shabu and we shared both. We also got a side plate of Wagyu that we shared. The Sukiyaki is immensely flavorful and as the sauce reduces and cooks down and coats everything, each bite becomes a symphony of flavors in your mouth. The only downside is that most of the veggies and noodles in the sauce get very overcooked very quickly since they are all already in the skillet; I think the next time around I will pull them out in time. Dipping in a raw egg seems a little scary at first if that is a flavor and texture you’re not familiar with; but move past that apprehension and do it; you will not regret it. The hot beef that was cooked in seconds when dipped into the egg along with some cabbage and then eaten with rice is just a very unique experience and it’s hard to describe how delicious it is. The Spicy Miso broth is outstanding. It’s HUGE portion and can easily be shared among two people. The veggies and noodles are all on the side which is great because them you can cook a few at a time like a regular hot pot and you don’t have to worry about overcooking. They give you a Ponzu dipping sauce as well as Sesame paste. Make sure you dip in both; they are excellent. The Rib Eye itself is actually quite good and the portion sizes are generous. The Wagyu beef is a league of its own and it’s basically like butter that will dissolve on your tongue; if you are ok with a little splurge for the experience, the $30 for a side plate of Wagyu is definitely recommended. Overall the food was phenomenal, the service was excellent and the ambiance was really nice. I’d most certainly be going back here and strongly recommend it.

Kang Ho-dong Baekjeong – Menu with Prices – 1725 W Carson St, Torrance

What sets this place apart from the rest is the quality of beef products. They are all high end, delicious, and melt in your mouth good. We found the brisket, marbled beef, and seasoned beef to be delicious and of really high quality. The service is full service and should take care of cooking everything for you at your table. It’s not cheap but for the service and high level of ingredients, it’s worth it. Firstly, it is confusing the first time you go, how to order, what to expect, all that jazz… 1. Get seated, look at the menu. Notice there are a few pricing tiers, we went with the small beef combo with two of us (we we’re really hungry too). This includes 3 cuts of beef and all the other good stuff included with the meal. 2. The small combo will easily feed 2 people. After choosing your meat combo, you choose what kind of soup you want. A kimchee soup or a bean curd soup. Both are good but we found we preferred the dangjang jigae (bean curd soup). 3. The meat or fish is cooked at your table and is full service. They will come by and load it up, cut it, and cook it for you. In the BBQ is a ring, with an egg custard, corn/cheese thing, and some veggies. The eggs cook along with your meal and they will flip it for you. Don’t eat the veggies, it’s for the last meat serving in your order and they will grill them then. The corn/cheese thing is pretty darn tasty. Enjoy all the side dishes, they are pretty good and include sweet potato, pickled radish wraps, rice wraps, kimchee, odang, a tangy white kimchee to refresh your palate, a salad with spicy sauce, a lettuce salad, and more. I had a great experience, though the service was on and off at our table… perhaps not enough staff for a busy early afternoon around 4PM but other than that, the food is delicious and the beef cuts are some of the finest and a signature of their food. There are three locations in Los Angeles all within a block of each other and one in Torrance.

Grand Chinese Hot Pot – Menu with Prices – 6967 Victoria Dr, Vancouver

I wish I discovered this restaurant sooner. I am not one to usually go to AYCE hot pot, but from now on, this is where I will go. For $18.98 per person, you can order an unlimited amount of standard hot pot dishes from their menu. I enjoyed the sliced beef, sliced lamb, yam noodles, bean curd, lettuce, watercress, napa cabbage, tripe, and dumplings. Their meats are sliced super thin, although the beef is a little fatty, the quality is very good for AYCE. For the meat, it counts as 1 plate per order (see picture). The dumplings, despite being frozen, were so fresh and tasty, I think this was one of my favourite items here. I think they had pork and chives inside. The vegetables we ordered were all fresh, crisp, and recently washed. Some other items we ordered included meatballs, chicken liver, squid rings, baby octopus, and wontons. Sadly, a few things were sold out that day, so it may be better to dine earlier. The soup base is an additional charge of $8 for a regular size or $10 for a large. For the 3 of us, the regular was enough, and likely 4 could share too. You can get half/half broth, at half the price each. So for example, we got half a side of satay broth for $4 and half of the coriander & 1000 year old egg broth for $4, totaling $8. It’s nice that they don’t charge for half/half. I also really liked the satay broth. The items cooked in there had a lot of satay flavour after cooking. From the selection of sauces, you can choose 2 per person. There isn’t too much selection here, and weirdly, soy sauce is not an option. We just went for satay and their peanut/sesame sauce. They have some popular combinations as well, which I may try next time. The only thing is, service is a little slow. While we were there, there was just 1 waitress handling the entire restaurant. So, if we wanted to put in extra orders or ask for a soup or drink refill, it can take some patience. But I don’t mind at all, seeing as there is a 2 hour limit and hot pot is a slower style of dining anyway. The restaurant is nothing fancy, very minimal, but it is clean. I wish that air circulation was better, though, because my clothes definitely smelled like hot pot afterwards. For the 3 of us, it came to about $25 per person after tax and tip. That’s after splitting the cost of soup. At this price, and considering typical AYCE quality, I will definitely be back!