Shabuya

Self-Protection Sifu

★★★★★

5

a year ago

Shabuya is an all-you-can-eat shabu shabu franchise. What's shabu shabu? It's a Japanese hotpot dish in which you cook thinly sliced raw meat in a pot of boiling, flavorful broth. The Broth: First, you select one of 5 broths. I chose the original house broth, which was a brown broth made from dashi, veggies, and various seasonings. It had a laidback flavor, which I preferred so it wouldn't overpower the meat The Meats: Speaking of which, there are 8 cuts of thinly cut meat (5 beef, 2 pork, and 1 chicken). That's not a huge selection, but all cuts were yummy. My favorite hands down was the beef toro (belly) -- amazing marbling and delicious taste! The Appetizers: If your goal is to get your money's worth, you'll probably want to skip these. But since it was my first time I wanted to try a little bit of everything, and was pleasantly surprised to find that all 3 types of karaage (fried chicken) was quite good. I didn't have the fourth and final appetizer, goyza, so can't comment on that. The Salad Bar: As far as AYCE goes, this salad bar was relatively small. But what they did have was good, ranging from squid and octopus to mushrooms and bok choy. The only thing I genuinely didn't like was the crab; it was probably frozen for awhile and lost its tenderness and juiciness. The Cooking: Unlike old-school setups, at Shabuya, everyone gets their own hot pot and burner, with adjustable temperature. I had fun cooking my own food, with each piece reaching its "doneness" just the way I like it instead of having to compromise or share the pot with others. The Service: Our server, Jenny, was outstanding! She was quick, friendly, and knowledgeable. Plus, she seemed to always anticipate our needs before we needed to ask and made excellent recommendations for my first time. Can't say enough good things about her. The Setting: It has a modern aesthetic, with plenty of space between tables. Plus, everything was pretty clean for a buffet. Overall: While I didn't care for the crab and the overall selection of meats and appetizers was smaller than anticipated, I truly enjoyed Shabuya. The quality of food is top notch, the customer service was excellent, and the price is actually pretty good ($29.99 per adult) when you consider today's inflation and steep cost of living. While my true rating is a 4.5 out of 5, since I can't give half stars, I'll round out to 5 out of 5. We'll be back!