Mizu 212

a solid restaurant specializing in Japanese shabu-shabu, which is very different than Sukiyaki or Chinese hot pot. this place lives up to my expectations after having had several shabu-shabu experiences in both nyc and tokyo. we chose wagyu beef which isn’t their top priced item, and it was very juicy, tender. the aroma of beef lingers in your mouths, just as shabu-shabu is supposed to be, tasting the original ingredients.

Food taste really clean and healthy. Vegetable and seafood are so fresh. Kimchi is good too! I like matcha mozzi icecream.

Delicious shabu shabu. Good quality meat and assorted vegetables option. Went during lunch and had the All you eat special. Left feeling satisfied. Suggest adding all the veggies in the broth to give it lots of more flavor. Ponzu sauce was delicious. Wagyu short plate was my favorite. 🤤. You cook your own food so be prepared for that, which was perfect since I prefer my meat a certain way. Yum.

Excellent well ran friendly Shabu Shabu hot pot resturant. High quality meats and veggies with organic options. Great place for first timers or veterans ZZ more Japanese style than Chinese (you get hot water you flavor wirh various things if you want or keep it simple to just enjoy the food you cook). Gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan no problem. Can handle most allergy or food intolerance issues. No reservations unless you want a table that seats four together, otherwise all counter seating. Restrooms. Parking lot out back, sometimes pay on the evenings. Another lot across street under brick building. Some meter parking. Credit cards OK.

My favorite shabu shabu restaurant located in the Sawtelle Japantown area of Los Angeles. It's a small, manageable menu that excels in the optional organic-farmers-local high-quality market fresh veggies that I highly recommend for the add on of a handful of dollars. The dark leafy green vegetables of rainbow chard and dino kale, trumpet and shitake mushrooms, okra, kubocha squash, snap peas, bok choy, napa, artisanal tofu and other seasonal organics are worth more than the token upgrade price. I chose the $25 prix fixe menu because I could not decide whether or not I wanted land proteins or sea proteins. This choice already includes the organic veggies (refills too, that is if you could manage to plow through the humongous bowl of garden fresh organic veggies!) + 1 choice of 4 types of land protein options (wagyu for me) + 1 choice of 3 types of sea proteins (calamari for me) + dessert (Cabernet sorbet). The Prix fixe and other single protein shabus are shareable (add $5 per person), but really good for a hearty solo shabu. There are also a la carte shabu protein options that include their regular, but still very fresh non organic veggies. The prices for those single-choice proteins range in the low-to-mid teens: kurubota pork, wagyu, nigori chicken, and grassfed ribeye. The grassfed wagyu $45 to $55. There are three sizes of Shabu: small, medium and large. Choice of white or brown rice. Ponzu sauce, sesame sauce, and spring onions soy sauce are all set out for each diner. The really cool thing about this place is the majority of the restaurant is situated in a tastefully appointed and thoughtful bar seating set up shaped in an inverted "J" from the point of view of the doorway as you enter at this corner Sawtelle restaurant. Each seat has it's own shabu pot that your host-server orchestrates and controls of heat and procession of sides and mains for your yummy shabu meal. They use convection heating for each diner, so there is no radiant heat to make you sweat, and cooking your shabu is actually a sweet and pleasant experience! There are plenty of flavoring condiments to add to your cooking liquid including two types of yuzu sauces, sriracha, spicy sesame oil, Japanese pepper, ground fresh ginger, chopped spring onion, and chopped white onion to flavor to your heart's content. Your server will also place a bowl of ponzu sauce, a bowl of delicious homemade sesame sauce, and the soy spring onion sauce to dip all of your ingredients into after you've cooked your shabu to taste in your own individual Shabu pot in front if you. There is a nice assortment of hot and cold beverage choices that compliment the healthy take of this brilliant little gem of a restaurant. I went for lunch, and it was pretty busy, but the counter tables turned over quickly. It is the same menu for lunch as for dinner. If you have a large group of four or more, they do have tables that are off to the side of the bar setup. Reservations can be taken for four or more people. Note: this is not your ordinary shabu shabu restaurant. The quality of the ingredients, attentive service, and small menu are well thought out and top notch. Tasty overall and, it's an incredibly competitive if not better and healthier value choice of many of the area's restaurants and cuisines beyond the requisite Japanese/Korean/Taiwanese/Viet/Flip food at this thriving Sawtelle Japantown restaurant District.

After seeing this place closed for over a year it was nice to see the pots boiling around several tables, far apart from each other. Service was very attentive- refilling our teas and making our dipping sauce (while other hotpot places have unreasonably returned to pre-covid stations of build-your-own condiment sauce mixes). Appreciated the fresh seasonal veggies and quality meats. Wish the broth could have been more than just kelp and water. Or add more broth options.

Should have seen the signs that all places are full or with people in line. We were hungry and we said at least give this a try. The menu online looks good and classy. Can't complain regarding the atmosphere. The food though, I really can't explain. You are given 2 choices. Mushroom or Miso. Anyway whatever you choose both will taste like water anyway with a hint of mushroom for both (and miso with the miso) both are loaded with mushroom anyway. This broth is not something you would want to slurp on because it's so bland. We were given 2 dipping sauce a sesame and ponzo. Both will add somewhat of a flavor but not something to rave about. There are a few options on what you can add on the broth and non seem to add enough flavor. In the end.i threw the ponzu the on the broth to see if it makes a difference but nothing. I don't know if there is a secret menu here but I made sure to ask the servers how things work and they explained everything but honestly nothing taste good. Spent 100$ and I just wanted to say charge to experience. I'm sure it's the reason they are not full of customers nor a line outside. This is my 3rd hotpot/shabu.

A rather upscale shabu shabu experience. I'm personally not a fan of the flavorless broth approach, but the available sauces and seasoning did a decent job. Overheard that this restaurant will be under new management soon so take my review with a grain of salt :)

This review is for the lunch all-you-can-eat ($35/person, with incremental ~$3/soup base). The food was delicious, came quickly, and was of high quality. Service was attentive and friendly. Tried all 4 broths and preferred the spicy flavor and mushroom flavor. I would dine here again for lunch.

This place is a little hard to find as it's tucked away in a corner on a busy street of competition and better food choices. The ambience was really nice and the servers were very sweet, but the broth was too bland. It tasted very clean if that's your preference. We took advantage of the lunch deal, which might explain why they didn't give out a lot of meat.

I've always passed by this spot on Sawtelle and, on a cool Winter day, I finally decided to try it out. Sadly, when I got there, I just missed the All You Can Eat Lunch special, but I still sat down to order. So I got the Natural Angus Beef Choice Ribeye main course with miso broth and veggies. The servers were very kind and they answered all the questions I had -- I hadn't had hotpot in a long time. It's mostly counter seating with a few tables, but I didn't mind that because everyone was seated equidistant from each other. The meat was really delicious and the veggie selection had so many options! I also appreciated the great selection of sauces and they also allow you to take some things home, if you want!

Had a great experience at MIZU 212. Food and service was excellent. Staff was friendly and attentive. Their AYCE lunch menu is priced well and offers a wide variety of fresh options.

The meat was not that good, very dry even though I did not overcook it. The price is also way too high for such low quality meat and there was such a little amount of meat served. Honestly everything was mid and definitely not worth the price. The service was good. One of the workers gave us a concoction of sauce. The ambiance is mainly all bar seats with your own pot in front of you.

This traditional Japanese shabu shabu is a must if you live on the west side because there's barely any good Asian food there. TBH! It's such a home vibe here and the staff are super friendly. They give you option to give you two broths or one broth and water. Definitely get the two broths. It's worth it. The sauce it's OK but you can add in more ginger or Yuzu sauce, so that's nice. The portions are perfect here ! you don't over eat which is what I love!

In A Nutshell: -Mizu 212 is a shabu shabu restaurant in Sawtelle. -If you are looking for a hot pot in the area this is a good choice. -The price is high, but the food is pretty good here. -You get a decent amount of veggies, seafood & beef enough to share for two people. -Their sake & beer selection is adequate too. Overall, you can sit along the center island enjoying your shabu shabu in individual pots.

Should be renamed Midzu because that's exactly what it is. It's astonishing that this is the best shabu Sawtelle can provide. With so many amazing restaurants on the block, I can barely believe this place is still in business. The meat is tough, the veggies lack freshness, the noodles are sparse. The price is unreasonable when there are so many cheaper, higher quality eats around too. That said, I give it two stars because the service has always been kind and helpful. If you're looking for better shabu in central LA area, check out Ktown or Little Tokyo.

The wagyu was already oxidizing/browning. The portion and quality of meat they give you for the price that you pay is very little. The rice had hard, stale bits that hurt my teeth if I didn't chew carefully and spit them out. You cannot order a full pot of broth -- it must be half or you have to pay extra. How stingy, it's literally just broth! "Housemade" ponzu tasted like vinegar and goma dare sauce was unappetizing. There are very few tables in the restaurant-- most seating is at the bar, which makes it very hard to socialize over a hot pot. At the tables, they are so secluded that the waiter can barely notice you trying to grab their attention. I would not come back. Unfortunately, there are much better hot pot restaurants for better prices elsewhere.

If you like strong taste of broth is not here! But it is good on the other hands. Broth is not too salty or too much Sodium. Side sauces is flavorful. Service is a little but slow even not rush hour but acceptable. If you are in a hurry so it is not the place. 40-50$ per person include tax exclude tip.

It's been here for as lobs as I can remember and every time I pass by this place, I always say I need to try shabu shabu! Now I finally did! I give 3-stars for cleanliness and staff are very polite and helpful. It's pricey! We shared a large and it's enough for two people. I didn't find the broth special. It's boiling water wit a piece of Konbu. Both is tasteless and you have to season your meat and veggies with the condiments at hand. It's an experience.

Overpriced for what it actually is. The design of the seating area is problematic. You really have to reach over for the soup hot pot area and the spacing between one another is so tight, you're elbow to elbow with the next guest. Meat quality was mediocre and the dipping sauces were pretty bland.

I was curious to try this Japanese hot pot place. I ordered the organic vegetables with miso broth and added a side of clams. I like that all entrees come with udon or glass noodles and white or brown rice. I appreciated the servers suggestions on getting a side of clams, it was a decent portion size and better price. The veggies provided are interesting - looked like salad greens and kale, and only couple small leaves of bok choy and 2 small pieces of oyster mushroom. The broth also wasn't too flavorful, but it was light.

Best Shabu Shabu in LA and for a decent price! Love this place and have been coming forever. Friendly staff and great food quality.

Amazing!! The food, the service, the ambience is incredible. Best shabu shabu in LA, the spicy broth is delicious

1-OK the worst thing is the set up because there are only two tables that have normal seating. Everything else is a barstool so if you're not 6 feet tall/ long legged, be prepared to have your feet dangling throughout your entire meal 2-also, they do not manage the steam very well and because there are so many pots at any given time during a meal the place gets really really humid. 3-But it's the service the service the service the service is slow. It doesn't matter whether the place is full at dinner, or there's only two people at 3:00, it's still slow given with what's served. 4-The food is OK but the portions are small and it is very expensive. Don't lecture me blah blah, blah traditional Japanese hot pot- Bad service, tiny portions, and exorbitant cost are not required for a traditional Shabu/hot pot experience. 5-To make it worse. Parking is very expensive.

Unique hot-pot place where you have an individual pot in front of you which you can cook your meat/noodles/veggies in! I came with some of my friends and we sat at the bar, where we each had our own pot. In terms of hot-pot broth varieties, you can choose from regular (which is just hot water), miso, or mushroom. I went with the miso and it was very tasty All of the entrees that you can cook in the hot-pots come with a bunch of veggies, either udon or smaller noodles, and either brown or white rice I also chose the steak as my meat, and I choose to upgrade from the 6 oz to the 8 oz, which I think was a good choice because I enjoyed the meat a lot more than the veggies You are also given 2 different sauces that you can dip your meat in, and there are a bunch of different ways that you can change your sauce to whatever you enjoy best with all of the different toppings that they have All in all, this was a very fun, albeit messy, experience with decent enough food!

Honestly fantastic restaurant. We went here for my sister's birthday and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Great all you can eat special, fresh foods, fun time.

I had the $25 lunch special and really enjoyed it! First of all, it's good value especially in Sawtelle to have a Shabu option like this. The meat was great quality and the veggies felt fresh. Service was good too, they're pretty quick and friendly. I liked the ambiance as well, it wasn't too loud so you don't have to raise your voice to talk to the person next to you.

Came here to echo what most other reviewers are saying- -Not very tasty -Crazy expensive -NO ONE explained what to do?!! So ya steer clear unfortunately :(

I don't understand why on earth would someone say this is good shabu shabu... "there aren't a lot of good Asian food on west side but this one is really good" oh hell no, there are so many in Sawtelle and this one is the worst. I personally haven't had anything worse, small portion of food, food quality is meh, sauces are sad and not tasty at all, service was bad And price? Over the roof.

Dipping shabu meat and veggies in the house ponzu dipping sauce is my favorite! My go to for sure.

Mizu is incredible. I come every week, reading through the negative reviews there are a few inaccuracies 1. It's only water is a lie, you pick a broth spicy/miso/veg there are more but I only eat the spicy. Overpriced is also ridiculous, lunch is all you can eat for $35 2. Parking is free in the back 3. Small portions is laughable. Lunch is all you can eat. The meat is delicious, I've been to many Shabu restaurants in LA and OC. This is by far the best quality and consistent. 4. They do have sit down tables. You do not have to sit at the bar. 5. Service is fast and friendly. The team there is attentive and amazing. 6. For dinner you can order regular or large portions I'm not sure why someone would falsify a review, but please come here regardless. It's amazing and I highly recommend it.

Very cool vibe. Fun to cook your own food. Everything is soooo fresh. Vegetables so crispy and fresh. Sit at the counter and service is great! Staff always behind the counter.

Best, authentic Japanese shall we Shabu around The service is amazing and the place is beautiful especially the ambience. The service is amazing.

I saw the menu online and was very excited to see that they offer a AYCE for $35 of lunch (it says, "lunch only"). So, today Saturday, really, really wanted some good shabbu- shabbu, I headed over at around noon. I ordered the AYCE when the waiter said: ONLY ON WEEKDAYS. First bummer. So I ordered a regular portion of their less expensive beef (supposedly organic and prime) which was more expensive than their AYCE. The veggies were...ok. Lots of cabbage and a few other. But the beef was SUPER veiny , with tons of fat and very dry. Second bummer. I don't think I will eat there again. Very disappointing, they don't honor the sign they hung on the door " MICHELIN GUIDE MENTION (or RECOMMENDED). Another recent review mentions the "$25 special", it was not offered to me, and it was not on the menu. This place is a nah for me.

I've been coming here for years and was so worried they wouldn't reopen. So thankful they're back! I think people get this confused with Chinese Hot pot but it's traditional Japanese shabu with no flavored water. The quality and portions are great. Service is always wonderful.

Good Japanese shabu shabu on the west side. Serving has a good variety of veggies and is plenty. The dipping sauce is not as good as the one at Shabu Shabu house in Little Tokyo. The meat is nicely marbled and was just the right size for me. Overall a good dining experience. Service was attentive and the place was nice, airy and bright.

I really wanted to love this place but it was such a disappointment. We saw they had a Michelin Guide sign on the door and thought they would be really good, but this is one of the worst quality food places I've ever been to. Their AYCE menu was pricy and the meat smelled when it arrived. They offer a plain water broth and put in one seaweed for salt flavor... so I ordered the tomato broth with the up-charge fee. Kind of annoying already. The waiters and waitresses would chit chat and it was hard to get their attention. Also, their pot is at the end of the table and it felt like I had to reach a mile with my arm to grab the meats and veggies. I've never been to a place where the pot is on the other side of the table. I also found a bug in my tomato broth (see image). Interior is old and not really clean because it was sticky.

First time here. Upon arrival, we saw 2 ppl at a 4 top so we asked to have a table too. No one else was there at 445pm. They said only if we were a party if 4, so we sat at the counter. By the time we leave and 1/2 or 75% of the restaurant is empty, all the 4 tops are take by only 2 people sitting there. -_- The hot pot here only has water in it. Why?! The tan/beige sauce, I did not like, very bitter. The amount of meat is very little, lotsa veggies. At $28 it seems like a lot, but I trust much of that goes toward rent, gas, equipment. The food was pretty good. Not sure I will be back tho. Parking in there lot is $2.50 for 2 hours.

Excellent food! Fresh and light and it was fun experience. We had a big table of 6 and ordered two miso, one tomato and one mushroom boiling broths. All were delicious. I like spice so I had the siracha nearby at all times. The vegetables were a heaping pile of fresh leafy greens bok choy which I normally don't like to eat but I loved them in the broth. Service was excellent. Will be back!

Can you update your phone number. It's out of service. Can never make a reservation.......

Great food but pricey. We enjoyed sitting at the counter and the hot pot with seafood was very tasty!

Food is delicious, fun to cook your own. The portions are healthy. The servers are great. Looking forward to going back soon!

Excuse me, what kind of broth is that? Clear broth. Interesting. *Takes a sip of the broth* Oh! It's water!! What in the world?!? Don't come here if you want something soupy because you'll just be drinking water. I tried adding salt and soy sauce to the broth for my food to be edible. Took 3 kids with us and they were on the verge of tears because the food did not have any flavors. Therefore,it did not taste good, so they did not want to eat. Their two dipping sauces could not save the food because it was also bland. It's too bad though, although the food was expensive, the quality of the meat and seafood was good.

Meh this place was just alright. You scan the QR code for the menu, I got the lunch special where it's $25 and you choose 4 types of meat. They gave us 3 types of sauces. Everything was just alright. Service wasn't that great to be honest.

I only write reviews when the establishment is so bad that they deserve a negative review and I don't feel bad at all about it. My friend and I walk in and there's no one to greet us yet we see 4 possible spots to sit. We wait 10 minutes because we hate to rush employees. Then we go ahead and ask the servers and they finally seat us. My friend and I are sitting there for 25 minutes waiting to order and had to actually flag them down to take our order as they gave us a mean flustered and annoyed look. Like what? We are the ones that are suppose to be annoyed. I don't think I'm entitled at all. Then they bring us our food. We wait 10 minutes and give them the benefit of the doubt that they'll bring us our ponzu and goma sauces. Nope. We had to ask for that too. What in the actual f*ck? Seriously, f*ck this place I'm never stepping foot in this place again. To any people trying to take over the Shabu market in Sawtelle, you will have no competition because this place is actual garbage. That is all.

Food and service always EXCELLENT. It's sawtelle so you need to be thoughtful about parking.

First time having Japanese hot pot. Kind of pricey for what it was. Service was slow for just opening. Did not like set up of restaurant either. Would not come back.

The food was beautiful and fresh albeit not super traditional. The service was excellent and attentive and the man who served us was holding down the whole restaurant by himself on a Saturday night which seemed a little odd, but he definitely made the experience for us. Probably won't be back due to extreme prices. It was over $200 with tip for the two of us

My favorite of the lot for style and fun. Incredible house made sauce -some years ago the owner mixed a bunch of the accompaniments into a blend that was to die for. Good service. Best for a couple, perfect for a fun date, vegetarian friendly with the mushrooms. Felix vibe is heaven.

So normally I would rave about places that have great food and service but I don't think today that was the case. Before arriving we had called to see if they would accommodate for a large group and they had stated will try to arrange seating when u arrive. But since the tables had previous been reserved they could not accommodate our party. Would bot recommend for seating arrangements. For a single or double yes but that's it.

I am honestly surprised the reviews are so polarizing because it was genuinely sad to eat here. Japanese food is the epitomy of Umami food but this one completely missed the mark. Usually with shabu shabu, there some flavored broth in the middle so the meat can absorb some flavor but the "soup" is straight up water. For 50 dollars you can get the privilege of getting raw food and boiling it. I was surprised they gave us sriracha and soy sauce cause they forgot to flavor the broth. Tldr, No broth. Great if you like boiling your beef

We stopped in here on Saturday night for shabu shabu. We stupidly have not been to this restaurant in years. The rib eye plate with vegetables was plentiful for the price. We were so stuffed that we declined dessert. Shabu shabu is an entertaining meal because I got to pace and decide what went into my hot pot. The bonus is the tasty soup at the end of the meal. The staff was delightful and checked our vaccination status. We'll return sooner next time.

Ambiance: spacious shabu shabu house, but too hot inside Service: not so friendly and very slow serving food, they were certainly understaffed when it's almost full inside Food: ordinary food with few highlights, meat regular 6oz, large 8oz, side order 2.5oz, you could actually split one set by adding side orders to avoid the splitting fee Broth - *** no other choice but water with a piece of seaweed NATURAL BEEF PRIME GRADE RIB-EYE - *** NO hormones or antibiotics, 100% vegetarian diet, super thin cut, the meat was so broken 100% GRASS-FED BEEF PRIME GRADE RIB-EYE - *** SunFed Ranch Grass-fed Never fed corn or grain, NO hormones or antibiotics, average taste NATURAL BERKSHIRE PORK "KUROBUTA - *** Specific Pathogen free, disease free, bred without any medications, chewy texture ASSORTED SEAFOOD - **** sea scallop, manila clams, black tiger shrimp and Alaskan king crab, fresh seafood set, recommend Price: overpriced for the not so premium quality and extra small portions, expect $30~$40 per person

I love their staff and their Shabu shabu is delightful! We get the regular beef slices and they are excellent. I like to upgrade to the organic vegetable plate option, and it's worth the price for rare and healthy hard to find veggies. I believe they added an assorted mushroom plate upgrade option too, I haven't been able to try it yet but we're looking forward to it! It's relatively small, perfect for a group of 2-6 people for a fun and healthy and always filling dinner! Make sure to have the server explain the best cooking times if you've never had Shabu Shabu or hot pot, it's very interactive. It makes dinner taste so much better if you swish each piece in the boiling water for the proper length of time. For example, I like the beef medium/rare which only takes 5-7 seconds. Last time we visited the staff brought by a special spicy ponzu/sesame sauce creation. It was so delicious and so thoughtful for them to bring it over for just for fun! Thankful they are reopen after being closed for some of the pandemic. They have a pretty great assortment of ingredients to add to the ponzu and goma dipping sauces. The dessert there is great too! And as a bonus, they have purse hooks under the table! The seating is mostly barstools so make sure no one in the group needs a chair with a backing or you might need to call to reserve a specific seating area.

AMAZING hot pot !!!! the fact that there are organic veggies and grass-fed beef is truly an anomaly.

Dear You, I was never a shabu shabu fan...until now! I'll update this review soon!

they close way early than they should be. The food is okay though, tried couple time.