Stewart L.
Yelp
Since I live nearby, I occasionally get coupons for this place, so I dined here recently for the second time. It seems pretty popular (they have a sign-in sheet when it's busy), and it appeared all other parties there were repeat customers. I on the other hand was a bit of a shabu shabu novice, so the kind wait staff help me out a lot.
As a solo diner, I was offered a "Me Myself and I" meal menu, along with the regular one. The Me menu is prix fixe $25.75 for an app, drink (including sake and beer), broth and entree protein.
Each seat has an electric burner upon which your broth is placed. Each person is brought a caddy of utensils (tongs, ladle, etc) and a plethora of sauces and condiments (garlic, turnip, scallions), sesame seeds. The servers kindly mixed my sauces and condiments for me; there is a ponzu one and a sesame-based tahini-like one. Of course there was soy sauce and vinegar (I think).
My app choice was the vegetable tempura, 4 pieces of large veggies served with yet another sauce. The batter was on the thick side, not unlike that at the nearby Ichima restaurant. My drink choice was a Shirley Temple, which was refillable, as are the sauces and broth. I was told the most popular broth was the miso one, which could be ordered spicy or not spicy; I chose not spicy. My protein choice was Prime Angus beef. All entrees come with a big bowl filled with udon noodles, veggies, tofu. The server again helped me by letting me know which things to cook first (the thicker veggies like carrots). The meat cooks very quickly. For $3, I increased the size of my order to large, so it was a hefty meal. I had also ordered the shrimp tempura cut roll, which of course came with wasabi and ginger. This was the least successful dish, not well seasoned and rather messily rolled up so they fell apart easily,
Nex time I visit (with another coupon), I'll be more experienced as to what to order and how to eat it.