Amanda L.
Yelp
Dined here with friends during Memorial Day weekend on a Sunday at 6 PM. Came in with no reservation for a party of 7 and was seated immediately. The place is spacious and bright, lively with neon lights and green plants as decor everywhere. We sat in a booth for 7 even though there were only 6 individual shabu pots per table; we had 2 friends share one which was acceptable.
The restaurant is BOYB but only for wine and beer. You have 90 minutes to have all you can eat except no food waste, so don't take more than you can handle because they will charge you for excess. The dinner buffet with meat ($35.99/person) also has to apply to the whole table, which is disappointing. We tried reasoning with the waitress for an exception because we had a strictly vegetarian friend, but they denied our request. Also if you have kids, the price is dependent on the height and not age...
You choose the option for the broth first: 31 well-being veggie, umami dashi, rich pork bone, golden shiro miso, sukiyaki, mala, spicy yuzu, and creamy tomato. While the broth is being prepared everyone can get up to the food bar to look at a variety of options to cook from vegetables, noodles, tofu, mushrooms, dumplings, and seafood. Out of all the shabu places I have been to, this one had the most options. Also everything is labeled!
Besides the food options to cook in the shabu, they also offer some cooked options such as fried dumplings and tteokbokki. I also saw rice cooker and a snack bar section offering onion ring chips, choco-pies, koala crackers, etc.
The sauce bar is also nearby, with many options to concoct your sauce to your liking. They had Chinese soy sauce, Japanese soy sauce, sesame, hot oil, chili peppers, green onion, sugar, salt, house sauce, peanut butter, garlic, etc.
Our waiter was attentive. He brought our meat selections out quickly and the meat was fairly sliced, not too thin as I have seen other restaurants prepared. He refilled our drinks and broth when he noticed we were running low. He was always around with other staff to collect empty plates.
We were all full by the hourish mark and we topped off with their homemade mango sorbet that was included in the dinner buffet option. A tangy and light treat after an AYCE shabu overhaul. I would recommend coming back but just be aware of the policies!