Jackie X.
Yelp
My coworkers and I arrived a little bit before they opened on a Tuesday to celebrate my birthday. The parking lot is spacious and serves a number of small businesses in the same plaza. Since we were the first ones there, we got first dibs on seating. Only 2 more people ended up arriving to eat lunch while we were there (about an hour).
The inside is pretty interesting and much smaller than I expected. There's one bar that loops around in a long arch where all the seating is with the employees attending to you in the middle. Each seat has its own individual induction stove where you can get a personal hot pot.
The staff was friendly and had some nice conversation with us. They were attentive and our server gave us recommendations on meat and explained the entire menu to us since 3/4 of us had never been before.
I decided to get the tonkatsu broth with a large two meat combination with wagyu zabuton short rib and prime ribeye. You get a choice of white or brown rice (I got white) and choice of noodle (I got udon). You also get a plate of vegetables included, which had Napa, spinach, carrots, tofu, broccoli, kabocha, shimeji/enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and Bok choy. I substituted carrots and spinach for more kabocha and enoki mushrooms.
For the condiments they had goma sauce, a sweet and savory citrus sauce, Japanese seasoning, chili oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, grated daikon, and green onions.
The meat was excellent. Super tender and delicious. The vegetables were good but I ripped a lot of them into smaller pieces because they were pretty large and I prefer smaller bites (cooks faster, helps prevent mouth burns, and bite size). The goma sauce was my favorite. The soup was pretty rich and flavorful.
I also got black sesame ice cream which you can't go wrong with. A big serving! I've had some with a more pungent flavor but this one got the job done.
Everything was delicious! They claim to be more "modern" which I'd agree with. Considering this is the only shabu place around here made it jump to 5 stars. Not my favorite shabu I've ever had but a great choice in town!