Alice Y.
Yelp
Summary: 5 stars for the wonderful service, tasty drinks, and high quality beef; I personally enjoyed the house wagyu over the A5 wagyu for hot pot. I was also not wowed by the additional hot pot items.
***
My bf and I enjoyed this high end hot pot experience on a weeknight at 5:30 pm. It was expensive, but presentation was appropriate, and with the flavor to back it up.
We definitely over-ordered though! 5 drinks, 1 appetizer, 2 beef combos, and 3 hot pot items were about $167 per person after tax. Our stomachs were sticking out haha. In hindsight, we could have held off on the appetizer and 2 of the hot pot items since we were also drinking.
I admired the dark wooden interior of the restaurant space, which was decorated for Halloween. I found it difficult to get in and out of the tall, stiff chair, but I was otherwise seated comfortably.
SERVICE
Our server Jerry was amazing! He was explained the enormous menu. Throughout our dinner, he was friendly, proactive, observant, and attentive. We spent about 1.5 hours at our table without feeling rushed.
DRINKS ORDERED
- Blue Honolulu ($11). It was good, tasted kind of like candy. But I wanted something more tropical fruit flavored since it was garnished with pineapple.
- Paloma Heights ($13). Yummy! The drink was tart and not too sweet. It tasted a bit like fresh watermelon juice.
- Pik-sochu ($13). We enjoyed the blood orange flavor, and the drink was not too sweet.
- Pink Lady ($13). So good! The sweet drink was creamy, like a spiked strawberry yogurt smoothie.
HOT FOOD ODERED
- House Crispy Pork ($12.99). I think it's a type of Chinese street food that we got as our appetizer. I'm not fan of this dish in general, but Wagyu House made it better than another place I've tried. The thin julienned pork was chewy, but the meat retained enough softness so that it didn't just disappear into the crispy batter.
BROTH ORDERED
Both broths were light and tasted under salted at first, but I appreciated this since hot pot tends to get saltier as the water evaporates. The sauce bar was automatically charged for $3, so I went with sesame and a splash of ponzu as my dipping sauce.
- Wagyu Clear Soup ($24.99). The taste of the broth was good and almost reminded me of pho. It came with fork-tender pieces of stewed beef, dates, daikon, tomato, and corn. I was pleasantly surprised by this generous addition of meat and vegetables.
- Fragrant Coconut Soup ($26.99). We enjoyed the spectacle of having coconut water emptied into the pot and waited for the soup to cook the dark meat chicken. The broth was indeed fragrant and slightly sweet from the coconut.
MEAT ORDERED
- Japanese Miyazaki A5 Combo ($98 - 12 oz chef's choice). The beef was marbled beautifully. I don't remember which cuts were included for the daily special. In my personal opinion, A5 is too delicate for shabu or hot pot. I thought that the flavor of the A5 got lost; it tasted very mild.
- Wagyu House Signature Combo ($39 - 10 oz). Surprisingly, I preferred the house wagyu over the A5 wagyu. One of the cuts from this combo became my favorite: It held up to the soup and tasted beefy while staying buttery soft. I can't remember if it was the wagyu short rib or something else.
HOT POT ITEMS ORDERED
- Spinach Noodle ($4.99). The thin noodles were plain and simple; not great but also not bad.
- Veggie Combo ($15.99). I wouldn't get this again because there was a lot of romaine lettuce hidden underneath the napa cabbage, tong ho, and spinach. I'd rather have added a full serving of a specific vegetable instead.
- Stuffed Fried Tofu with Shrimp Paste ($12.99). The little bags of tofu skins were adorable! However, I enjoyed the flavor of the tofu more than the shrimp paste, so I also wouldn't get this again.