rev:text
| - This was my first shabu shabu experience and I have to say that it way ok. Definitely not bad, but not mind-blowing either. It seemed like family night when we walked in because there were 3 or 4 other families eating there. I decided to go with the shabu shabu, while my wife and son went with the sukiyaki.
The 6 oz prime rib-eye ($14.95) dinner was sliced very thin and spread out on a plate. It came with a plate of vegetables (onions, carrots, mushrooms, lettuce), tofu, and udon noodles. The shabu shabu pot was filled with a seaweed broth and once it got up to temperature it only took a few seconds to cook the steak. Accompanying the ingredients are two sauces -- a sesame sauce and a ponzu sauce. The quality of the meat was good, with plenty of marbling throughout, and the sauces added a nice extra dimension to the flavor of the beef.
My wife wasn't as impressed with her vegetable platter ($8.95). It was basically all the same veggies that I got -- just two plates of it. She was expecting a wider variety of veggies. We also got a side order of chicken ($5.95) for our son. The sukiyaki pot is a shallow iron pot similar in size and depth to a cheesecake pan. The food is then cooked in the dish after the soy sauced-based liquid in it heats up.
After trying both the shabu shabu and sukiyaki, I have to admit prefer the latter. The "stir-fry" quality of the chicken had much bolder flavors and was much sweeter than the shabu shabu preparation.
The style of cooking makes for a fun, interactive experience and would be good for couples on dates or families with older kids who like asian food.
|