California Shabu-Shabu

I used to love this place because of their goma sauce and their soup base. They had the best of both of these out of all the shabu places I’ve ever been too.
I haven’t been here for at least a year so thought I’d try it again since I was in the mood for some soup and veggies. I came here on June 14, 2016. It was dead at first but it for busy around 12ish.
I got the premium rib eye 4 pieces. I think that’s enough because the slices are big so I cut each piece into 3. I basically got 12 pieces lol! I liked the meat. Soft and tender! Yumm.
— goma sauce: I did not like this at all! Omg what happened??? It used to be a bit sweet and had a distinct super good taste. Now I noticed that it was a little bitter. I didn’t recognize the taste I used to love
— soup base: I remember this was soooo good. But this time it was pretty bland and watered down. I even asked for extra and i couldn’t get the taste back of how I used to like it.
I don’t know but I was not satisfied. The only reason why I liked this place was because of the goma and soup base and now I didn’t like either one.
I hope they were just having a bad day. I probably won’t be back anytime soon. I rather go mokkoji or yuzu. Sorry Cali, you used to by my favorite.

Shabu-​shabu is always a great choice on a cold and/​or windy evening. The venue itself is kept rather chilly, but although I was cold walking in, I quickly warmed up while eating my meal.
I ordered the first combo with a rib-​eye upgrade (+$ 1) and shrimp. Everything came out quickly, and we were soon eating like we’d been starving for days. I thought the meat was cut a bit thick for my taste, but I enjoyed it anyhow. The shrimp were pretty large. By the end, I wasn’t able to eat any of my noodles, because I was way too full.
I enjoyed the meal and would for sure return to eat here again.

One of my must-​stops when back in CA. I’ve been eating lunch at the FV location (up to 3 times a week at one point) since 2002 and have loved it every time! There’s usually a 20 – 30 min. wait in the evenings and weekends. The dipping sauces are the best and what keeps me loyal. I’ve tried Shabu at other places and the sauce doesn’t even compare. Used to only order the beef but the fish and chicken are excellent as well. Love the hot drops and I can rarely pass up the green tea mochi and lychee ice cream.

One of my favorite lunch choices and currently my favorite Shabu place if I’m eating out. The quality of their beef is consistently good and their service is great. I also appreciate that they are able to keep the restaurant pretty clean with as much traffic as they get.
I’ve also been to the Belmont Shore and Costa Mesa location and this one is definitely the best.

The shabu shabu is good, but their vegetarian plate is the smallest one I’ve ever ordered at a shabu shabu restaurant. Usually the veggie plate when all you’re eating is veggies is a lot bigger. So… it’s good and the service was good. Not mad.

Good quality meats and good services. Haven’t been to Shabu Shabu Restaurant lately. If you haven’t try this place, you are missing out!!!

This is my original and favorite shabu restaurant. I’m a ponzu sauce type and the ponzu here is tangy and just right for me. I always order the beef. Mid you don’t eat veggies like I do you can switch the veggie plate for more meat. White/​brown rice is served wih your meal.

Shabu is shabu, but this restaurant is not your ordinary shabu restaurant for some reason. Some unexplained reason.
The service is great, place is clean, but the line is quite long. The price is not that cheap either. So I don’t know, the food they provide seems fresh enough. You will have to come over and try it for yourself.

I came here for dinner with my sister around 6:45 and waited about 20 minutes. Ordered the regular prime beef which was good and not dry when you cooked it which I liked. The dipping sauces were good and the variety of vegetables were nice and fresh.
The staff here is super friendly and made sure that you were always doing good and did a great job of refilling my water when I needed it.
I would definitely come back to this place. And would recommend this place to others if you like making your own broth for shabu.

This restaurant consistently serves the best cuts of meat, fish, and chicken around. I’ve been going here with my family ever since it opened and we’ve seen many of the original staff change hands. One thing that has stayed fairly consistent is the quality of the food and the friendliness of the staff. The place also has a great atmosphere that is not as crowded or boisterous as other Shabu Shabu eateries. The prices are normal for Shabu-​style restaurants, but that doesn’t stop us from coming here time and time again.
Over the years, I’ve even stopped eating pork and beef in general and was suprised by how delicious the shrimp, shellfish, chicken, and salmon all are. Everything is fresh and extremely great tasting. They always have a premium veggie plate to start you off and for vegetarians you can double the portion for a reasonable price.
I’m a huge fan of the soup and sauce options, so I make sure I get as much as possible every time! This place rarely ever dissapoints, so check it out!

My family and I came here as we were craving shabu but I didn’t particularly enjoy this place considering all of the other amazing shabu places in Irvine.
I got the pork and I was highly disappointed in the fact that there were no broth options as I’m not a very huge fan of the OG shabu thing but that’s just me. I found everything a little tasteless and I had to drown my pot in soy sauce and garlic just to get some flavor in it. The bowl to put your noodles in that you get at the end is really bland and I also drowned this in soy sauce.
But the service was good and it was somewhat satisfying. A plus is the free ice cream you get as a first time customer!
Wouldn’t come here again as I would rather go to Miyabi or SWSH.

I’ve previously only visited the Shabu Shabu over in Costa Mesa and my sister recently recommended this location noting that the service was great here. The service was indeed really good. We showed up on a week night and there was one party ahead of us. We were quickly attended to and offered somewhere to sit while we waited. The wait was about 10 minutes. As soon as we were sat we were offered drinks, menus and were generally treated with a sense of welcome. The entire night, we had a really easy time getting ahold of someone if we needed anything and were often checked on. The level of service made the experience and overall atmosphere of the room much more enjoyable. There’s really not much of a size difference between this location and the one in Costa Mesa. Both have a circular table enclosing the serving area with around 20 seats.
For our meals we both ordered the NY steak + 1 item combo, regular size, at $ 18. I had the chicken breast and my sister had the salmon so we had an array of meats to choose from. The regular size was plenty for me and I was very full by the end of my meal. The meal is served with white or brown rice, a plate of vegetables, noodles and tofu to cook in our hot pot. In terms of flavoring the water, they have spicy drops that you need to ask for — they’ll add in the drops for you — shoyu, a creamy sesame peanut sauce, garlic, green onions and a couple other additives. After a short while I was able to get the flavor I wanted. The meat was really decent quality and the chicken cooked very fast in the boiling water. I tried some of my sister’s salmon and enjoyed it.
If you’re like me and want to start eating your soup while eating the meat and rice combo too, you can ask for your soup bowl and they’ll provide you with a bowl that contains a bit of soup based at the bottom that you can add your broth, noodles, vegetables and meat to. Most people appear to like their soup at the end of the meal but I like having the flavor variety
throughout the meal.
The green tea here is of the roast variety and tastes earthy, in a good way. I’d recommend it. Our entire meal was $ 36 for the two of us. I was pleased with the food quality, the service and the price of our meal. For a dining experience that requires constant contact with servers, quality customer service is what makes all the difference and this place has it down. I will definitely make this my new go-​to Shabu Shabu location.

The service– welcomed since the first time I walked in, and have been accommodating every time, despite how busy it gets.
Meat is sliced in front of you, sesame sauce is deep.
I enjoy that the components are not too harsh in completing the broth, but that they add to the subtle ness that is genuine to their menu.
The way the carrots cook down are amazing when dipped in sesame. ugh. Lol
This a consistent staple, if you are looking to practice your shabu skills.
I enjoy supporting mom and pop places like this, if you like apple juice, they sell the bottled form that brings back priceless memories. Thank you!

This is the original spot where I was first introduced to shabu. To be quite honest, I did not immediately fall in love with shabu. I didn’t get what was so great because shabu a few years back wasn’t popular yet. Now it feels like there are shabu places everywhere! CA Shabu has the best goma and ponzu sauces in my opinion. And I’ve definitely had my fair share of trying out all the shabu places around us. My boyfriend and I love the sauces here, we literally drench our rice and food with the goma and ponzu mixed together and are always asking for refills — sorry to the workers here for having to constantly refill our sauces haha! Service has always been great here, I’ve never had any problems or slow service.
I always get the regular choice. It doesn’t look like a lot when it first comes out, but it fills me up. I usually use my chopsticks and actually tear the meat in half before dipping it into my broth because their slices are huge. I’d love more veggies but the portion they give us is enough. I’m always leaving full. Most of the times, I don’t even touch my udon portion of the meal and end up having to togo that. I like this Brookhurst location better than the Costa Mesa one. The food and service are better at this location in my opinion. Forever my favorite.

Great Shabu Shabu, incredibly attentive staff kept my drink, sauce, and options bottomless. Plus value for quality, speed and service.
I would recommend and not hesitate to return.

The hubby introduced me to this shabu restaurant when we first started dating. And it is as good now as it was back then. Everything is super fresh and delicious. The soup base is very light (I think it is just water with some seaweed in it) so make sure you use the dipping sauces. If you like things spicy, as them for the «hot drops», one is good, two is adventurous, and three is suicidal.
The regular order offers a good amount of food, but if you are super hungry have no fear, they have extra large portions as well.
My favorite part of the meal is the udon, they give you bowls with some sort of sauce that you add the broth into.
Service is always excellent. Definitely a great lunch spot before hitting up South Coast Plaza!

The quality of the veggies and the meat at this establishment is actually really good! The sizes are hilariously labeled at small (7 pieces), regular (9 pieces), large (13 pieces), jack (17 pieces), king kong (20 pieces), godzilla (27 pieces), and donkey kong (34 pieces). This is just a sidenote, but isn’t godzilla the biggest of them all?!
Anyways, the beef I have (pun intended lol!) is that the broth… sucks. I mean, it’s not broth. It’s just hot water with a piece of seaweed. hhhhWHat?! I added in some sesame oil, soy sauce and some garlic. And it just tasted sad.
Good quality beef, lack of flavor and high prices call for a cow that says mMMmmMehhh.

I sometimes come here for lunch during the week. Their service is not too slow so I can enjoy shabu shabu within an hour till I go back to work. The veggies, tofu, seaweed, udon, meats and salmon are always very fresh from the kitchen. I always like to order the salmon with either New York or Kobe Beef. I get 1 hot drop in each sauce when it gets too spicy having more than 2 drops. Sometimes on a hot day I would get the lychee ice cream with bits of lychee in it or have mochi ice cream. I do like the green tea ice cream too. The black sesame ice cream is very sweet so if they put less sugar it would make it taste better.

Arrived at 515pm. No lines. Food was good. Ordered the 13 piece rib eye. Food was good. Service was good. There just wasn’t nothing special or omg about it. Nice clean place as well. Only downfall was that my pot ran out of soup and it wasn’t immediately refilled. Got so bad that it started burning and the smell ended up being terrible.

Atmosphere: fun and light! Feels like I’m visiting friends (Leonard, Andy, and Elton) when in here! Food: large portion and fresh! Love my teriyaki sauce
Cleanliness: