Dada Shabu Shabu Buffet

Love this place!
There’s a wide selections of veggies, noodles, side dishes, dessert, drinks etc.
Price was reasonable at $ 17 ayce (weekday lunch)
I was so overwhelmed with many choices that I grab a little of everything an dumped it in my soup. Don’t be like me, take your time or else you’re going to over cooked your noodles, meats, and veggies. There’s no time limit (not that I know of).
Overall it was a great place for lunch and get your money worth it. Meat wasn’t that bad even though it’s frozen. One thing I didn’t like is the tiny table. There’s not enough to leave the plates other than stacking it on top of each it.

Came here for dinner with the fam, and what do you know, this place has the biggest variety of food you can ask for at a Shabu place!
Not only do you get to eat the normal Shabu Shabu, but there is also a buffet for sides, like the ones you would find at a KBBQ restaurant! There’s also a shaved ice machine for desserts, and a drink station for unlimited refills on soft drinks. There’s also seafood if you crave that as well. What more can you ask for? Plenty of sauces to choose from, lots of greens for you healthy eaters.
Pricing is cheap too. Plenty of parking in this huge center. Highly recommended!

Came here on a Friday night after finding this place on Unilocal.Shame on me for not finding out about this place sooner. We arrived around 8:00pm and it was only a 5 minute wait! Everything is pretty much self serve except for the meat, asking for more broth, and alcoholic beverages.
The food is superb. We loved all the banchan/​sides that we tasted, except for the seaweed salad. The server was extremely attentive and made sure that we always had plates of meat to put into the pot until we couldn’t eat any more.
Also, there’s a freaking shaved ice station! I find that pretty awesome considering a lot of Korean restaurants/​AYCE bbqs resort to cheap ice cream.
I will definitely recommend this place to family and friends! :)

Food selections DA BESTEST! Services EXCELLENT! Friendly atmosphere OUTSTANDING! Cleanliness TEN STARS!
Certainly, I will tell my friends

If you want to eat shabu shabu in Irvine, I will go this place. Krean food buffet was good, you can make your own sauce, veggie was ok, meat was really nice. And shaved iced can finish your belly.

We started our destination from Anaheim and decided to go to this restaurant for some shank shabu. Midway through the drive I almost fell asleep, because I was up since 5am, and regretted picking this venue. However, once I got there and started seeing what they had and ate, it was worth it.
This is an all you can eat style shabu shabu restaurant and the items that self served are featured includes many fresh vegetable (spinach, bachoy, cabbage, variety of mushrooms, etc) noodles, sauces, and actual food options like wings. The meat is the only item one would order from the server. The wack thing about this place is that you could only order 2 meat plates at a time, however, when you order it comes out relatively fast so it’s not too bad.
In terms of flavor, it’s not the fantastic but is pretty solid since you can dip your food in 3 different sauces.
Shout out to Martin and jay for being phenomenal servers and making the first time dining experience a great one.

Horrible! Don’t do it. One star is too much even. The quality is awful and service poor. They also charge weekend rates on Friday for lunch. Rip off! The meat is terrible and buffet items gross. This place is like the Hometown Buffet of Shabu. I recommend driving a little further to Diamond Jamboree and go to SWSH. Much better quality, service.

The quality of meat was good. Other items for the hotpot were also fresh too. But I wish that they could focus on the selection of sides rather than putting too much effort on cooked items because if I come here for hot pot, I want hot pot; I don’t care about half ass Chinese food.
The place is good for small to medium size groups because the tables were small and placed were a little cramp. I would not say this is a best place to bring little kids since the parents will be busy go back and forth to get food and there is a hot pot right there that the kids might be tempting to touch. And also hope that they could fix the ac too because it was quite hot there.

The only AYCE shabu buffet I’ve ever been to was in KTown, so finding out that Irvine finally had one was a huge surprise. We went here with a party of six people during lunch time and it was not too busy at all. Lunch is $ 16.99 on the weekdays and dinner is $ 25.99 per person, which is an awesome deal. I can’t quite judge how dinner will be, except knowing that it will be extremely packed according to other friends I know who have eaten here for dinner on weekdays and weekends. As soon as you walk in, the interior is nice and very clean. A lot of buffets are usually recognized for being dirty and «greasy» inside, however, Dada was very clean (Could be because they’re pretty new). They have a bar area full of noodles, tofu, sauces, veggies, fruits, famous Korean traditional dishes, and the list goes on. They also have self serve soft drinks and Korean style shaved ice, which is a major plus.
When I look at their meat menu, the first thing that popped up and really grabbed my attention was that they use USDA Choice Beef choice top blade, which is pretty high quality. They also have beef belly, pork belly, chicken breast, and Basa Fish. I was very happy with the variety of meat as well as the meat selection. We tried all the meat in the hot soup, and let me just say that I was extremely satisfied with everything. The meat literally melts in your mouth and taste so delicious. My personal favorite was the top blade meat, and surprisingly, the Basa Fish. However, everything taste so good that you can’t go wrong with their meat. I was even surprised with their side dishes (especially their fried and teriyaki wings). I didn’t want to get too full off of the chicken wings, however, they tasted pretty good, so it was difficult for me to stop eating them.
Overall, I had a great experience and the servers were all very kind and helpful. Thank you guys so much for the great food and vibe and I will definitely be coming back.

LOVE this concept! Especially the «all you can eat» part along with «buffet»!! Coming here is not only just to dine, it’s an experience and event!
Likes:
— Super friendly and attentive service
— Easy parking
— Great variety and quality of foods at the buffet
— Buffet includes dessert and unlimited fountain drinks/​refreshments
— Super clean
— Lunch price isn’t bad $ 16.99 everyday
Dislikes:
— Dinner is pricey, I think it’s $ 25?
— Limited meat choices. Beef, sliced pork belly, beef belly, chicken and a fish I’ve never heard of… Waba Fish?
— The supposedly «leaner» cut of beef can sometimes be fatty
— The Goma sauce is the most horrible I’ve ever tasted
— They could improve on adding better toppings and additions to the shaved ice station
All in all, I pretty much enjoyed all of my visits here. I must say you have to come here at least a few times to experience everything. All the different ways to experience all the sauce and soup combinations are endless. You could fill up on the buffet alone. Also they service alcoholic drinks! Cheers!

AYCE shabu shabu?! Oh my! Probably my 2^nd or 3^rd time I’ve been to a shabu shabu spot, and I gotta say that Dada didn’t disappoint. Overall, service was great (keep pushing that button at the table if ya need anything!), food was fresh, restaurant was clean, yet price point is a bit steep IMO. On weekdays for lunch, price is $ 16.99 (reasonable) but on weekends/​holidays for lunch, price is $ 20.99 (of course we happen to show up on Memorial Day). Either way make sure you come hungry to get your money’s worth!
For meats, you have a choice between beef chuck, beef belly, pork belly, chicken breast, & fish filets. My favorites were definitely the beef chuck and fish filets. The side dishes looked pretty good, but I didn’t bother wasting room on those and just focused on anything I could dump into my broth. There were tons of additional condiments, veggies, noodles, & seafood balls to choose from which was great. Even a soda fountain that was self serve and shaved ice you could make yourself for dessert whenever you decided to tap out.
All and all, I would definitely come back again!
‘Til next time, cheers!!!

I’ve been to Dada Shabu twice now and both times I’ve come out of there feeling like I’m 6 months pregnant.
Dada Shabu Shabu is an all you can eat place where you order the meat with the services and the veggies, sauces, and hot foods are valuable for you at the salad bar station. And drinks & patbingsoo is included with the all you can eat! How amazing is that?
They have everything from udon noodles, frozen fish balls, chap chae, Korean styled chicken wings, etc. you’ll get full off just that!
Meat choices are plenty as well. Boyfriend loved the Wagyu beef belly and I love that thy have fish filet and chicken breast. I usually get half order of the fish and half order of the chicken because the plates at plenty.
They have a button for you to click of you ever need service, but every time I come, I never have to click it because their service is always on point!
Most of the tables here normally fit 2 – 4 but they also have long tables for larger parties in the back.
Parking is plenty, at least during dinner. They have a private lot.

AYCE Korean hot pot in Irvine? Count me in!
We were smart to make reservations in advance for our party of 10 on a Friday night. I thought the place wouldn’t get packed being in an obscure location in Irvine (Yale and Northwood) but I was mistaken.
Weekend Dinner Rates
Adult: $ 25.99
Child (12yo & under 5ft): $ 12.99
Child (12yo & under 4ft): $ 10.99
Now, it was hard not to get excited with the buffet. A spread of different categories, all vital to the perfect hot pot experience were to be had.
Hot food station of Korean appetizers (wings, japchae, dduk galbi, etc.) — check
Create your own concoction of sauce station — check
Noodles, veggies, and fish/​shrimp/​squid ball variety add-​ons — check
Beverage station — check
Shave ice station for dessert — check
I can see how one can be overwhelmed with where to begin but the sauces would be a good start since that will require some creativity. It’s also a big contributing factor in making your meal tasty so knock yourself out and whip out whatever sauce that rocks your boat. Goma, chili, sesame seeds, garlic, and a little vinegar was my favorite concoction among all the sauces I tried and tested. Remember, there’s no right or wrong here.
Wondering where to get the meat? That is the one thing you will have to order from your server once seated at your table. CHUCK TOP BLADE and WAGYU BEEF BELLY were the two meats we constantly ordered throughout the evening. The chuck top is very lean which I prefer over the fatty beef belly. I mean I like the fat but you can only eat so much of it without feeling guilty. Chicken breast, basa fish filet, and organic pork belly are the other meats you can order, none of which I tried.
As far as the table arrangement is concerned, plan to share a pot with 2 – 4 people with one divider in the middle. Seating can be tight against other tables leaving no room for servers to walk behind you resulting to a struggle in clearing up tables and serving the meats efficiently. We may also have overstayed our welcome because we got kicked out of the restaurant by 10PM (closing time). Just a few things to note before coming here.

AHHHH I love this shabu place! I am so happy that there is a place in Orange County i can now go to for AYCE shabu!
I will say, the menu is pretty sparse — they offer 2 types of beef, chicken, and pork (I think, no seafood options) — but what they lack in meat selection they make up for in ingenuity for their «buffet» side options. It made service so much better because the servers were more focused on making sure you had enough broth and enough meat.
And the price is honestly not that bad — more expensive than AYCE KBBQ, but I don’t mind it because the cuts of beef are super fresh and not saturated in marinade to mask the age of the meat (I still love Kbbq though!).
I didn’t get to try the shaved ice since I was STUFFED by the end of the 3^rd round, but that’s not really what I came for anyways.
Pros:
— Lots of delicious side options, mostly Korean banchan you’d normally see at BBQ but I highly recommend trying all of it – BUT DON’T FILL UP ON SIDES, the beef belly is delish!
— Korean fried chicken, done. One of the better places to have it, not yet Love Letter but definitely comparable.
— Large variety of vegetables — this isn’t your standard cabbage/​spinach only place. They even have woodear mushrooms (you NEVER see that!)
— Lots of sauce options/​add-​ins (garlic, daikon, green onion, etc). The broth is already pretty flavorful as they use a Chicken based stock instead of water in customary shabu, but it never hurts to amp up your cooking liquid!
Cons: The tables are a bit small, so if you have a lot of sides there is limited space — but that’s why you can keep getting up. Work off the AYCE!
All-​in-​all, I definitely recommend coming to Dada. Of course I’m coming back for more!

One of my friends posted a bunch of pictures of her eating adventure that included shabu, crab, AND a shaved ice bar so I had to ask where she was at. Turns out it was dada; of course, I had to check it out! $ 25.99 for ayce shabu buffet on weekends.
Pros:
+ Lots of tasty hot appetizers and banchan — everything from crab, fried chicken wings, onion rings, japchae, fried rice, spicy rice cakes. Try not to gorge yourself on buffet items. I KNOW IT’S HARD.
+ Variety of fresh vegetables, noodles, and fish balls available at buffet for shabu
+ Buffet area appears to be kept clean and organized
+ Sauce station — you shabu lovers know the sauce makes or breaks it
+ Good service with call bell available at table; workers always came quickly when we pressed the bell
+ Plates of meat came quickly after ordered
+ Alcoholic beverages available at good prices to go with your meal
+ Shaved ice bar and coffee/​hot tea machines for a nice dessert after you’ve stuffed yourself
Cons:
+ Price seems high when the whole ambience is that of a cheap chinese buffet. However, when I think about the prices at a normal shabu restaurant, I guess it’s not that much more to have endless meats AND all of the yummies at the hot buffet. You can get a better deal if you dine on the weekdays.

I love shabu shabu. I also love Korean food. This place has both! Let me start with the Korean food. It is a buffet of banchan (kbbq sides) such as japchae (glass noodles), cucumbers, radish; and other Korean items such as fried rice, rice cake, fried chicken wings, spicy fried chicken wings, etc. And they’re all good! Now onto the shabu shabu.
Lunch is $ 16.99 and dinner is $ 26.99. You get access to all the Korean food, vegetables, noodles, sauces, drinks, and dessert. Basically any and everything you would want. There are five or six meat options of beef, pork, chicken, and fish. I get the two meat options. Each plate comes with about 10 pieces of meat that are also endless. The meat tastes high quality. The vegetables are all fresh. My favorite thing to eat is the noodles. A bowl with some beef, Napa cabbage, and bok choy = money. The first time around, I didn’t like the goma sauce. Second time, no complaints! The service is great, especially ha is to the bell at each table (real MVP).

I was super excited because AYCE shabu for less than $ 25 per person??? Is this real life???
Upon arrival for lunch on a Sat afternoon, my group of 5 had to wait ~15 min. No biggie. As soon as we got seated, I noticed that it’s just one pot with one divider for all 5 of us. Kind of inconvenient in my opinion. I would have preferred it as 1 pot per 2 people, but you can’t win them all. The quality of the meat look really good on Unilocal,but it was kind of fatty and not the best. Again, it’s to be expected with any AYCE place.
BUT, I really think that the sauces are crucial to making or breaking any shabu experience, and I just was not impressed :(They have a variety of sauces from your traditional goma and ponzu to some mustard concoction. I thought the goma and ponzu were kind of bland, even after adding in garlic and stuff from the condiment bar :(I did like the korean style sides they offered. The korean style chicken was surprisingly good. And I may or may not have eaten like, 10 sesame balls… Another aspect that intrigued me prior to coming was the DIY shaved snow station. It was honestly more exciting in theory.
All in all, just like with AYCE korean bbq places, you’re going to sacrifice quality for quantity. This is a pretty solid and clean place if you’re starving and just need to shovel some food down ASAP.

My new favorite shabu place if I want to get my money’s worth. Let’s face it, value beats quality in my book. I still love Jazz Cat and Shabu Shabu Bar but it would probably cost just as much coming to this place and this place has ayce meats, iced teas, desserts and so many other side dishes (dumplings, kimchi, etc.).
This place has flavored pots. I got spicy miso of course. So good.
They also have a a sauce bar and a buffet area with veggies, Korean sides and Asian fast food items. They also have an area with fountain and tea drinks and a shaved ice bar.
This place is a great place to go if you like to eat a lot :)

I really enjoyed this place! I thought it was a great deal for $ 25.99 for unlimited meat, veggies+buffet, drink fountain (soda, tea) and shaved ice. I had the first two meats 1. USDA Prime beef Chuck top blade 2. Washima Wagyu beef belly. Both were good, but #1 was the best. The meat was thinly sliced and was very tender. I liked that they had goma sauce, an essential sauce to eat with shabu. I enjoyed the fish cake, seaweed, enoki mushrooms and spinach. The shaved ice was ok, but it was nice to have a dessert at the end. I scooped the shaved ice out of the machine, added mochi, fruit, popping boba, condensed milk, strawberry ice flavoring and topped it off with some fruity pebbles.
I will definitely be back.

Went here during the last half hour before closing and still enjoyed my experience! I like that this restaurant is spacious with a good amount of options to choose from (when you’re paying about the same amount at a shabu restaurant anyway). The quality was not what I expected considering this is a buffet!
I didn’t get to see the weekend prices, but for weekdays, it is 23.99 for an adult, 11.99 for a 12-​years-​or-​younger child under 5 feet, and 9.99 for a 12-​years or younger child under 4 feet (interesting!). If you want more meat options, it’ll cost you an additional 9.99 for an adult and 5.99 for child.
*AYCE for meat comes two plates at a time (quality isn’t bad either!), options include:
–USDA Prime Beef Chuck Top Blade
–Washima Wagyu Beef Belly (my fave)
–Kobe Style Organic Pork Belly
–Chicken Breast
–Basa Fish Fillet
*Veggies included an unlimited amount of:
–Napa Cabbage
–Spinach
–Bean Sprouts
–Cilantro
–Chrysanthemum Leaves
–Enoki Mushrooms
*There’s another portion with extra sides to your liking:
–Ramen Noodles
–Udon
–Rice Noodles
–Egg Noodles
–Three different types of fish balls
–White Onions
–Squash
–Soft Tofu
–Raw Eggs
*Sides are unlimited with a very tasty goma, mustard, and ponzu.
–You can add and refill condiments to your desire with options like:
–Chili Oil
–Sesame Seeds
–Negi (Green scallions)
–Garlic
–Sesame Oil
–Chili Powder (Togarashi possibly)
–and a lot more that I may have missed (was too excited to eat)
*There’s also a non-​shabu portion that included:
–Fried Rice
–Stir-​fried noodles
–Calamari
–BBQ Short-​rib
–Kimchi
–Seasoned Seaweed
–Seasoned Salty Crab
*And to top it off, a self-​served shaved ice station for dessert! You get to customize it yourself with plentiful toppings:
–Assorted Mochi
–Watermelon
–Honeydew
–Red Bean
–Fruity Pebbles
–Cherries
–Canned Fruit
–Condensed Milk
*Last call for dinner time is 930pm (closes at 10)
I’ll definitely be back!!!

I’ve had my eyes on this place for about 9 weeks since they opened. Waiting to let the crowd die down a bit we decided to give it a go last Wednesday. We got there at 6:00 PM and didn’t have to wait at all. Half the dining area was filled.
I love Korean food and I love certain Shabu Shabu houses but was so interested in the idea that it’s AYCE. Here’s the prices you’ll need to know… I know it’s the first thing everyone is wondering:
Weekday Prices:
Lunch $ 16.99 /​Kids (12 yrs old & Under 5ft) $ 9.99 /​Kids (12 yrs old & Under 4ft) $ 7.99
Dinner $ 23.99 /​Kids (12 yrs old & Under 5ft) $ 11.99 /​Kids (12 yrs old & Under 4ft) $ 9.99
Weekend ALL DAY Prices:
Adult: $ 25.99 /​Kids (12 yrs old & Under 5ft) $ 12.99 /​Kids (12 yrs old & Under 4ft) $ 10.99
***I really don’t know how they came about pricing Kids…1 feet makes a difference in price!***
Let’s break this place down:
01. Interior was NEW and Modern with good venting systems. Once you start to grab and bring your food back to the table, counter real estate was an issue. Our group was 4 at a table and each of us carried at least 2 plates back. DO the math, we had absolutely NO room to place everything down so we got SMART quickly, dump everything and CONSOLIDATE!!! That was the first concern we saw.
02. Buffet area was smaller than what the photos taken showed. The space was quite cramped when you get a small crowd coming. The food areas were constantly cleaned so it looked nice and neat, not like at other buffet places. Food was always stocked, never once I saw anything running low, very impressive IMO. The plate, utensils and serving Bar was fully stocked the entire time we were there.
03. Seating area seems to have plenty of 4-​seaters and a few 2-​seaters. If you come with a larger group, you’ll definitely be broken up. There were a few 6-​seaters in the back rows but it looked tight once people sat down. I think I’ll just keep my party of 4 having experienced it. You might want to think about this before coming.
04. Food selection was pretty good. They start you off with the same base broth. I loved that you start with the Basic 5 Meats with the Buffet price.
— Meat choices were: 1) USDA Prime Beef Chuck Top Blade 2) Washima Wagyu Beef Belly 3) Kobe Style Organic Pork Belly 4) Chicken Breast 5) Basa Fish Fillet. We tried it but stuck with the first Three Choices. Pretty good quality of meats. We went through 6 rounds of meats. Craving more proteins, you have a Ball Bar to your liking, AYCE Shrimp & Fish Balls.
— Veggie Bar was FRESH and AMAZING. When I have Shabu Shabu, I like a ton of GREENS. Their selection had every greens I’ve ever wanted, all the mushrooms, tofu.
— Noodle Bar had 5 different noodles to choice from. I like my Shabu Shabu with Ramen or rice. Rice was located next to the Drink Bar (I forgot to take a photo of that Bar).
— Korean Banchan (Side Dishes) were plenty to stock up on. Their Kimchi wasn’t too good but their Fish Cakes were yummy. A Banchan for everyone’s choice.
— Sauce Bar was my favorite part, I love to DIY. I like my sauces basic so I can taste my meats and veggies. They had every possible seasoning, spices, oils and chilis you can dream of. Since it was Korean style Shabu Shabu, I stuck to my Sesame Oil with Salt and Pepper. I added some Chili Oil and it was yummy. My other sauce was a Soy Sauce base with lots of garlic, green onions, jalapenos, chili oil and chili flakes. That was my savory sauce. You really don’t have much room to bring all the sauces back. Trust me, you’ll see what I mean when you dine there.
— Traditional Buffet Food Items included Spicy Rice Cakes, Sweet & Sour Pork, Short Rib Patties, Fried Chicken and Sweet & Tangy Wings, Fried Rice and Fried Veggie Tempura.
— Dessert Bar wasn’t too great looking so I skipped on the Shaved Ice deal. Not a fan of Shaved Ice so I saved room for more meats and veggies.
— Drink Bar had sodas, Korean teas, green teas, coffee, flavored Ice Teas. I think they covered people drinking habits pretty good.
VERDICT — I would definitely go back with a smaller group. I know it’s NOT the BEST BEST Shabu Shabu but how can one complain when you’re the CHEF of your own Shabu. If you don’t like it, make it different. Love this concept and will be coming back. Shabu anyone???
CUSTOMER SERVICE — We had James this evening and he was GREAT. He was serving about 6 – 8 tables so he wasn’t always picking up our emptied plates but we didn’t care. As soon as we stacked them up, he came by to pick up. He was on top of the meat game, delivering our meats back to back. Thanks James for the GREAT experience. All of the people serving seems nice and helpful.
Try it out, what do you expect for AYCE Shabu Shabu. IMO, as long as things were FRESH, it would be up to you to make it taste good. Win Win if you ask me!!!

Welcome a new AYCE shabu spot to the Irvine scene. The only other place it’s competing with, that I know of, is House of Shabu Shabu up the street, and it shies in comparison to Dada.
Let’s start with first impressions. Dada is modern and new, a lot of buffet/​AYCE places tend to be on the dingy side, so in comparison, the atmosphere is good. There are a few things I think could be better though —
1. The buffet area is a little cramped. The only thing that’s served to the table is the meat, so veggies, side dishes, condiments, etc are all self-​serve. You can imagine the crowd.
2. Coming as a party of two will get you seated at a table meant for a normal/​non-​AYCE meal, so counter space is very limited. I’m the type that loves variety~ so imagine me trying to juggle all my little bowls and plates on the little table. It was kind of a clusterf.
The 2^nd thing I wouldn’t mind so much, but service is inconsistent so empty plates don’t get cleared away and start piling up. However, flagging down a waiter to order more meats isn’t difficult, it just depends on how proactive you are!
And the most important thing, the food. It’s good! First round, we went with the basa fillet, the prime chuck and the wagyu beef belly. First round = HIT! Color, texture and taste of the meat was spot on, and if it remained that way for the next 2 – 3 rounds, this place would have gotten an immaculate rating.
But, it didn’t. Next two rounds, we got 1 and 2 again, the chuck and wagyu belly, and were disappointed in how much the quality dropped. These plates were freshly defrosted, a deep dark red (from carbon monoxide I’d presume) and nowhere near the delicate tenderness and quality of the first round. The beef belly, more or less, was still good, but the fat to meat ratio went up significantly. But you can only complain so much for AYCE, especially when there was so many more options in the buffet!
I’m a little traditional so I got a lot of fishballs, tofu, bok choy and enoki mushrooms, maybe a little vermicelli and udon in there for good measure. There’s a lot to choose from, and they even have cooked foods ready to go. My boyfriend was a fan of the wings. I didn’t get to try but I noticed people liked a lot of the stir fry’s.
To go with all of these soupy goodies, their sauce bar was a DIY dream. Lots of garnishes to choose from, different homemade sauces. I went with goma, ponzu and soybean, with lots of garlic, green onion and a touch of chili oil. Like I said, traditional, but it was perfect and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Overall, pretty good spot. Would go here with a bigger group of friends to get a better table. Other than that, at $ 25/​person, not a bad deal with all that’s offered! Will definitely eat here again — love shabu!

Never having tried AYCE Shabu Shabu before, nor can call myself a Shabu enthusiast, I wanted to try this place out once I came across the Unilocal page. I was interested in the AYCE price of $ 25.99 during the weekends, because I know how similar in price, if not higher, it can get at shabu restaurants. On weekdays, it is $ 16.99 for lunch and $ 23.99 for dinner, still very reasonable prices in comparison.
With drinks included, the following are the meat options to choose from (2 proteins at a time):
Washima Wagyu Beef Belly
USDA Prime Beef Chuck Top Blade
Kobe style organic pork belly
Chicken Breast
Basa Fish Filet
For unlimited protein, the quality in each is there. Beef Belly and Prime Beef Chuck were my favorites. Tender meat and not too much fat.
Head over to the buffet area to find additional items. Noodle station has udon, ramen noodles, cabbage noodles. Then there are fish balls and fish cake to choose from and a plethora of vegetables! My favorite selection. From cabbage, to 3 kinds of mushrooms, to bok choy. Plenty options! Then there is a sauce station for you to mix and match, make your own concoction. I tried out a few of my own. And mixed this with that to make something spicy when I knew the broth was going to be bland for me after a few spoonfuls. Ta-​da! Created my perfect broth.
For those of you who want more, there is more to this buffet. You will find an assortment of banchan and other Asian food items like orange chicken, fried rice, beef and broccolli, fish cake, dukkbokki, and. onion rings. There is more, but I had to finish that list with onion rings. And save room for the dessert offered. A make your own shaved ice bowl area. Top it off with fruity pebbles, red bead, and mochi. No fresh fruit, though.
As the night goes on, it gets packed. Service is good and quick to replenish your protein and broth and remove the plates that pile up. This DIY kind of place is great for all sorts of occasions or just for a fun meal.

Great place to come for AYCE hot pot and best bang for the bucks consider other shabu places can easily add up to over $ 20 without getting full. You get to make your own sauce/​broth and pick the food you want to eat. There is a 2-​hour dining time limit, and the best time to come is right before it opens. There was already a line 5 minutes before it opened when we went. There’s lunch, dinner, and weekend pricing (weekend lunch $ 20.99 and weekend dinner $ 25.99).
DÉCOR: clean and trendy, but as with all AYCE, the floor is sticky at times.
HOT FILLERS/​APPETIZER: ~ 9 items
Average fried rice, japchae, fried tempura veggie, fried chicken, spicy wings, and other seasonal entrees
BANCHAN: ~ 4 items
4 kimchi and sides to select from, quite interesting to pick from BIG bowl of BANCHAN
SAUCE STATION: 3 base and 15+ condiments
Premade base includes ponzu, goma (too sweet for me), and mustard. There are other condiments (sesame oil, paper, chili, green onion, garlic etc) to create your own unique sauce or soup base for broth. This was a lot of fun and may take trial and error.
SHABU INGREDIENTS: ~ 15+ items
VEGGIES: cabbage, napa cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, bean sprouts, spinach, pumpkin, carrots, and mushroom
FISH BALLS: only 2 kinds, average taste, nothing special
NOODLES: ramen or fresh noodles
PROTEIN: 5 items
Order 2 items at time (beef chuck, beef belly, pork belly, chicken breast, or fish fillet). The quality of meat is average. Tip on fish fillet, use the ladle to keep the fish together as you cook them; otherwise, the fish may swim away and cannot be found.
DESSERT: make your own shaved ice with red bean paste, mini mocha balls, corn flakes, canned fruit, grain powder, fruity syrup, or condensed milk. At first was disappointed no ice cream, but the shaved ice was refreshing after tons of hot pot to cool down.
Recommendation for improvement: I find myself missing the following items for the meal
1. brown sugar syrup for shaved ice
2. shrimp or squid as additional seafood protein
3. grated daikon for condiments

I never had AYCE Shabu Shabu before so my expectations coming in were relatively low. With most AYCE, be it Korean BBQ or Sushi, quality can be expected to take a huge hit.
You can expect to pay $ 20 or more at a regular sit down Shabu Shabu restaurant and that usually includes a plate of protein or half and half combo with vegetables. On weekdays, expect to pay $ 16.99 for lunch and $ 23.99 for dinner. For $ 25.99 all day on the weekend, this include drinks, and you get to choose from:
USDA Prime Beef Chuck Top Blade
Washima Wagyu Beef Belly
Kobe Style Organic Pork Belly
Chicken Breast
Basa Fish Filet
Lip-​On Ribeye «CHOICE» Cut Beef — Extra $ 9.99 per person
You can only pick two proteins at a time and there really no wrong choice. Quality was definitely not affected by the price. This was the biggest shocker as all selections were nice and tender even though we may have left them in the broth for too long. The Kobe Style Organic Pork Belly, USDA Prime Beef Chuck Top Blade, and Basa Fish Filet were our favorites.
You get a plethora of items to cook like udon, ramen noodles, cabbage noodles, 3 types of fish balls, fish cake, cabbage, tofu, 3 types of mushrooms, beansprout, carrot, spinach, squash, onions, and cilantro to name a few. They also have an extensive sauce station with 18 options for you to mix and match with your broth so the possibilities are endless. Don’t forget to ask for a pot-​splitter if you want to double up on your sauce skills as I believe each table only gets one pot to share. This can be a gift or a curse as the flavor or your broth is dependent on how well you manage the seasoning you add.
For those who aren’t too big on Shabu Shabu, Dada Shabu also serves your typical Asian buffet items like fried rice, beef and broccoli, orange chicken, spicy mustard pork, scallion pancake, tempura, fish cake, onion rings, Korean style glass noodles, fried chicken, Korean rice cake, egg rolls, fried dumplings, and more. Most surprising is that all of these items are edible, some even very delicious unlike most AYCE locations that focus on only these options. Who would have thought onion rings, beef and broccoli, and fried chicken from an AYCE location can be better than the ones from sit down spots.
Once you’re finished stuffing your gullet, you can make your way back to the buffet area and make your own shaved ice bowl. You can choose from coco puffs, fruity pebbles, red bean, cherries, and mochi rice cake for toppings and drizzle condensed milk or syrup on top. This is a nice change of pace as most places only have soft served ice cream or make you scoop out your own ice cream from a rock hard tub.
We came around 5:30 on Saturday and was sat immediately. As the night wore the restaurant got filled to max capacity but there was never a time when a single tray went empty. The servers were always around to check on you as well as remove empty plates. You can call a server through their smart watch if you need immediate assistance at a touch of a button above the table. What will they think of next?!

Hello Irvine (with Adele’s singing voice).
There’s a fine reason to venture out to the South OC.
Irvine was a good reason to get on the 5 or the 405 and hit up 85C. 85C expanded like wildfire and spread to the next Korea Town, Buena Park, and to countless other cities.
It used to be for Gen BBQ (in Tustin), but similar to 85C’s path, expansion was the key.
Please note that I went for lunch and lunch only. After taking a a close examination of the weekday, weeknight and weekend (all day) menus, the options are the same. The second best option would be weekday dinner.
All You Can Eat
With buffet bar and drinks included
Weekdays Lunch $ 16.99
Weekdays Dinner $ 23.99
Weekend Lunch (Fri-​Sun) $ 20.99
Weekend Dinner (Fri-​Sun) $ 25.99
Options:
1. USDA Choice Beef Chuck Top Blade — The best choice. Trust me. It’s the best choice… remember this.
2. Washima Wagyu Beef Belly
3. Organic Highland Pork Belly
4. Chicken Breast
5. Basa Fish Fillet
Optional additions
Lip on Ribeye Choice Cut Beef
Weekday Lunch $ 15.99 more
Weekday Dinner $ 9.99 more
Weekend (all day) $ 9.99 more
Pros
Self serve and all you can drink soft drinks (Cola Cola brand), coffee and Lipton tea.
Self serve and all you can eat Korean style shaved ice.
The sauce station! Seriously, if you don’t know me by now I’m a sauce enthusiast, a lover of sauces. I could write an essay of why I love sauces. As soon as my eyes laid upon the glorious sauce station, I had mixed emotions of joy, bliss and awe. I was in my own utopia. Not many places offer this king of sauce station set up. There were so many spices (crushed garlic, green onions, fresh ground pepper, red pepper, chili garlic, Huy Fong brand sriracha, sesame oil, chili oil and countless more to flavor up the shabu shabu essential sauces ponzu (citrus soy sauce) and goma (peanut sauce). The base sauces are there, but it’s up to you to become the sauce master.
The broth can be flavored too. The broth that’s poured in the pot has a neutral taste. So if you enjoy the Chinese style hot pots, use the sauce station to flavor up your own concoction. For me, it always about the sauce.
Cons
It will get crowded. Plan ahead and become the eating project manager. Schedule the logistics and timing perfectly.
No individual pots (must be shared). Read on for further details.
Shaved ice machine was out of order. I only heard stories of how good it was. Note that this shaved ice isn’t you’re typical shaved ice. The concept called «sul bing» has been trending in Korea, LA Korea Town, Fullerton and Buena Park for some time now. The ice texture is super fine and will please your taste buds. The machine that dispenses the ice here is to execute that same texture. I can only dream of what the shaved ice tasted like.
Recommendations:
Don’t let the appetizers tempt you. There’s a tempting and pleasing buffet appetizer bar full of Korean appetizers (Korean fried chicken, Korean style sweet and sour pork, tempura, fried rice, spicy rice cake). Remind yourself that you’re there for the primary meal, shabu shabu (get the beef chuck top blade).
Don’t come in large parties.
Let it be a more intimate meal and go in groups of 2, 4, and 6 (max). Reminisce elementary school and remember your multiples of 2.
Why?
You’re more than likely to share one pot. There aren’t individual pots here like maybe you’re used to when you go a shabu shabu restaurant.
The savior is the half divider. Sit in a row with people you’re comfortable sharing your side of the pot with.
Put the heat setting to low to medium. This is because if it’s on high, it will over cook your meat, vegetables and noodles. Again who likes overcooked anything, primarily vegetables? Putting the heat on low to medium will help you take your time eating. As you grab the appetizers, prep your sauces and grab the your soft drink (water is major key) of choice, the pot will already be heating up. I don’t get people who gobble everything up as if they were turkeys prepping to be prepared for Thanksgiving Day. Food is about taking your time to savor the flavors and enjoyment.
Get here early, get the beef chuck top blade, don’t overcook your vegetables, create your own sauce and hopefully enjoy the unlimited shaved ice.
Follow the tips.
You’ll be eating things that «they» don’t want you to eat. But you’re going to eat it anyway. — DJ Khaled

Hard to find AYCE shabu shabu these days especially in Irvine. They have different pricing on AYCE depending on weekday lunch/​dinner and weekend lunch/​dinner. But usually it has 5 choices of meat, standard for the price and if you want premium meat then there’s extra charge to it.
For the recent cold weather, this place will satisfy all the shabu shabu fans. It has a good choice for hot food, panchans and shabu shabu items. There are lots of choice for dipping sauce (except sasha/​satay dipping sauce) or create your own soup base.
It is a Korean style shabu shabu and you can tell the main clientele is predominantly Korean. The place gets packed quickly 30 mins after it opens so if you have a big group, plan to come at the time it opens.
The biggest table sits about 6 – 8 with 2 hot pans. There are more tables for 2 or 4 people. If you are not persistent about sitting together, maybe plan to split up.
They have a cool shaved ice machine but the choice for toppings is a bit weak. At peak hours, it takes a while to churn up the ice.
Overall, it’s a nice option for AYCE beside Korean BBQ.

I should preface my review with the fact that I’m not really a hotpot kind of person, but gave it a try while down in So. Cal. The place is quite new and nice and definitely clean. That’s a huge plus.
They went over the procedures for us as we were never there and quickly had the pot on our table ready to cook in. The self serve area has all of the non-​meat items, and you have to go up a few times to stock your table to be ready to cook!
The choices of meats were good — not as much variety as you would get in a place that is not all-​you-​can-​eat, but still good enough for me. We didn’t get the chicken, but tried all of the others, including the fish. All the meats were cut and prepared nicely and they continued to bring more as we asked.
Service for the entire time was great. They have little buttons at your table that alerts the waiters on their watch, so they come very quickly!
The desert was a bit lacking. I get the desire for shave-​ice, but their setup just didn’t appeal to me.
If you’re in the mood for hotpot and want an all-​you-​can-​eat option for a relatively low price, then I’d say that you can’t really go wrong here.