Daimaru Shabu Shabu (大丸 Scarborough) — Restaurant in Toronto

I came here with a couple of my friends on a Sunday evening for a late dinner. One of my friends had suggested this place to try since this was opened recently. Be sure to visit their website to join the waitlist as they don't take reservations for smaller parties if you are looking to try.

Daimaru Sukiyaki serves AYCE Japanese hotpot, meaning non-stop veggies and meat simmering in broth. Daimaru is the sister restaurant of the popular chain Gyubee Japanese Grill and is the first all you can eat Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu restaurant in Toronto and the GTA.

Their interior decor was very clean, simple and the restaurant itself was big. On the menu, you would find a wide variety of meat to choose from with a particular focus on beef like premium brisket, chuck and wagyu. They also offer some seafood options like shrimp, squid and fish. You would also have your choice of various different veggies, noodles, starches and dumplings as well. There are different choices of dipping sauces to choose from.

We ended up ordering the Sukiyaki and Spicy as the flavours and one of each menu items to try. Below is my breakdown of each category:

Broth 🍲 The sukiyaki soup base was so yummy! It was our first time trying it and the flavour was slightly sweet and similar to teriyaki sauce but not as strong. As for the spicy broth, it was the perfect amount of spice added and it adds a kick to the flavour when paired with other side dishes. I would give both of these flavours a worth it and a fire 🔥.

Meat 🥩 & Seafood 🦐 Their meat was sliced thinly and had excellent marbling. We ordered the premium set which gets you some extra meat options like beef brisket and beef chuck. Their seafood includes shrimp, crabmeat and squid. All of their meat and seafood were high quality and very fresh which made it super delicious, tender and juicy. Once you start eating, you don't want to stop and it melts in your mouth 🤤.

Pro tip: Try dipping it in chili garlic soy cilantro sauce for maximum flavour explosion! That is going to get a 'WOW' moment 😋.

Dipping Sauces 🥫 There were different sauces to choose from: Garlic soy cilantro, thai chili, ponzu green onion, onsen (soft egg) and sesame. All of these dipping sauces were quite unique and we found the chili garlic soy cilantro to be the best. Be sure to try them all and see which one fits your tastebuds.

Side Dishes 🥟 & Vegetables 🥬 All of their tofus and vegetables were fresh. The most notable one is their fukubukuro which are "money bags" filled with shrimp. A chewy bite with combination of the soup flavour made it tasty. The small meatballs are made in house and so cute and bouncy!

Dessert 🍮 Pineapple - we were surprised that these chunks of pineapple were perfectly ripe when eaten. It had the ideal amount of sweetness.

Crème Brûlée - your typical rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar. I didn't find this dessert interesting.

Taro Chips - these thin slices of taro are seasoned and were super crunchy. We absolutely loved this as it is the perfect snack for food fatigue.

Melona Bar - choice of coconut or taro. We were able to take this to go. The taro flavour was so creamy. If you need a nice cold treat, this is the treat for you!

I would definitely recommend giving the taro chips and melona bars a try. Both of these are going to get a 'WOW' moment 😋.

In comparison to other hotpot options in Toronto, the differences are very noticeable at Daimaru. Their most popular broths like the Sukiyaki, soy milk, Ox bone and help are meant to be light but so that it enhances the quality of the vegetables and meats provided. In addition with their basic and premium set, they also offer patrons the choice of AYCE wagyu beef which is renowned for its marbling and flavour.

Note that there would be a 12% service charge added onto the bill. They offer debit or cash only. If paid in cash, there would be $2 discount so be sure to take advantage of this!

Overall, we had a very good dining experience and enjoyed all the food. It was worth the wait and I plan to...

Update: Revisited back in May cuz gf and I were just craving hotpot so bad.

The service is always good but I've always forgotten to ask the server what their name is.

SAM, MY GUY. I gotta gas him up here.

Had us hooked up all night. Gave me and my gf everything we requested for. I asked for a lot of sauces and he brought em all out to me. Extra napkins, bowls, soup ladles, you name it. I was able to build my own conveyor belt system (1. ladle meat out of pot into first bowl to drain excess broth, 2. grab meat and dunk into double large sauce containers, 3. put dunked meat into final bowl and enjoy).

Want 5 more boxes of meat? ARRIVES AT THE TABLE WITHIN A MINUTE AFTER ORDERING.

Geeeeeez. I've said it before but I'll say it again. These staff are some of the best trained staff I've ever come across. I don't think we ever ran out of table space because of the rate at which they were clearing the empty boxes. And they do everything with a smile too. I'm always amazed.

Food quality at this hotpot is still the king imo. Best selection too. We noticed they also introduced NEW items to the menu since our last visit which was super exciting!

They've also upgraded the waffle cones to charcoal waffle cones!

Yea..... I firmly believe this is the king of the hotpot hill right now in toronto.

Gf treated me to hotpot over the holidays hehe.

We originally wanted to try Daimaru's new location at Langham Square but that one had a much longer waitlist because of it's smaller resto size. We got on Yelp waitlist for both (while chilling at Go Place) and the Scarbs location pinged us more frequently and had a shorter wait.

While the broth page has been updated (no more golden ox bone broth sad face), the tomato broth and sukiyaki namesake broth remain. We opted for a 2 flavour soup bowl and chose tomato and the pork bone broth, which seems to have replaced the golden ox bone broth (hopefully this is a temporary/seasonal change only ... I MISS THAT OX BONE BROTH). I'll have to try the tom yum base some other time as gf is not good w/ spicy lol.

Premium menu still has all the goodies from my last couple visits.

I figured service would drop slightly since it HAD been at least a year since I last visited. Damn.... the service was JUST as attentive as I remember. Brought everything we wanted to the table, brought everything super fast, REMOVED empty boxes super fast and constantly refilled our broth without ever having to ask. Expertly trained staff. Never ceases to amaze me how good the service is here.

The tomato broth is fast becoming one of my fave broths here. DEEP umami. As always, you order your sauce a la carte off the digital menu and they bring em to you in bowls. I usually go ham on the sauce. Found myself asking our waitress to bring more sauce but she never gave me attitude at all (I got her name but I already forgot it smh).

Last couple visits I came, they were VERY lenient on dining time (I don't even think they had a hard cap of 2.5 hrs at the time). Now they do kinda soft enforce it but are still quite lenient. Our waitress said "last call" to us but allowed us to order 3 more times before we sent in our dessert orders. Absolutely incredible service.

It was snowing that night. This dinner REALLY hit the...

Today’s lunch at Daimaru Shabu Shabu was nothing short of amazing, and that’s thanks entirely to our server, Ru. From the moment we walked in, Ru greeted us with such a warm smile and genuine energy that we immediately felt at home.

What stood out most was Ru’s attentiveness. She didn’t just take our order—she guided us through the menu like a pro, making excellent recommendations and explaining everything in detail. For anyone new to shabu shabu, this can be overwhelming, but Ru’s way of breaking it down made us excited to try new things. It really felt like she wanted us to have the best possible dining experience.

Throughout the meal, Ru was lightning-fast with refills, checking in at just the right moments without ever being intrusive. Every small detail—making sure our broth stayed full, ensuring we had the right sauces, even double-checking our spice preferences—was handled with such care. You could tell she genuinely cares about her guests and loves what she does.

One moment that really showed her kindness was when my sister accidentally spilled some sauce. Instead of making it awkward, Ru came over right away, helped clean it up, and reassured us with a smile, saying, “It happens, don’t worry.” That kind of understanding and empathy really stood out—it made the whole table feel comfortable and taken care of.

Beyond her professionalism, Ru has an awesome personality. She’s friendly, funny, and creates such a positive vibe at the table. Honestly, it felt like having a friend serve us rather than just “a server.” Her energy lifted our whole experience and turned lunch into something memorable.

I’ve eaten at many restaurants, but service like this is rare. Ru transformed an already great meal into an experience worth coming back for again and again. If you’re planning on visiting Daimaru Shabu Shabu, do yourself a favor and hope that Ru is your server—she’s the definition of top-tier hospitality.

Thank you, Ru—you were awesome today. Because of you, we’ll...