Orange Shabu 1 — Restaurant in Da'an District

橘色涮涮屋一館 Orange Shabu⠀ Japanese Shabu Shabu⠀ ⠀ Definitely one of the highly recommended shabu shabu that you should have tried whenever you’re in Taipei. As per Michelin Bib Gourmand mentioned - ‘One of the first swanky hotpot places in town serves gourmet ingredients from around the world – premium sirloin from the U. S. , Wagyu from Japan and Australia, king crab from Hokkaido – all blanched in a rich chicken stock. Lamb and seafood can be prepared in two or three ways, such as frying or grilling. Shrimp balls and live lobster also stand out. Make sure you save room for the made-from-scratch almond tofu dessert’. As of today, if not mistaken, there’s total of 3 franchises - 2 at Daan area (which is very near side-by-side) and 1 at ShinKong Mitsukoshi Taipei A9 Store. It’s not easy to get the reservation, therefore, ensure you book it earlier, or if you don’t mind sitting on the bar top.⠀ ⠀ Few memorable moments, and definitely the reason for me highly recommending this would be:⠀ • The services provided by the waiter, which will help to cook most of your stuff, and provides direct recommendations. For example, when I ordered seafood set, and wanted to have sukiyaki broth, he will politely mentioned that seafood ingredients is not recommended to go along with the sukiyaki. Direct, polite, and wanting you to have a good dining experience.⠀ • The peanut sauce which you can use to dip your cooked ingredients is really flavorful.⠀ • If you ordered Sukiyaki broth, you’ll get a set of broth materials which you can add once the sukiyaki dries up, and the most memorable will be the Rice Wine! I added a ton of it, together with the sukiyaki sauce, and it was truly delicious and perfect to my preferences.⠀ • The generous amount and the freshness of all ingredients used. Both the seafood platter, and the pork that I’ve ordered came fresh and definitely delicious.⠀ • If you choose congee as your sides, what will happen is once you’re done with your hotpot, they will cook the congee using the shabu shabu broth (and with the crab paste if you choose seafood set). The congee is really delicious, especially with the aroma of the crab paste.⠀ • The desserts Almond Pudding is definitely the signature dish of this restaurant.⠀ • You’ll never leave this restaurant feeling hungry. I was completely bloated when I’ve done with my dishes. May not be feeling good, but definitely feeling great too.⠀ ⠀ It took me a while to understand the menu, hahaha. At last, it was actually simple and direct, and everything is explained on the first page.⠀ ⠀ 📝For Set (套餐)⠀ • Broth (昆布柴魚 Shabu Shabu, or 日式壽喜燒 Sukiyaki)⠀ • Appertizer (主廚前菜 Chef’s Salad, 和風生菜沙拉 Oriental Salad, or 和風蘆筍豆腐沙拉 Oriental Asparagus Tofu)⠀ • One plate of assorted vegetables will comes with the main course (that you select from the next pages).⠀ • Sides (越光米 Rice, 麵條 Ramen, or 煮粥 Congee)⠀ • Fruits⠀ • Dessert (杏仁豆腐 Almond Tofu, 焦糖布丁 Caramel Pudding, or 當日甜品 Dessert of the Day)⠀ There’s a-la-carte that can be chose too and the selections of beverages is really a lot, which is quite awesome.⠀ ⠀ 📝Ordered 「和風青蟳套餐」 - Japanese styled seafood set, with Sukiyaki broth. Comes with meat crab together with clams. The crab claw is extremely meaty and the clams are really delicious (and its cleaned well too).⠀ ⠀ 📝Ordered 「頂級松阪豬肉套餐」 - Premium pork set, with Shabu Shabu broth, and congee. Best part is when you cook the pork meat using sukiyaki sauce. Definitely DA BOMB! And the best way to consume would be directly dip into raw egg immediately after it’s cooked. That’s the way!⠀ ⠀ 📝Ordered 「軟絲丸(半分)」 - Soft meat balls (Half set) - Just so-so- to the tasting honestly. Nothing special about this dish.⠀ ⠀ 📝Ordered 「芋頭(半分)」- Taro (Half set) - Truly amazing, didn’t know that taro can be eaten this way. Half set is referring to 3 pieces of taro, which is fried, and served with a small bowl of sugar. Never have tried this with the sugar, and oh boy, it’s truly delicious when...

This was a highly anticipated meal and we reserved a table a few weeks in advance for a weekday dinner. Environment was not what I expected. Restaurant was located in a dark basement. There were thin " partitions" between some tables, ours was in a smaller room with 3 other tables and it was very noisy both in the main hall and the room we were in. Despite other reviews, we did not receive nor think service was stellar. There wasnt much communication involved after we ordered and dinner felt rushed by the servers. The food was mostly fresh except for the pan fried scallops that came almost cold... it tasted abit off. We had the basic crab set and added USA sirloin beef. The beef was a disappointment and was nearly tasteless. The crab meat left after removing the shell was... so little! The porridge tasted fine but minutes later, I had MSG reactions. It was in the soup broth. When we arrived home, my throat became very dry and heaty. Is that why the server gave me a very tall glass of warm water after the porridge dish without me asking? The saving grace would have been the veges and side dishes but we did not come to pay more than 5000 to eat vegetables. Red bean dessert was too sweet. Almond tofu and fruits was normal. Considering the high cost, table charge and service charge we had to pay, this meal was not worth it. I was expecting for something exceptional, to justify its cost ... It didnt come. If it's your company money, perhaps you can go. But save your own pocket on somewhere else. 3 stars for the general freshness, veges and other sides + some service. My partner thinks i am too...

Upon the recommendation of many friends, we decided to drop by Orange Shabu on Saturday night to try our luck with a walk-in dining. Unfortunately they were full, but the front counter staff so kindly slotted us into the next day. Sundays are usually equally busy, but the staff helped us out because we would be flying off on Monday. We appreciated this a lot! Lesson learnt - book early!

During our Sunday dinner, we were switched from counter seats to a more private space. 又绮took special care of us; after knowing we were not local, she gave us so many extra dishes to make our experience at Orange Shabu such a pleasant one!

The food is clean and fresh. The vegetables were sweet and the meats were succulent. The accompaniments stole the limelight - the radish shoyu and the 3 types of salt (try them if you get the chance to!).

又绮gave us the best suggestion - to order only 1 set meal for 2 people to share, and add meats a la carte to complete our meal.

This place left us with so many pleasant memories, it will definitely be on our “to-dine” list the next time we come with friends....