House of Shabu Shabu II — Restaurant in Anaheim

As a long time regular of House of Shabu Shabu Irvine for five years, I can definitely say this location is just as good, if not better. Also, so glad this place is closer to me and I don't have to drive thirty minutes anymore for the Irvine location.

Here's the breakdown

Inside: They have a nice, modern, and trendy feel to it, no old timely feel. They have many seating options from the side with two-seaters, the front accommodating up to four people, the back for the bigger crowds and the bar giving it a more authentic Japanese shabu feel.

Service: I honestly would recommend dining with Alex and Andrew because even though it was the manager that took care of us, they still came to check up on us. Alex made sure we had everything we needed and was very nice and down to earth.

Food: This place has my favorite dipping sauces ponzu and goma. I have yet to find a place that beats out their sauces AND they make it in house. Ponzu is your perfect light sweet and tangy soy sauce perfect for your veggies and meat, while goma has a nice thick nutty flavor perfect for your meats. The Kobe here I would have to say is so tender and soft. It pretty much melts in your mouth and the pork loin has the perfect amount of flavor and juiciness. As far as in sushi, salmon and shabu sushi all the way mannn. I also really love how they have so much more sushi options at this location, because honestly, if I wanted to get a sushi fix here, I would.

Price: Pricing wise, I have yet to find a place that's cheaper here. C'mon $13 lunch special ayce?? For shabu??? And you sushi??? Where can you find a better place that has a wide broth selection and meat. For this visit, me and my friend decided to order the special 3 menu which is their premium menu for $30 and it's so worth!!

This place would also be a good place for larger crowds, but I would definitely call ahead and make sure they can accommodate. They have a pretty ample selection of beers and wines, so you'll definitely find one that's for you.

Would definitely recommend this place to my friends and family and...

We’ve long been fans of the original location in Irvine, so we were excited to see that they were taking over a spot in our neighborhood. We had eaten in the physical location before, but the combination of elements didn’t seem to work. I think they may have finally found the right mix with this new ownership and management.

The menu has two main options: ala carte or all you can eat. There were tiers within the AYCE option. The one bummer is your whole party must choose the same option, but it’s understandable from an operational standpoint. The prices are good and there are plenty of choices if you opt for the all you can eat.

One noticeable difference from many other shabu restaurants was the number of broth options available. They ranged from simple and slightly sweet (sukiyaki), to rich and creamy (tonkotsu) or spicy (spicy miso). There were at least 8 options to chose from!

Once you’ve chosen your broth, you select your protein(s). Our group opted for the ala carte and found the 5oz portion to be sufficient if you’re not too hungry. The angus was a decent cut but the rib eye was definitely more delicate and tender. Finally you can choose your noodle type: classic udon, ramen, or Korean kalguksu (knife cut)noodles. I had the kalguksu and was impressed with its chewy texture. I also tasted the ramen option which I would also have enjoyed. As the broth boils you add your vegetables and/or protein to create what will become your soup for your noodles. The veggie mix bowl was fresh and colorful and included nice blend of cabbage, kale, carrots, etc.

I almost forgot about the dipping sauces! They were really good as well. The goma (sesame) paste was thick and savory and the ponzu was light and balanced (citrus-soy).

The service was friendly and attentive and the decor is fresh and modern. I can’t wait to go back and try more of the broth options. There are so many potential combinations!

Bravo on what hopefully will be a lasting recipe for a great shabu spot!

PS The $3 draft Kirin was a...

When a 30 min wait turns into almost an hour wait even though we were second in line. -sigh- what a night of hungry tummies.

Service was ok, but could've gone a little smoother because after we were seated and waiting hungrily to order, there was some wait time before we were able to order and even wait longer for the stuff to arrive. Getting the attention of the staff was a task in itself. Maybe that was my stomach talking but it was true. This is one of those times I wish a restaurant would implement the qr code ordering service so I could just scan for the table I'm at and place my order and receive it in minutes without having to wave down the server to come by after times gone by before placing the order.

Meat was pretty decent quality and so was the broth. Sometimes I find it amusing when we get the last of something because my veggie platter had napa and my gf didn't so I had to wave down the waiter to ask about it and turns out, they were out of napa for the evening. I found that funny because in this plaza is a 99 ranch grocery store and I've bought napa from there before so it just amusing a restaurant running out of one of the basic things. Must've been a busy busy night. Took much time to flag down the waiter after each meat order was complete so I had to constantly adjust the heat so I didn't have a rolling boil and boil off all the soup when not in use.

My only dislike was I thought the california roll had a slight sour taste like ponzu but no ailments the next day so I will chalk it up to meh maybe my imagination. They do provide ponzu soy sauce so that's why I thought the california roll interestingly tasted a...