Spring Shabu-Shabu — Restaurant in Boston

Decent food, terrible service. This was my first time trying hotpot and I was excited, especially after seeing all of the good reviews, sadly this experience was a let down. My girlfriend and I arrived to a slow post-lunch crowd and were quickly seated by a kind host, who asked if I had dined here before but that is where things took a change. As we sat she realized she had to run back to the car and i decided to take a look over the qr-code menu. Seconds into glancing our server brought us two waters and immediately asked if i was ready to order. I told him I wasn’t quite ready as I had just sat down less than a minute before and he immediately walked away without saying a word, taking the QR code menu with him in a rush. When my girlfriend came back from the car I sent her the link to the menu so she could browse it as well. The waiter was immediately back to take our orders and seemed as if we were an inconvenience, rushing us through what we wanted though both of us had little time to decide. Our broth, drinks, and ribeye came out reasonably quick which I was happy with but the waiter then decided to reach above my groin to turn the burner on. I know this is my first time here but at least give me an excuse me or tell me how to turn it on myself rather than invade my personal space. Thankfully he didn’t do the same for my girlfriend and we were left alone to eat. The ribeye was good, a little thin which made it fall apart when cooked but I didn’t mind. The fishballs, fishcakes and shrimp balls however were bottom of the barrel. They tasted like walking through a grocery stores seafood aisle and were strangely gritty like a sand-filled clam. My burner had also been turned up to the maximum setting which i didnt realize until too late. It left my noodles overcooked to the point the broth was gelatinous by the time I realized I could turn it down. By the time my broth and noodles were a thick boiling sludge we decided it was time to get the check and get out! It wasn’t that easy though. Our waiter was not to be seen and the only staff walking around were bussing tables. We decided not to bother them and waited a bit longer to see if our waiter would emerge. After 15-20 minutes of this we saw a table in another section ask for their bill so I kindly asked her for ours as well and when she did our waiter decided to show up. I’m not one to write bad reviews ever, this is the first below 4 stars I’ve left but I had such a bad experience I can’t help but to. At the end of the day I spent 65 dollars for my girlfriend and I to be rushed and ignored by our waiter and for really...

I went to Spring once in 2019 and never again until recently. My memories from 2019 were not super positive -- I remember the broth being rather tasteless, and wishing that meat was included in the AYCE which felt quite expensive at the time. I decided to give it another try recently with friends visiting, and I'm definitely glad I did! I went twice in the past month -- once was a Thursday late dinner (8:30pm), and once was a Friday early dinner (5:30pm). Both times, there was no wait for parties of 3-4, but there waits for parties of 2 because they only seat parties of 2 at 2 seaters, which usually get filled up pretty quickly.

If possible, I would recommend going earlier than later. When we went at 8:30, the vegetables were looking pretty beat up and some of the stuff was totally gone. I was pretty shocked at the difference when I went earlier -- everything looked much fresher and plentiful.

The main thing that surprised me was that the broth was...good! It was very flavorful and comparable to the Little Sheep broth packets/Happy Lamb broth. I'm not sure what changed, and others have corroborated my memories of the broth being lacking in flavor in 2019. I tried both the pork bone broth and the mala broth (pork bone broth with spicy oil), and both were great. With the mala broth, I didn't need my sauce because I got all the spicy and savory flavor I wanted.

The price is currently $21.99 per person, and the meat is pretty reasonably priced. I got the fish fillet both times, $7. I think the first time was swai, and the second time was tilapia or something (not as big of a fan of that). But it's definitely possible to fill yourself up on just the buffet.

The greens are really fresh. I always go for the enoki mushrooms since those have gone way up in price in recent years. The enoki at Spring don't look amazing condition-wise, but they do the job and I feel that I am eating my money's worth when I pile up on enoki. The matcha soft serve is also smooth and tasty (does this count as a green?).

I'm happy that I gave Spring another chance -- I really enjoyed my visit, though after going twice in one month I am ready to not go again for another few months... It's good value in today's local economy, and everything is...

Overall, the meal was good, but the service left a lot to be desired.

We were told it would be about 30 minutes to be seated; it took nearly an hour. Once seated, one of the members in my group of 5 realized that they wouldn't be able to eat anything but plain rice due to a medical condition. We asked if it was possible for them to just get rice, and our waitress went to consult with a manager. After a few minutes, the manager (I think) came over, did not answer our question, but told us we needed to move to a smaller table.

It took at least 10 minutes for our new waitress to even acknowledge us. That's when we were told the rice was not going to be possible, unless paying for the full experience, so only 4 of us ate. Our broths came quickly, but it took about 30 minutes to get glasses of water for the table. It was tricky to eat hot food without a drink, but we tried. When the waters finally arrived, one glass was room temperature with no ice.

The food overall was good with a variety of choices, though there were small flies landing on the vegetables in the buffet area, and I struggled a little with the sauces because there were so many but no description of what they tasted like. I ordered a seafood combo which came with crab and shrimp, but it arrived with no way to easily peel/crack them. My only utensil was disposable chopsticks, which were not strong enough to be of any help. Our waitress was nowhere to be found, so I tried my best to do it with my hands. The crab was sharp and eventually I gave up.

We finally saw the waitress again about an hour after being seated, with our check.  One of the members of my group got back up to find her shortly after to ask for a broth refill, as it was never offered to us. She came over and refilled his, but didn't offer a refill to the rest of us who were clearly still eating, and she walked away too quickly to ask.

It's possible our waitress was new, or having a rough day, so I might be willing to try again -- better service would have made for a much nicer experience. I did appreciate how everyone had their own pot because several of us had dietary restrictions and...