Hawaii Pot Shabu Shabu House — Restaurant in Honolulu

I hate to write low rated reviews, especially during COVID times, but I feel like I have to for this one.

Ended up coming here because pictures looked amazing on Yelp and it was a rainy day. But I’d say we were definitely catfished.

First of all, not much veggie, meat and soup options provided, and I felt like it was really overpriced for the limited options. There’s only three choice of meat.

They also switched from are see-through cover to plastic bowl so you can’t see what’s on the conveyer belt unless if you stand up which is dumb and I think they did that to discourage eating more.

I wouldn’t have mind that they have limited options for meat and veggies etc if they were at least good quality. The rib eye beef was definitely not a ribeye, it had absolutely zero fat and marbling in it. It seemed like it was a cheap cut of tough and lean meat. You cannot fool me by trying to sell it as ribeye. Some of the vegetables looked really old and didn’t seem fresh. And the potstickers didn’t even have any meat in it.

Only pros is that good sauce options and the roe filled fish balls.

Overall, I don’t recommend this place to anyone. You better off going to Shabuya or it would be wayyyy better to make your own hotpot with better...

Pretty pricey. $18 for lunch all-you-can-eat for adults, $16 or so for kids. However, the kids meal comes with a drink and a little dessert, so super cute. And if your little one likes veggies, then this is the joint for sure! Corn on the cob, little Japanese sausages, or arabiki, fish cake or kamaboko, and a variety of fun vegetables like snow peas and zucchini, make this a favorite for the little kids we know. the Miso soup option is mild and comes with tofu. A nice option for little kids, if they don't like a strong Seafood flavor or if they don't like anything hot or super salty. Seafood broth comes with clams, which are in your soup. Love that!

We went on a weekday for lunch, and the servers there were super helpful and kind. Little difficult to understand the accent, but that's okay.

Uses the five-star app. Check there for a discount. Make sure that the points are rewarded though-- sometimes the very nice cashier does forget. Try to pay with cash and maybe you'll get an extra discount.

Recommend for families and groups. Ask about MSG sensitivity though. Love the fresh food and the little clear plastic cloches on the dishes.

Park on-street for the best deal. There is a validated parking lot, but...

I didn't really know what to expect when I came here besides knowing that it was a hot pot place with personal hot pots. Despite the shabu shabu in its name, this place definitely had a Chinese style hot pot experience. The tables doubled as the heating elements and you could choose to either have individual pots or share a big pot with everyone in your party. The all you can eat price includes meat and all your typical hot pot fare which came to you on a conveyor belt (not unlike some sushi restaurants). The selection of broth wasn't very extensive, but they did have plenty of ingredients for you to concoct a dipping sauce to your liking as well as a good selection of meats (though some incurred additional costs). I also very much enjoyed my miso soup base and unlimited sweet green tea. Honestly, pretty good hot pot experience, but the service was a bit spotty despite it being a fairly small venue. At least on our visit, it took a few tries to flag the wait staff down for soup...