Kim Shabu — Restaurant in Houston

I don’t ever like leaving bad google reviews nor confrontation but I would like to share my experience at this Restaurant. I saw a Instagram reel promoting this place and I LOVE hotpot, so I convinced my bf to go with me on a random day. it was pretty slow if im honest & we thought we would be sat pretty fast.That was not the case, not only were most tables full of dirty dishes from previous costumers, we waited for a good 5min before the waiter (Isaac) screamed from across the room “how many people??” We said two and he walked to us and sat us then left, after a good few min he brought the menus and asked what drinks. Then he left again, he then came back and asked for the broth and left, after what seemed like a good 10min our broth and drinks came out, we didn’t have chopsticks or any utensils. So again we couldn’t start eating, after they gave us our utensils, they asked us for our meats, which also took long to come out. Like I said I don’t like confrontation so I just let it be. From the time we got our food to the time we left our server came to check on us ONCE, I’d understand if it was busy… but it was not. I only got upset when I noticed a group of (Korean) ladies come in, and the server (isaac) greeted them with a great smile and walk to them, he sat them down took their order all in one go, even the other server who never looked our way was serving them and they got their food in an instant. I won’t bore you guys with the rest of the details but the favoritism was obvious. I don’t want to assume but I’m guessing because my bf and I weren’t Korean(I am Hispanic & He’s Vietnamese) they treated us not as great. The restaurant food wasn’t bad, we enjoyed it at the end but the customer service was horrible. They need to train their employees with better customer service because at the end of the day they are the face of...

This is a “mom & pop” Korean hotpot restaurant. Not a huge selection, and the sauces are more of the traditional Korean shabu style. However…. the small and limited selection they offer for the buffet, is all the good stuff. No fillers and miscellaneous junk to get the kids full. All the good meats, your basic veggies, mushrooms, and my kids’ favorite, the handmade noodles. (This place used to be a handmade specialty noodle restaurant so it still says Noodle restaurant on the outdoor sign.)

I honestly feel like we get our money’s worth here because they only carry the premium meats and veggies. They’d actually probably increase profits by offering some of the fillers and miscellaneous sides, but hey, I personally like that they don’t.

As far as the service, they’re very limited in staffing. Mainly family members I think. But I like the personable service and the fact that we’re supporting a small, family owned and operated business. We still have never had to wait too long for more meat- seems to be a good, constant, steady flow. But I do consciously try not to waste food here or use excessive amount of plates. I’m sure that backs them up in the kitchen.

Anyway, just my two cents. It’s definitely my son’s favorite restaurant and we’d love to see them thrive and stay open for many years!!

P.S. We’re not big seafood eaters and I’d probably recommend going elsewhere if that’s what you want. I believe they only have squid, blue crabs, & large shrimp, if I remember correctly. Oh and fish balls/shrimp balls. We mainly go...

Kim Shabu is my happiest find of 2024 in Houston.

This used to be a soup noodle place and has since been completely remodeled. It now offers - dare I say - the best individual hotpots in Houston.

That's a bold claim given we have so many hotpot spots. So what do I base that on?

The variety of items. The seafood and veggie+ bar is impressively varied, and with 12 cuts of meat offered for dinner, Kim Shabu gives you permutations and combinations of concoctions between veggies, meats, seafood, carbs, and sauces. Don't skip on the rice cakes and the hand-pulled noodles towards the end.

The freshness. This is unbeatable. I don't know how they offer so many items and yet keep them all so fresh. I probably ate a pound of mushrooms and crown daisy each, and don't get me started on the meat. So fresh and so good. Such good quality.

The flavors. Both the House and Beef broth are delicious. While my pot tasted like really thick mushroom soup by the end of the meal, the broth was good from the get go. The sauces were also spot on. The avocado sauce was so good and spicy, and I also enjoyed the soy-based House and Ponzu sauces as well as the black sesame sauce. And the peanut sauce. And the ssamjang. I ate a lot of sauces.

Service was also prompt. I'm really happy with this find!

Edit: Turns out that I really disliked my experience at this location prior to the remodeling, but definitely go and support this new hotpot gig. The Shabu...