Shabu² — Restaurant in Houston

Went to Shabu Squared for dinner, after it popped up on my yelp as a new place to check out. It was the perfect day for it too, with temperatures in the 40s. The decor is modern, and nicer than most of the other shabu places in/around the Asian areas of Bellaire, but not pretentious. The food was delicious. It isn’t explicitly listed on the menu, but the concept is shareable shabu (I’ve been to shabu places with individual pots, and shared pots before). We had a split pot of the spicy tonkatsu and the spicy sukiyaki. The spicy tonkatsu has so much flavor, smooth and almost buttery, with spice without being spicy. We ordered 2 meats (one regular size, and one large), which came with a bowl of veggies each. We also ordered an extra order of tofu, rice, and had 2 additional bowls of veggies. This amount, was perfect for 2 people. A couple portion notes - The portion of rice is rather small, although I’m sure we could have asked for more. I believe they sent the 2 extra bowls of vegetables because there was a bit of a delay getting our meats. Service seems to be working out some kinks, as they’ve only recently opened, and it’s to be expected. The owner was very friendly, and you can tell she’s passionate about shabu and the restaurant. She even comped dessert for us - we had one salted caramel mochi and one blood orange mochi (the owner mentioned they order them from a Hawaiian company). The mochi was DELICIOUS. Pricing is higher than the other shabu places around, but reasonable. Our tab for 2 was just under $80 (keep in mind, 2 bowls of extra veggies/udon and the desserts were comped). The quality is better than the other shabu places though. With the extra veggies and mochi, this meal would have totaled around $95 for two, which doesn’t make it an everyday spot, but could be a nice splurge - especially if you don’t want to go into Bellaire. Location is good, it’s off the beltway south frontage road, in a strip/plaza with a bank and a Jimmy John’s. Parking is a bit confusing when you pull in, as you have to drive around as if you’re going to the hotel behind it, to circle into the front of the strip. Parking may get challenging, depending on the time of day, and if they’re busy.

All in all, this might be my new favorite shabu place in Houston - thinking as they work out kinks of having recently opened, this will be 5 stars next time. Food is...

My fiance and I moved into the location recently and just within the month of November, this is our third visit spending $100-$200. We fancy ourselves hotpot "connoisseurs" having tried over a dozen different hotpot restaurants in 3 different states.

The first two visits here were both 5 stars due to excellent meat and broth. We enjoy the Zabuton, Filet Mignon with the Spicy Tonkotsu broth. That coupled with (generally) friendly servers creates an environment for a pleasant date night.

The reason why we would take away a perfect rating is due to the fact that they provide no pictures on their menu to show what meat you're ordering. You're left picking between a multitude of different unfamiliar cuts with no way of knowing what you're getting until you try it. The other drawback is that they are frequently (every visit so far) out of various alcohol options.

The last time we visited we asked for two different sakes or either of their bottles of wines and all 4 options were out. This was on a Friday afternoon.

To be frank, I would have still given them 5 stars just for the meats and broth, but it just happens that our server for this particular visit was a lot less friendly than our previous two visits and was pressuring us to finish up our meal and pay the check in front of her. They were not busy at this time in the slightest. You would think that with this being our 3rd visit in a single month, she would cut us some slack. She asked over 3 times if she could turn off our hotpot despite still having meat and vegetables on the table and letting her know each time that we were still eating. This also happens to be the only visit where our server did not offer us Togo containers and instead just attempted to have us pay immediately and tip in front of her.

Overall, we would still recommend visiting this restaurant for the tasty meat and broth options. Maybe just bring your own bottle and pay their 15$ corkage fee and don't let your server...

Shabu^2 is an all-you-can-eat hotpot restaurant located near Chinatown (Bellaire Blvd) in Houston.

They offer a variety of soup bases, and the spicy crab soup base is one of my favorites. I have also tried the tom yum, sukiyaki, and tonkotsu bases. The tom yum is an acidic and has a more sour base. The sukiyaki is on the mild side and is a bit lackluster and bland compared to the other. The tonkotsu sauce is creamy and rich. The spicy crab is a bit spicy and more acidic.

There is a time limit of about 1 hour and thirty minutes. They offer tiers of all-you-can-eat, as well as a la carte. I have tried both tier 1 and tier 2. I think the biggest difference is that noodles are unlimited in tier 2, whereas they are extra in tier 1 and will be an additional cost. Meat options in tier 1 and 2 are quite good, and there is quite a bit of a variety of meats to choose from on both.

I also like to mix the sichuan sauce with the paste they provide you! It blends well with the spicy crab soup items.

The restaurant is a bit smaller and reservations might be needed if you have a larger party.

Although the food is good, the service is always one of the worst I ever had. The food takes quite a while to come out, and the servers rarely check on you and can be a bit rude at times. Since they rarely come to check on you, sometimes we just wait with no food in our pot for a while. I'm not sure if it's intentional because if the time limit. I wish they had a food in the center or something for us to just get and prevent this wait and maybe have the servers bring out the meat(?). I have been there a few times, and each time the service is always disappointing.

Overall, the spicy crab soup is really good, but the service can be frustrating to the point where I debate if it's...