Shabu Town — Restaurant in Katy

Slight disappointment with this place. While there was nothing bad with the place, I have some issues that have to be addressed.

I went here on a weekend before 12 pm. Place wasnt too crowded, maybe twenty cuatomers in the resturant. .We were charged the dinner price 27.99 and the drinks were 2.99. No problem with that.

The food bar had a wider selection than the other all you can eat shabu restaurants but not by much. I would say there was a larger white clam, more flavoured noodles, and the flat Korean fishcakes were the noticable differences. Otherwise they were like the other restaurants in selection.

As for the raw meat choices we have something to note here. Meat was quite leaner than what you get from other restaurants save for the fatty brisket and pork belly. It was somewhat rougher in mouthfeel and not as juicy as the other places. Asking for the meats took a while maybe 10 minutes from the time of initial request. Not good the place was not busy.

Vegtables were fresh, not much problems here.

Fish balls were a higher quality than usual. Crab was of the defrosted Chinese blue crab. They were stingy with the frozsn oysters though. I am not a oyster fan but the other places just lay in out there in a large pan, not just on a dinner plate. See photo for reference.

They have plenty of the omasum tripe. In big pieces too. Thats nice.

I ordered a beverage. I was done with it. Then waiting for about 20 min as the server tended to other parties. She passed by the table by again to ask if we needed me meat to cook. TEN minutes pass by, the meat was delivered and still the empty cup was not tended to. Desperately trying to get her attention without stating the obvious, I physically placed the cup on the edge of the table in front of the empty meat platters. She finally noticed.

I chose the Beef bone marrow broth #2. It was quite peppery at first, but quickly lost it when I started cooking items in it.

Overall the impression of the resturant is ok. The food is good, but the other buffets do it a little better. Especially in service. See my other reviews. (I'm not shilling myself, just trying to stay impartial here!). Execution particularly on service needs to be worked on. I understand this is a family run business but there are some basic things you...

Please know this is solely on service and principle. The meat/food is always 10/10.

I’ve liked Shabu Town because I get the best of both Korean BBQ and hotpot. The environment is very chilled and the music never misses. Recently they’ve added an automatic 18% tip to your ticket. Last time I stopped one of the younger ladies just to give a kind word of advice. Informing her if you were going to take my option of tipping away or putting a minimum on it, you gotta make sure the service matches. I’m all for the chilled workers, like as long as I’m good I can’t complain. However, if I’m looking for you constantly or having to get up to get your attention, ehhh, it kinda sucks. I compromised because the food is great. I just tip my $10 and keep moving. Unless, they really interact with me then I’ll gladly tip more. (I’m also the same person that cleans up everything from the table including the ground before I leave.)

She did inform me they could take it off. I said no, it’s only $5 more than I usually tip. That’s okay.

Brings us to today, the 2nd, food of course amazing. As my daughter is throwing a tantrum, we are patiently waiting for our ticket. I finally get up and ask the lady sitting down on her phone for our tab. She proceeds to hand me the tab right on the table next to her…. I check it, I see the 18% close to $18. Now maybe it’s just me, but that’s close to a $20 tip. I ask her to remove it. She says it’s the policy. I told her the last time they told us we could remove it and tip whatever we’ll like. At this point she’s being rude, takes the tab, says “this is my establishment, I can charge you whatever I like.” As she’s walking to remove the 18% “this time I do, but next time it’s automatic 18%” that switched to its “18% automatic for barbecue” (mind you, I only had one grill change)

me: i don’t think there’ll be a next time. her: that’s good!

Honestly, I was just shocked about the rudeness as if I was asking her to change it to $0 when I just said lower it.

freaking sucks because they’re amazing and we would go atleast once a week during the weekdays, but I’ll rather pay Honeypig their extra $10 for leftovers and their tip than experience...

Our evening started well but ended on a bad note. First, I will start by saying the food is kept fresh and the interior is well maintained. The broths were lacking flavor. The guy that sat us did let us know that all the broths, with the exception of 2, were powder broths. However, you barely tasted any flavor, which was disappointing. Our biggest complaint was when we were brought the check. We went in 4 adults and 4 children, 2 of which are under the age of 4, which on their website it says that the child's price is for children ages 4-10. On the check, we were being charged a shared hotpot for a child under 4. On top of this, they were charging forced gratuity, which is ILLEGAL to do without disclosing it to your patrons. They don't tell you, it's not on any signs, nor is it on the menus. When I asked about the shared hotpot, we were charged, and the gratuity two people told me that I needed to get with our waitress, who was nowhere to be found. When she came back, she came back with a corrected ticket, but she came back with an attitude and tried to fight me about it. I told her we weren't going to pay for the gratuity, and she told me we had to because we were sitting at a big table. We didn'tpick the table and half of our party were children. When I asked for the manager, she said they don't have a manager there. What kind of establishment doesn't have a manager on duty? Later, the gentleman that sat us down came to the table, and I told him we weren't going to pay for the forced gratuity because that was never disclosed to us, which I am sure is illegal. Needless to say, for better broth and an all you can eat experience, try KPot. It's a better place for hotpot, and for 5 dollars more, you get bbq. And a tip to the establishment... IF YOURE GOING TO FORCE GRATUITY, YOU HAVE TO...