UMI Japanese Shabu Shabu — Restaurant in Meridian

I visited UMI Japanese Shabu Shabu today. This is a bit odd. For something like this to exist in Idaho, the restaurant owner has a lot of guts. Very commendable. Even by Asian standards, shabu-shabu is in a niche category. Where I grew up, something like this is not uncommon, but it's not my go-to. But I know it's good. Just getting inside here felt like I entered an Asian sanctuary or worship site with the fraction of Idaho's Asian population having an important meeting. It's just...surreal. I can easily say "Thank God, Idaho now has the definitive Asian restaurant." But there's an asterisk in that statement. This shabu-shabu buffet will cost you like $30 per head. If you'll ask me if it's worth it, I'd easily say yes because I've been waiting for something like this to show up since I arrived in Idaho in 2018. Though I understand that some people may not eat something that they're not familiar with, let alone pay $30 for it. So it's not the sweetest proposition, especially when what you see in the buffet selection are mostly fish balls or whatever type of balls you may not be familiar with. But I'll make a simple guideline to this. At any time, you choose only one type of broth. You put stuff in that broth. You don't need to overthink the cooking time. They all cook relatively quick. If you don't know what sauce to use, just use the oyster sauce. If you don't like the balls, just ask for the Wagyu beef. Probably the best slice of beef I've tasted from an Idaho restaurant yet. There's also rice but their rice is the type that gets you full really quick. So I don't necessarily recommend that you take a lot of this. Since this is technically a buffet, there's no to-go for leftovers. There could be a fee for leftovers, but they were lenient on me. But I still suggest that you avoid having leftovers. Don't eat too much rice. I have to say, this may be the best-looking restaurant I've been to after seeing Zulee. This place is really trying to make a statement. I happened to grew up liking all these fish balls so this felt like heaven to me. This restaurant didn't compromise on its Asian-ness. Even that ramen that you'll put in the broth, it's not a run-of-the-mill ramen. I'll definitely come back, but maybe not super soon because...

Just go 5 minutes away and go to K Pot.

Unfortunately our service really ruined the experience. Our server came to our table and asked if we were ready when she handed us menus. We had done hotpot elsewhere but never here, so we asked a few questions. When we mentioned it was our first time there, she said "oh another one." Her tone said enough.

She didn't tell us they didn't give us bowls, tongs, or soup spoons. You have to get them yourself and they are on a bottom shelf under the tea pot.

She didn't bring us our appetizers or sushi because she forgot to order them.

The meats all came to our table while we were gone and they were hard to tell apart. I mean, obviously the pork was pork and the chicken was chicken. But the beef cuts and lamb were so similar looking it was hard to tell them apart. Plus, the three of us all had to determine what was what in one big stack and figure out who ordered what. It wouldn't have been a big deal expect we were already frustrated.

So, she comes by and asks how everything is. Two of the three have empty waters and our pitcher was empty. Our appetizers still haven't shown up and neither had the sushi. We asked about them all. She looked surprised and said she will get right on it. She went right to the point of sale and ordered it. Our apps came out within a few minutes but no waters.

The other server in our area passed by and asked if everything was ok. He ended up bringing us water. She brought us water right after and laughed that someone else did.

We then asked about sushi again. She went back and ordered it. It finally came when we were all done eating.

The atmosphere and the food, aside from the bad service, were both kind of bland. The seating was comfortable but there were power cords hanging down from our table that I kept bumping. The selection of veggies was limited to onions and bok choi. The broth was pretty watery flavor wise. The sauces helped but it wasnt a huge selection. I wanted to try the buns, but the taro ones I had were very bland and soggy.

Maybe she was having a bad day but man she never even tried to make anything better for us. I'm not sure if we offended her or maybe she was hungry. But I'm not interested in going back. I'll go 5 minutes...

The “check wait times” on Google is not reliable. I looked online and there was nothing about making reservations. I assumed this is just walk-in similar to Texas Roadhouse. I had a party of 8 and they asked if I had reservations. I did not but did not see anything on their page about it. Yes, I should have called so I take that responsibility to verify. They were about to turn us away, but was able to make last minute accommodations. The hostess were nice about it and appreciated that they did that.

The food was excellent! My parents are from Laos and Thailand, and when they say they loved it…they really loved it! The flavors, the spice, the protein/veggie options, etc. were worth the cost! The price was definitely reasonable as well.

The service could be improved. I am very patient as I worked in the food industry, but having to call for service was annoying. They gave us one carafe of water for 8 people. We had to keep asking for drinks, napkins, utensils, etc. I had to stop a hostess to order a drink, because our hostess was nowhere. We had to figure out how to use the stove and how the process worked. Our tabled needed bussed but again no where to be found until hostess came and cleared for us. Our server was nice but additional training on the service could be improved.

Overall, I would go back. Grateful that we finally have a hot pot with great flavors in the...