California Shabu Shabu — Restaurant in Merrifield

I got sushi and a few bao. Did not try the shabu shabu, and I wanted to be able to give them another chance to try it, but after my experience, I'm not willing to, unfortunately.

There were only two other parties of customers for most of my time there, yet service was lacking. I ordered the Wagyu Nigiri, Salmon Sashimi, a salmon bao and a wagyu bao. The server even asked me to confirm I wanted sashimi, and I said yes.

The salmon bao came out first. It was pretty good—not particularly memorable or impressive, but okay.

Next came the Wagyu nigiri, and alongside it, salmon nigiri instead of sashimi. When the waitress asked me how everything was, I did let her know I had actually ordered the sashimi, but that it would be okay & I would keep the nigiri. She apologized. The salmon nigiri was decent, but again not memorable. The wagyu nigiri looked quite impressive with the quail egg and roe on top, but ultimately the meat itself was hard to bite through, because it had quite a lot of connective tissue. It was not exactly the melt-in-your-mouth meat that I would've expected at this price point.

Then came the wait. When I was done with those dishes and had been sitting a few minutes, a different server asked me if I was waiting for anything and I told her I was still waiting on the wagyu bao. After she talked to both my server and the gentleman who had brought out my nigiri, my server came over with the printed ticket for my order without the wagyu bao on it & I let her know that I had wanted both the nigri and the bao—that was a mistake, I should've just let them leave it off and left the restaurant then.

Instead I waited as the bao was cooked, just to end up unimpressed by the same hard-to-bite wagyu, now in a bun. In the meantime, I also saw a couple order platters of something or other which they informed their server were "sour" and I half-heard their comment that something "might be damaged." I don't know what was wrong with their food, but I do know their platters got taken back and they waited until they received new (presumably non sour) ones.

I did end my visit by getting the mochi ice cream, which I enjoyed but was pretty standard. It was when I was nearly done with my mochi that my waitress finally made an attempt to make up for the poor service I had received up to that point, by offering me a cup of green tea on the house. I accepted, which is why this review isn't as low as it could be—even though with two servers and a max of 5 parties (including me) my water was...

This is a traditional Japanese style shabu-shabu hot pot place with high quality meat hidden inside of a local strip mall in fairfax. please don't compare this to Korean or Chinese All you can eat hot pot as it's a different category.

From the ponzu and sesame dipping sauce it immediately reminded me of Shabu-Shaba restaurants from Japan town in San Francisco. (Not sure if that's where the inspiration came from for their name of the restaurant itself.)

As soon as I sat down to take a glance at the sake menu, I knew this place was serious about the attention to detail with picking the sake and the quality of food. My personal favorite being the 'demom slayer's Wakatake Onikoroshi a Junmai Daiginjo & Dassai 23 another Junmai Daiginjo which pairs perfectly with shabu shabu in my opinion. The sake was also served perfectly chilled through a Hario ice dispenser ( glass funnel-like concoction that has ice in a separate glass so you don't dilute the sake and it's self-served). Before we could finish the first bottle Duke provided a bottle of Amabuki, a rose colored sake that was made with black rice.

So for the food, first of all, this is not an all you can eat hot pot place but focus on quality meat and seafood .For beef ribeye you have an option between choice prime, Kobe and over the top. A5 wagyu . I went for the middle of the road prime ribeye and honestly the King Kong portion of prime beef is perfect if not a little large for a single person. When we visited with the large party of 10 plus on a week day, the entire staff were very accommodating and the service was also attentive.

The edamame and sweet potato fries were favorites for my young kids while the prime beef shabu shabu was with standard Kombu broth was just perfect. A few of our friends tried the spicy miso which was also great. As far as the meat goes, I thought it was perfectly sliced and had great marbling. Everyone, including the staff and especially Duke the owner came out to make sure everything was perfect throughout the meal.

thank you for an excellent meal...

We came here on a weekday night around 8:30 and was immediately greeted with unimpressive service. There was a group sitting around the lower end of the circular table, but no other customers. A young girl walked out several times restocking utensils, didn't look up at all, completely disregarded us. We finally called out to her and asked if we should seat ourselves. The meal itself was pretty decent - meat quality was pretty good even just at the "choice" level. Veggies were fresh and really liked the noodle soup at the end. Note - the hot pot "broth" is just plain water with kombu (seaweed). You can add soy sauce, garlic, and other additives to the water if you choose to. Then the cooked veggies and meat are dipped into sauces you create (or the server can help you create). The same girl who sat us also helped us with our sauce and how to order; she just lacked character and warmth. She was completely nonchalant, and when she wasn't turning our stove up/down, she was standing there watching us eat - it was awkward. The other woman who was also behind the counter was much nicer and warmer. Overall, the meal was a 4, but -1 is strictly from the price. For the price, we could have just gone to an AYCE...