Shabushabu Mayumon — Restaurant in New York

Incredible experience with incredible food at the sister restaurant to Shabu Shabu Macoron. I went on a Tuesday for dinner and found at I was the only one who reserved for the day as Tuesdays were slow days for the place, so I had the full attention of Chef Mayu throughout the delicious Shabu Shabu course. To clarify, Macoron's omakase trends more towards Japanese style and flavors, while Mayumon features a larger focus on the taste of meat and fusion flavors.

First off, the venue has a long bar-table area upon which food is served, brightly lit enough to accentuate the classy atmosphere and complimented by decidedly jazzy background music. Chef Mayu was friendly and receptive to both welcome me and answer any questions I has about the course/ingredients, doing both the cooking and serving of drinks herself.

Then comes the food, which as mentioned before, was nothing short of uniquely spectacular. The tasting menu features a curious mix of western inspired Japanese dishes executed to great effect, with the bagna cauda appetizer standing out to me for its rich umami flavor balanced out by the bright and juicy vegetables to dip into it.

The meats themselves were a good mix of highly marbled A4 Miyazaki beef, pork belly and flavorful Washugyu beef, with the choice of A4 being a purposeful choice as A5's fat content would not translate optimally to Mayu's unique Shabu Shabu preparation and accompanying sauces. I in particular was surprised by the use of blue cheese, basil sauce, fig sauce and balsamic vinegar on one of the beef pieces, as it was a combination of cultures and flavors that I was not expecting, but was delighted to find worked perfectly together. As I was the sole patron for the night, the whole course took just under an hour or so to complete, with the pacing of the meal coming at just the right intervals to allows for proper consumption and appreciation of the food without feeling too rushed or neglected. Props to Chef Mayu for that.

Overall, the ~128usd sans tax tasting menu was more than enough food for me to leave feeling full and satisfied. Of note is that Chef Mayu told me that sometimes people get too full towards the end of the course that they forego the soba noodles and kakigori shaved ice, so there's no need to worry about not leaving satiated. I'm definitely planning to come again and bring others along with me as Chef Mayu is thinking about changing up the menu since the restaurnts launch in May of 2019, and wholeheartedly recommend this place to anyone looking to venture out of the ever popular sushi omakase and try out...

Went with my girlfriend and her mom for my gf's birthday. Tried to go in with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised! Truly a unique shabu experience and I learned it was the same group that runs Cocoron which I also love. The course menu is all prepared by the staff and beautifully done. There wasn't a dish that I thought was bad. Apps were fun and varied from scallops, to Caesar salad, to the tofu skin with uni which was very different. All the meat was fantastic as you could expect from Washugyu and A5 Wagyu. We were served by one of the owners Mayu and she was friendly and quick to serve! Was satisfying to watch her prepare every bite. There were 3 types of meat they used throughout the meal alternating through each one. Some of the courses I was skeptical of like the ones with tomato sauce or basil sauce actually were very well balanced in flavor and a nice break from the rest of the Japanese flavored meats and veggies. The sukiyaki was delicious and I gulped the remaining egg and sauce. Soba was a nice clean brothy ending to it all but the black sesame ice cream really capped it off nicely. Probably the best black sesame ice cream I've ever had. Gave the ambiance a 4 because it did get a tad bit hot in there, but that is just me being picky. Loved the jazz music that was playing and this place reminded me of the tiny hallway style restaurants in bars in Japan. Mayu took care of us really well and even brought out my girlfriend a candle and little Happy Birthday ornament for her ice cream. Would definitely return for special occasions as it definitely is pricey but as a guy who generally eats a lot, I was content at the end of the meal because I was skeptical if it was going to be enough...

Nice, cozy bar-seating only restaurant that serves a curated shabu prix fixe with A5 beef and pork.

The ambiance was great and so was the service. The chefs were very good with their preparation of the shabu. The experience was novel; I'd never been to a place where they prepare shabu for you. Usually you cook your own beef in the broth.

The quality of the meat was apparent. The marbling was great, and cooked right such that each bite had that velvety umami you look for. Some bites were better than others, but I appreciated how they were attempting to showcase different kinds of meat mixed with different kinds of sauce.

Unfortunately, there were two major problems with this concept. One was that there were barely any vegetables throughout the prix fixe. Yes, you get some lettuce wrapped in pork belly but the meal overall desperately needed non-meat dishes so that your stomach can catch a break from such heavy fatty food. Instead, nearly every single course had fatty meat in it, and the whole experience became very much one note. Another problem was pace. They pack the prix fixe into 1.5 hours. That results in a pretty fast-paced meal. This may have worked if the courses weren't so heavy. I found the pace way too fast. By the midway point of the prix fixe, I didn't want any more meat; I wanted a break or vegetables.

Overall, the experience was interesting, but it was a concept that was not...