Prime Beef Shabu — Restaurant in The Woodlands

So we ate at Prime Beef Shabu in The Woodlands next to Perrys for the first time Sunday night.  It is our understanding this was their second week in business.

The food and service was pretty good but I think they need to work out some kinks on the service end.

This was our first time at a place like this.  We could have used some additional instruction.

It is a hot pot restaurant.   If anyone in your dinner party doesn't want hot pot this is not the place for you.

Other than a few appotizers (seaweed salad, shrimp tempura, and a few others, which by the way were very good) and a buffet style bar with mix your own sauce ingredients  (and recipes on the wall behind them), fruits, appetizers (egg rolls, won tons, the biggest chicken wings I have ever seen) and ice cream and sesame balls (agsin all very good) all they have is hot pot.  Fortunately we all liked and wanted hot pot.

FYI.  There are bowls and plates for the bar items underneath the bar.  It is dimly lit and hard to see.  Next time I will make up 2 or 3 sauces to try.

Unfortunately we did not find out about the buffet style bar until more than halfway through our meal.  Hence most of our meal without dipping.sauces was kind of bland.   Our server should have told us but didn't.

My favorite hot pot restaurant is Mala Sichuan  Bistro in Chinatown  where I have been going two to three times.a year for the past ten years to eat their famous Hot Pot of the Outlaws.  It is quite a drive.  But it is amazing and.well worth it  Shabu compares favorably.

What I really liked about  Shabu was I could pick what I wanted in my hot pot (they bring you individual items on plates and in  bowls) and I could tear it up into bite sized peoces before cooking it.

I have also eaten hot pot at some other Chinese and Japanese restaurants.  In every case they brought out a gas or electric burner to set on the table.  Not at Shabu.

We sat in a booth.  They have tables too.

The tables are unusual.  It had six pot sized holes in it for the metal hot pots to sit in.  And at the end of the table is a cart to put your full and empty hot pot serving plates and bowls on that was really useful because of limited table space.

Each diner is given a small bowl and plate to put their cooked food in or on and a set of chopsticks to eat it with.  I don't know if they have forks.  We didn't ask.  But we did have to ask for ladels to fish the cooked food out which they readily provided.  I don't think we should have had to ask.

The heating control is under the table is hard to reach and see.  Especially in a booth.  Especially if you are a large body type like me.

But after some practice and my wife ducking her head under the table to operate the controls it worked quite well.  3 out of 6 on the setting control worked pretty well for me.

They have half a dozen broths to choose from.  Everyone but me chose the mushroom broth and seemed to like it.  I chose the spicy broth like at Mala.  I chose medium spice.  It was plenty spicy and I like spicy things.  FYI.  Some broths like mine are oil based and you shouldn't eat them like soup.

For the most part ordering items to put in the hot pots was easy and efficient.  My only complaint is I had to ask 3x to get a seaweed salad and a second time to get some of the ingredients. But there was a huge selection and the items were very good.

The sliced beef, which is excellent by the way, comes out on a wooden plate that is too big to fit on the limited table space.  Because we had 4 diners and there were 6 hot pot holes we set them over the middle holes.  I guess it.would have to stay on the cart if you had 6 diners.

A word of caution.  Near as as I could tell you are supposed to move the raw beef, chicken, and seafood off the serving plates into your hot pot with your chopsticks.  If someone knows different please let me know.  The same chopsticks you eat with.  So after handling raw meat with them I'd let them sit in your hot pot a bit to kill any bacteira.

Dinner on weekends is $33 and I think...

Update. One week after the review below. Went back again for the third time. Everything was absolutely amazing. Joanna with our waitress this time and she was absolutely amazing. She gave us some tips on things to try we hadn't tried before that were delicious. And she also made some special sauce for us. With the membership discount three people late for 93 including tip. Last weekend the same three people went to an upscale Steakhouse and our dinner cost $300 and I wrote a bad review. An incredible feel for the money and even if it cost more it would still be worth it

Following is my previous review Second time at Prime Beef Shabu. It was wonderful and probably as good as any meal I've ever eaten.

Last month we didn't find out there was a fruit, appetizer, make your own sauce, and vegetable bar until we were most of the way through our meal. We also made our own sauce and didn't realize there were recipes for different kinds of sauces written on the wall behind the bar. This time we were better prepared.

This time I got the spicy soup base with mild spice instead of medium spice, and my wife got the mushroom soup base again. We both tried both and felt the spicy soup base with mild spice was better. It is important to remember that the spicy soup base is oil-based and you're not supposed to drink it like soup but only cook and it.

A number of people replied to my previous review saying that great Hot Pot is all about the dipping sauces. Now being more familiar with the sauces I could not agree more.

This time the very first thing I did at the was to make up three different kinds of sauces for my meal using the recipes on the wall behind the sauces. All of the sauces I made were great but the one for the spicy broth was the best.

After getting my sauces is squared away I helped myself to the egg roll and wonton appetizers and some fried rice on the appetizer bar. On the same bar you also get your vegetables for your hot pot. All were very good

Having squared away our sauces, and veggies, we ordered two kinds of beef, lamb, pork tenderloin, shrimp, fish, all four kinds of mushrooms, tripe, tofu, and green bean noodles. They were all wonderful.

They also brought out four tongs for placing the meats and vegetables into the broth without any cross-contamination and two spoons, a solid one and a wire one for fishing the ingredients out of the hot pot. We only used the wire one and it worked great for separating the broth from the ingredients. The food was amazing.

For dessert I had vanilla and green tea ice cream and my wife had mango and vanilla ice cream. All were good but the mango was really refreshing and I will be sure to get that next time.

We really enjoyed the meal and felt it was a great deal of delicious food with generous portions and a real deal with our membership discount at about 65 bucks with tip. I can't wait to go back.

And best of all, I am diabetic which I control with metformin, jardiance, and ozempic. After I got home from the meal my blood sugar was only at 135. Usually most meals, especially those rich in carbs, spike my blood sugar between 160 and 190. What a wonderful way to be completely satisfied on mostly meats and vegetables.

All in all a wonderful evening that must soon be repeated. Lesson learned. Hot Pot is all about the sauce.

Went back again almost 6 months later. We are probably going here once or twice a month minimum. Tonight Matthew was our waiter. He was really good. And the food was...

Hot Pot Heaven – Where Even the Frog Legs Slap

Walked into this brand-new hot pot joint and wow—hidden gem alert. I went with the house special broth (medium heat) and it was insanely flavorful. Everything from the meats (which looked like they were sourced straight from a five-star butcher) to the veggies (fresh enough to audition for a skincare commercial) was on point.

Desserts? Let’s talk. The matcha and mango ice cream were chef’s kiss, and then they hit you with a taro shaved ice machine like it’s the secret final boss of sweetness.

Service was top-tier. The staff were attentive without hovering, and best of all, they didn’t once mention a time limit. No subtle rush, no disappearing acts—just good vibes and great food.

I splurged on the beef tongue and it was totally worth it—super tender and packed with flavor. Now I’ve got my eyes on that Japanese A5 Wagyu like it’s a treasure chest in a video game. Even the frog leg was suspiciously tasty (I wasn’t prepared for that).

11/10. This place is the real deal. No weird upcharges, no shady waiter behavior—just an amazing, relaxed hot pot experience. Bring your appetite and maybe a food-loving friend who won’t judge you for going back for fifths.

Update 2nd time:

Second time here and ordered the A5 Waygu which was really good honestly. You can definitely taste the difference. This time the restaurant was packed making it the true service test. Honestly I was impressed, when it was packed everyone went on turbo mode and offered a really good service. I did have to ask for water like 3 times but I don’t blame them everyone was busy. The waitress was very jolly, even with my hungry face she always smile. Made me change my whole mood from the good food and her being so nice and happy. Wishing this place the...