Reviews for Shabu² in Houston, TX
I love anything hotpot. Vietnamese style hotpot is a personal favorite, but shabu shabu ties with it. Shabu Shabu is a Japanese... style hotpot that consists of a lighter broth that builds flavor as you add more meat and vegetables. Shabu Squared is on thepricier side for hotpot as they use higher end ingredients. A lot of the meats are wagyu cuts. I don't recommend the expensivemeats since it's a thinner cut and it generally tastes the same as you dip it in the broth. Each broth comes with two sauces(ponzu and goma), small bowl of rice, and vegetable/noodle bowl per person. The vegetable/noodle bowl comes with various greens,mushrooms, Japanese pumpkin, corn, tofu, broccoli, and udon noodles. We come often for weekend lunch, and we are mostly seatedright away. It does get busier for dinner times. There is plenty of private parking around the plaza. My preferredcombination: Spicy sukiyaki broth (comes with raw egg yolk) 6 oz beef belly 6 oz sashimi grade salmon Pro tip 1: ask for thespicy hot drops in your sauces! It really elevates the flavor and spice profile. Pro tip 2: one broth type is enough to feed2-3 people and can cut costs. If you really want to try more flavors, they have the option for 2 flavors/bowl. Read more
Shabu Squared is Houston's first Shabu Shabu restaurant and bar. If you don?t know what this is, Shabu Shabu is a Japanese... nabemono hot pot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water. The term is onomatopoeic, derived from the soundemitted "swish-swish" when the ingredients are stirred in the cooking pot and served with dipping sauces. It?s very differentthan the typical Chinese hot pot restaurants all over Chinatown. We have been frequenting Shabu Shabu for years now, and we canconfirm it is one of our favorite restaurants in Houston. They have a free private parking lot which always has space available.We typically go for lunch on the weekends, and it?s usually not super busy. If going for dinner, you may experience a longerwait, so keep this in mind. As for food, we always order: +Sukiyaki broth for $3 with Spicy paste ($1 extra) +Beef Belly (6oz) for $16 +Sashimi Grade Salmon (6 oz) for $21 Each broth comes with a bowl of vegetables, mushrooms, and udon noodles. Italso comes with two dipping sauces and a bowl of rice. Make sure to ask for the spicy hot sauce drops for the dipping sauces! Ifdining with more people and sharing the broth, they will charge extra for these items. Overall, Shabu Squared is a greatrestaurant in Houston. It?s clean, the service is great, it?s spacious, it?s modern, and the food is incredible and tasty. Sure,you may be spending a lot more than you?re used to, especially for food in/near Chinatown, but it?s worth it for what you get. Iwould highly recommend checking them out! Read more
Came for dinner last night. Tony was our waiter. He took his time to explain the menu to us. Brought out a special chili oil for... our sauces. We enjoyed the experience. Read more
First time here and I'll definitely come back. Our server was very courteous and always check up on us so we never run out of... anything. Fresh quality meats and vegetables, perfect with the broth. Love it. Read more
Probably one of my top 5 shabu experiences. The meats were tender and delicious. Service was efficient. Lastly the dips and... broth tied everything together! Space was a little tight but you can classify it as ?intimate? haha Very enjoyable meal Read more
Incredible experience! Definitely on the pricier side, but for good reason; the service and quality of food is great! Our... servers were attentive and explained the process thoroughly. I'll definitely be coming back! Read more
This place is amazing The food was awesome it was more than we anticipated. The atmosphere was amazing as well. But our server... Tony .who I understand is there on Fridays, Saturday nights and Sunday in the day time.(but I'm sure all of the staff is great,as well). But Tony made us feel as if we were at his home for dinner. If it's your 1st time going please go and see Tony ,heexplained everything and helped us through the process to the point we forgot it was are 1st time. We have already planned tomake this Restaurant A place that we visit often. Read more
My husband and I tried hot pot here for the first time and it was delicious! The restaurant is very clean and the food is great... quality, especially the meats. Our server, Alexis, was phenomenal. She took the time to explain the menu and gave usrecommendations when I requested it. Alexis checked in on our table multiple times and made sure we had everything we needed.She?s a very attentive and overall fantastic waitress. We enjoyed the atmosphere and ambiance with our meal. We will definitelybe back! Read more