Stop here if you’re scouring the Unilocal app for a place to have lunch/dinner and want a change from the ubiquitous ramen, sushi, and curry shops in Tokyo. We enjoyed a couple of dinner sets tonight at Shabusen — the shabu-shabu and sukiyaki. The sets are offered in varying combinations and amounts of meat. Then choose between the shabu or sukiyaki broth. The shabu broth was a dashi consommé and honestly should be chosen if one wishes a lighter flavor. We all agreed the sukiyaki was the best choice for tastiness. Did not see a vegetarian option on the menu but I’m sure they can accommodate anyone. If not, ditch your veggie friends and meet up with them later. Better yet, let them order a set menu, take all their meat and they would still enjoy the tofu, mushrooms, leeks and other icky green stuff :-) The restaurant is arranged with counter seating. That’s because each diner has their own personal hot pot in front of them. Service is provided in the inner ring of the counter where the food and drinks are served. Kudos goes to our waiter for the evening. He was extremely helpful and on-point with everything one would expect from a fine waitperson. He must’ve been serving a dozen patrons and didn’t miss a beat. Never have I experienced someone constantly controlling the flames, refilling the soup, and skimming the soup surface scum ensuring that all I need to do is enjoy my meal. Located in the B2 floor of the Ginza Core building(Ginza Station, Exit A3 or A4). Go ahead, treat yourself to a delicious meal and this place will not disappoint.
Christine S.
Place rating: 4 San Francisco, CA
Although we weren’t planning to buy anything when walking around all the shops in Ginza, we wanted to stay in the area because we were waiting for Shabusen Ginza core B2 °F to open. We were really excited for Japanese hot pot since we’ve been walking in the cold for a couple of hours. Located inside a shopping plaza, Shabusen is one of the few restaurants we ate at that wasn’t on our list or itinerary. It turned out for the best because the restaurant ended up being a trip advisor favorite! The layout of this restaurant is pretty amazing. They have two or three shabu areas, which is basically a huge bar-like counter. Every seat had their own set of shabu necessities — own pot, utensils, sauces, bowls, and more. The menu is also limited, so it’s pretty easy to pick what you want to eat. At each of these«bars,» they have two people serving everyone. They’re so efficient at it, too! It makes me wonder why we don’t have places like this in America. Steph ordered the standard shabu lunch set at 1300 yen(~$ 11), and I ordered the sukiyaki lunch set, which was about the same price. I know we have sukiyaki in the states, but I’ve never ordered it before. The concept of it seems simple: you cook the ingredients in the pot, then dip it in a bowl of raw beaten eggs, and then eat it. I was so nervous about eating it wrong… I was overjoyed when the two older ladies sitting next to me ordered it. But since they got their food later than me, by the time they started eating(and I could copy the way they eat), my pot almost dried out. Our server had to come over and add more broth… oops. At least I can say I learned how to eat sukiyaki from legit Japanese ladies in Tokyo now!
Jimmy B.
Place rating: 4 Waltham, MA
Shabu! This place was a bit hard to find considering all the numerous restaurants hidden in these floors and various complexes. It’s basically in a interior plaza looking area — just keep walking around until you see the sign. Easiest way to find this place is from the main street on Ginza, the location on Unilocal is slightly off making you think you can take the back way easily(harder to find that way IMO). Once you find it, you’ll be greeted by two large shabu areas — if you’re lucky, you may even see one personnel shaving a large chunk of wagyu into shabu slices. No shared shabu here, every seat is an individual portion at the«bar» tables. The menu is also limited — you won’t have too many choices. Note for my American counterparts who have gotten used to hotpot/shabu out in the west, you won’t find your majestic BBQ sauce here — that’s more of a chinese style rather than Japanese. Instead, the sauces you’ll use is a light soy sauce and a delicious peanut sauce. I still craved for the chinese BBQ sauce as it’s nutrients for me(note my sarcasm, this stuff is bad for you like AIDS), but the quality of the meat was spot on. Thank god I ordered the Wagyu — all my friends said it’s a waste as it’s cut so thin, and you’re boiling it. Not true — the tenderness was still absolutely amazing, obviously the best meat I’ve ever had for hotpot. For 4400 yen, 120 grams of wagyu isn’t that bad. I wasn’t full at the end of the meal of course, but neither was I unsatisfied. I thought it was an overall great experience, but am docking a point due to the lack of variety. I know the focus should be on the beef, which it is, but I’d love to see more side options available. The veggie dish that came with it was sparse — the quality wasn’t that much better than it’s Western counterparts, but the variety was severely lacking, especially for a dinner menu.
Lisa I.
Place rating: 4 San Francisco, CA
I didn’t see an English menu, but that doesn’t mean it exists. We stopped in here towards the end of the night when Kasuga ramen had sold out for the evening. Since the meal was a pre-fix set, we opted for the set B that included a light tomato salad(or asparagus, your choice) for starters, 150 grams of thinly sliced beef chuck, a mixed vegetable plate with your traditional items of cabbage, tofu, konnyaku, and enoki mushrooms, followed with the option of finishing off your meal with ramen(or udon, your choice) in a soup that utilized the shabu shabu water, and a small dessert of ice cream(vanilla or green tea), sorbet, or in my case, the green tea ice cream with red azuki beans. While it wasn’t what we had set out to eating, it was everything we were looking for in our first meal. For a quick, easy, and DIY dinner, this was great and had really high quality ingredients!
Sean S.
Place rating: 4 Auckland, New Zealand
Delicious. Actually had Okonomiyaki here that was pretty good… even though it wasn’t Osaka!
Ryo M.
Place rating: 4 San Diego, CA
There are English menu お昼時を過ぎた時間でも ほぼ満席状態が続く感じでしたが 待たされることはなく入店。 おひとりさまずつ 鍋が置かれ 気兼ねなくいただけます。 どちらかというと 豚好きなので 目についた黒豚ランチをいただきました。 ある程度さしの入ったお肉は やわらかく豚の甘みがありました。 ご飯もおかゆを選べるところは GOODです。 食べ終わりに 鍋からスープを作って 出してくれます。 コスパ非常に良しです。 お店の方の対応はよく 気持ちよく食事することが出来ました。
