Yuzu Shabu

This place is fabulous. I sure come back. Went there a couple days ago and man this is awesome! The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 because the server don’t actually explain you how it work and you just need to figure yourself. Also when you order broth, there are a few option that free but a few that will be addition charges which i asked if I could ordered it. The server said yes but he never mention addition charges (there’s are free option, $ 1addition, $ 2addition and $ 3 addition for each meal) I don’t mind pay for addition charges because food is so tasty but I feel like every restaurant that have addition charges from its list what it would cost, should always tell customer in advance. No surprise.
I’m not the only one who doesn’t like hiding cost because I overheard the table next to me yelled at the server about addition charges that have not mention to them in advance either. Think about it $ 2 doesn’t seem a lot but when you come as a party of 5 or 10 that $ 2 become $ 10 or $ 20 just for a broth.
Overall it’s a good restaurant but would suggest to have server tell customer upfront and not everyone know how to eat shabu and your menu is confusing. A better explanation would be better.

Yuzu was hands down one of my favorite spots for shabu in the OC area. Why?
1.) The short rib meat was always OP and tender
2.) Service is usually bomb
3.) I love how they give you three dipping sauces (satay, ponzu, and goma) instead of just two or one
4.) The GENEROUS veggie bowl that includes fresh ramen and udon noodles!
HOWEVER, my thoughts and feelings for Yuzu has completely changed because I found a DEAD maggot on my spinach (TWICE) and a fresh green caterpillar crawling on my veggie bowl today. My boyfriend claimed that the caterpillar means the veggie is super fresh or something but UHM no, I don’t care what you say because A BUG IS A BUG AND I AIN’T EATING IT! I rather have TWO organic fresh pieces of spinach than a bowl of bug crawling bowl of spinach.
The bug incident happened twice now. I let the first time slide because you know shiz happens. I almost got some vitamin B (bug) in, yay… Sike. My boyfriend wanted to eat here for lunch today and I was feeling a little skeptical but I LITERALLY said «alright, I hope I find no bug today» and guess what? I found a bug. UGH, I wish I took pictures but I got too shocked.
Both times, the workers just apologized and gave me a free bowl of veggies but honestly, do you think I wanted more veggies? No. I lost my appetite. The least you guys can do is compensate for the meal or something. I will never come back again. I really never leave negative reviews because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt but, sorry Yuzu… I ain’t letting this one slide.

The key to a good shabu shabu place, is tender meat slices, and plenty of fresh vegetable. I don’t understand how could a place screw that up, so here is the story.
First I ordered the tomato soup base, which is my go to for daily dose of vitamin C. It tasted like diluted ketchup, no joke. Can I have some fries with that soup? The server was extremely nice about it when I politely ask him to switch it to plain water. «Are you sure you want to just have some water?» My mind says, well, I almost believe that I was a nightcrawler for a second, I am not gutsy enough to taste another one. «Yes, I have to watch my sodium level.»
The vegetable is plenty and fresh, no fuss there. However, the corn was portioned too tall, and only ²⁄₃ of it can comfortably bath in the soup, the other ¹⁄₃ is steamy right above the wet line.
I have no further critiques as far as the experience goes, your honor.

How have I not wrote a Unilocal review yet?!
I fell in love with this place after the first time I had Yuzu!!! I used to go here at least 3 times a week. They know me as the hot drop queen. LOL I get 3 vitals in each of my sauces. They’re probably thinking like this tiny girl is crazy or what!!! yeah, yeah pretty much.
I got the extra spicy pork bones broth, which was the perfect amount of richness and flavor. The premium steak was just perfect, tender and delicious. Don’t forget to order the fish ball with roe and fish ball with crab! I love that they are not stingy with their veggie bowl. Plus they have ramen and udon! Can they open one closer to garden grove?! I’ll literally be here everyday.

My go to shabu place whenever I’m in socal!
The service here is awesome, super friendly and fast! I like that my water was never empty, and that they were able to answer all of our questions about the menu.
Atmosphere here is nice as well, they have a bar down the middle of the restaurant and then booths along the side. Not so sure this restaurant is the best for large parties, because the tables are for 4.
They have 3 different kinds of dipping sauces, my personal fave is the ponzu! They also have minced garlic and green onions on the table if you wanted to add any. Make sure to also add some hot drops for some spice! 2 – 3 is usually the amount I go for.
The meat is pretty good quality, it melts in your mouth! I ordered the lunch for two, which gives you about 2 pounds of meat and 2 sets of veggies for 50 dollars! We got the wagyu and the premium angus. Both were great! The veggie platters are also HUGE. But since I basically have an addiction to napa cabbage we ordered one on the side. It was a lot of food, but we saw and we conquered!
Make sure to go get some Creamistry after! It’s in the same plaza!
Love this place!

Teetering between a 3.5 and a 4, ended up with the 4 because the service was beyond amazing. Came on a Tuesday around 6:30pm, no line, plenty of seats.
Our servers patiently helped some of my friends new to shabu shabu pick out what to eat and made sure we had everything we needed. They were super bubbly, attentive, and always came back with our waters/​extra sauces/​dessert.
Food is a little on the pricey side, with 6oz of lamb for $ 17. If you’re not happy with the basic shabu shabu kelp/​water broth, you can upgrade your broths for $ 1 (Taiwanese broth was a favorite from this category) or $ 2 (pork bone was the favorite from this category). I went with the basic broth at spicy, which I didn’t really notice. So I asked for extra hot oil drops to be put in my dipping sauces, which were satay, sesame, and ponzu.
Meat quality was very tender and fresh. Veggie/​noodle portions were huge and comes with both udon and egg noodles. I have a few gripes with my side portion: 1) the slices of tofu were too soft! Even before cooking, they fell apart when I tried to cook them. So handle carefully. 2) Some of the greens looked either bruised or slightly decayed. I didn’t want to risk the latter and did not eat the questionable veggies. But overall, it was a decent shabu shabu meal that was very clean. If you’re not used to traditional shabu shabu water broths, I suggest you allow your meats/​veggies to flavor the water while cooking, then make a saucy soup with your noodles towards the end of your meal.
Ice creams offered with check-​in: green tea, sesame, rocky road, and cookies and cream! You can never go wrong with free ice cream :)

This was an AMAZING first shabu experience. Our waitress was so helpful explaining the sauces and helping me pick out the perfect amount of food amidst a large menu. I went from feeling overwhelmed to super excited to try shabu.
I got the pork bones broth, which was the perfect amount of richness and flavor. The vegetables all came super fresh and it was really fun making a veggie soup out of the broth with them.
The premium steak was tender and great. The fish was also fresh and delicious. My favorite was the premium pork, though. It was so flavorful and went with the pork broth perfectly. The three meat selections were, together, a large and great portion size for one person.
I highly recommend this place for shabu and am so excited to come back to try their other items!

Items ordered: Pork bone broth, aged ribeye, wagyu beef, winter melon tea
Excellent place, delicious shabu! Top quality meat
We came here on a Saturday right when they opened so there was no wait. For the two of us we got a large wagyu, and a regular order of the aged ribeye. I heard so much about their pork bone broth so I had to try it for my first time here.
The pork bone was great, and along with the meat, I found I didn’t even need to dip my meat into the sauces. I mainly use the ponzu, but the meat was so flavorful, all I need was the flavor from the bone broth. Both meats were great, but man, that aged ribeye was soo good.
Only minor criticism, but the service was only ok. They weren’t very attentive as far as with drink refills and water level of the broth.
I would definitely repeat, I forgot to try their yuzu drink that a friend recommended, and I would definitely get the aged ribeye again

I appreciate Yuzu Shabu being so close to home. The parking is a little difficult because it is in one of the most popular plazas in Cerritos. So if you come during peak hours, you will have to drive around and around waiting for parking. Especially because so many people come to eat Gen’s next door and also 85 degrees.
The only reason I give Zuzu Shabu a 3 star is because I don’t particularly feel like it’s that clean in there. I think they should invest in better cleaning supplies or wipe down their tables a little better because I feel like there is always like water stains left over from wiping the tables. Or that its a little on the sticky side. I’m not sure what it is, but it just really doesn’t feel 100% clean to me every single time I go.
The food is good, the soup base is good. I really like how they have a «petite» portion size because I can’t eat that much. I got the Prime Angus Beef Short Rib in a Pork Bone Soup Base at Super Spicy. (It is really a great soup base.) I kind of wish they would pay a little bit more focus on their vegetable’s that come out with it. I felt like all my udon noodles were all crumbled up pieces that were only like 2 inches long…
All in all the food is good. The service is okay. The ambiance is whatever.
One thing I did notice about this shabu place that differs from other places was that… the soup turns REALLY salty at the end. Other places like (ichi ichi) or (miyabi), when I drink the soup at the end, it’s still really delicious and carry on its flavorful broth. But for some reason everytime I drink the broth at the middle-​end of my meal it tastes like really really salty water. It happens every time i have eaten here which really confuses and bothers me.
If I’m lazy, I’d eat here but if not I would recommend driving a little farther to a better shabu restaurant.

We go to Shabu often; 2 – 3 times a month. And our usual spot (King) was closed until 5pm so Yuzu was a good, local find.
It wasn’t busy at 4pm, so we had one server spread amongst five table orders. We got our drinks relatively quick and were surprised at the variety in their menu. You get to choose from a variety of meats — Angus, short run, wagyu, kurobuta, pork belly, and chicken to name a few. They also have seafood. They also give plenty of veggies and noodles. The goma was a little watered down for my taste, but the ponzu tasted great. There’s a third sauce, not sure it’s name, but we didn’t like it.
I ordered the lean Angus in medium spicy konbu broth. It was the cheapest meat option, but 10oz for $ 21 isn’t bad. Meat was soft and had a good sliver of fat for flavor.
My wife got the short rib in konbu broth. The meat was marbled and cut in a good length. It was soft and flavorful.
Considering it wasn’t that busy, the service was good. Our server paid attention to our water refills and checked in three to four times during our meal.
In the hierarchy of Shabu in Cerritos, I’d say it’s a close 2^nd to King Shabu but a far second from third place Yojie.

Clean and pretty spacious inside. Service was decent.
I ordered the dinner for two which comes with (1) pound of (2) meats each, & I chose the premium beef and kurobuta pork. I enjoyed both meats and felt they were of good quality. For soup bases, I got the curry and pork bone. The curry was… interesting. I think next time I’ll stick to just pork bone or maybe try a miso based soup. With this combo, you get a giant bowl of veggies (basically double the usual). I really enjoyed the three dipping sauces. You get your usual ponzu and goma, but they also provide a third sauce, which was my favorite. I’m not really sure what’s in the sauce, but it was realllly yummy, especially after adding the optional green onion, garlic, etc. on the side. I added 2 hot drops to each of my sauces because the medium broth was not spicy at allllll. Honestly, the dinner for two is way too much food for just two people (in my opnion). Afterwards, we were able to fill two to go containers :(Next time, if I’m sharing, I’ll probably just do the sharing charge which is just +$ 7 to any item on the menu.
Overall, I’d definitely come back. Clean with good service, and definitely hit the spot. I love the various combinations and choices, and that dipping sauce!

It was my first time here at Yuzu Shabu and it is very different from the shabu restaurants I normally go to.
I give it 3 stars only because of the little things such as some items having to be an extra $ 1 or $ 2 etc.
I am not being cheap either; but some of the items weren’t worth an extra $ 1; I usually order brown rice but because it was an extra $ 1, I asked for white rice. Miso soup as well.
As a first comer I was surprised to see yellow egg noodles in the vegetable bowl. I am a big fan of udon noodles but I dislike egg noodles with a passion but sadly the egg noodles over powered my udon noodles.
I was also surprised at the soup bowl they have for their diners. Like I said, they are very different from the other shabu places I have gone to and I like to have a big bowl for my soup so I can finish and not waste the soup in the hot pot.
Good deal with the combo items and also thank you for the good customer service!

Long wait. Takes forever to bus their tables! I watched a table go without being cleared for 30 minutes as there was a 30 – 40 minute wait… Are they just wanting people to wait at the bar to drink and spend more money??? I mean I get it… but geez!
Anyway, on to the more pressing matters of FOOD.
My friend and I ordered the Shabu for 2 which comes with your own bowl with whatever type of broth you want and spice level. You each get the dips as well. (WARNING: I asked for a drop in each of my sauces and it was SOOOO incredibly spicy that I had to ask for a new set without any drops and I looooove spicy food!). The only thing you actually share is the whopping 2 lbs of meat (can order 2 different kinds of meat) and the veggies. This comes out to $ 55 which is actually not bad considering how much food it is! We ended up taking most of it home and I literally had 2 more meals after that! Definitely worth the splurge!
I definitely will be back!

Put my name down but they don’t seat unless half the party is present, so I left to wait for my party. They finally arrived 20 minutes later, and my name had been crossed out. We put our names down again since they wouldn’t allow us to keep our place on line. We waited 15 minutes, and then my friend went to check, complaining the wait was too long. The young girl who spoke with her was pretty rude and said in sharply, «sorry, I can’t rush people.» Sorry, my ass. Learn some customer service. We left bc no way am I wasting my money here.
There are quite a few other reviews who cite the service as bad/​horrible, either because of rude staff or staff who are disinterested and ignore customers. You’d think management would do something about it by now since these reviews date back to 2014. Beware!

Cant get enough of this place. I literally drive down to Cerritos to eat here (…and ofcourse to spend time with my bf) This is our go to spot for dinner!
I love the meat quality of this place and the broth we can cook our ramen/​udon with and slurp up the last bite!
The sauce tho~!!! droooollll just thinking about it right now hehehe

I love shabu places that let you split your meat! I simply don’t eat a lot of meat and love to share ;) with an extra $ 7 you get your own soup, veggie plates and rice. That is the perfect portion for me.
And I love their pork bone soup base. You can requested it mild or spicy. Meat quality is also good with their premium angus. I like the thickness of their slice without being too thin or thick.
However, their brown rice is inconsistent. I’ve been here like 4 to 5 times, some days are good but sometimes it’s overly soggy. For the extra $ 1 is not worth it. And I will always pass on their udon and replace it with their ramen.
But overly all is one of my favorite spot for shabu! And check in for their free scoope of ice cream !

Price is on the pricey side if you order all the perks that they have. For two parties we spent around $ 55 plus tip.
We both got Vegetarian Delight. Holy moly, the portions are huge. If we knew we would have shared. We literally couldn’t finish everything. It was noodles plus veggies. With rice. Brown rice is extra $ 1. The broth also adds as well additional $ 1 – 2 bucks I think. Additional items around $ 3−5+.
Man I loved the condiments and all the sauces you can get! Abundant amount.
Good customer service! Clean and trendy atmosphere.
Definitely coming back!

Yuzu is located in a plaza with a bunch of other restaurants. It was poppin on a Monday night so parking was pretty difficult. We were seated right away. Our server explained the menu to us and made some suggestions. I don’t like how they charge extra for things like different soup flavors, but business is business right?
I ordered the 6 oz premium beef ($ 19) with the medium spicy pork bone broth ($ 2). That comes with a bowl of rice (brown rice +$.50), veggies, egg and udon noodles, taiwanese satay sauce, goma sauce, and ponzu sauce. The broth tasted sweet with a nice kick to it. The quality of the meat a-​okay. My favorite part was udon and egg noodle soup; I usually wait till the end of my meal to make my bowl. The goma sauce is a little too watery for my taste, but it’s decent.

Love me a good shabu place and this place is quite unique!
There is a great selection of broths here and I think thats what set it apart from their competitors. Great service and fun music playing, which is always a plus in my book :)
Food: I chose the lean angus beef with the pork bone broth. Wow the bone broth made such a big difference compared to the normal water I’m used to. Definitely a much more savory experience.
I loved that there are three sauces that come with the shabu shabu. I didn’t like their goma sauce as much but the shrimp paste one was on point. I want more! Next time, I would ask for more vegetables.
Check in and get a free ice cream scoop, yay! I definitely will be back to try the other broth flavors… or maybe just stick to the pork bone ;)

SHABU SHABU, not just the traditional Japanese style (you can actually order no soup base and just water) but also the fusion style with flavorful broths
choose your meat type & portion size, choose your broth base, choose your spiciness level!
—pork bone broth (nice & flavorful), with 3 pepper spice level (a decent amount of kick), and short rib (good amount of marble on these thin slices): each meal also comes with a HUGE bowl of veggies + noodles, a bowl of rice, and 3 dipping sauces of which i most enjoyed the chunky dark one
—fish balls stuffed with roe: yum, a good choice for add ons
—squid salad: just okay
—FREE ice cream w/​yelp check in: we took our ice cream to-​go and got to try matcha (okay), red bean (too icey), and the black sesame
if you want extra spice they also come around with the spice dropper to add to your soup/​sauces after you’ve had a chance to try everything
NOTE: they provide dividers so the person across from you can order a different soup but share the same pot (best way to try 2 soups)