Wonderful Kitchen

Thought a hot pot place like this would last longer than it did. However Village House has hot pot and they’re doing gangbusters. Hard to beat a sun $ 10 lunch special and sub $ 20 all you can eat but it’s deader than a door nail now

I quite enjoy this place– $ 9.99 lunch special and $ 19.99 AYCE dinner special– basically, if you like to eat and eat lots, this is the place to be.
I’ll admit, the place does have a distinctive smell when you first walk in, but that’s pretty much the smell of the broths, which are delicious. They have a wide variety of meats and veggies, almost in fact, more variety than I’ve seen at many other hot pot/​shabu places. All the more reason to dig in, I say! I definitely go crazy and load up on the veggies and tofu when I come here– might as well, right?
Service is friendly and attentive, although the main guy (who’s served us the past couple times we’ve been in) doesn’t speak any English, and me being the awesome Asian that I am do not speak any type of Asian, but we do a lot of gestures and exchange a lot of smiles, and seem to understand each other just fine. When food’s involved, it somehow always just works.
I will agree with others who have said that the tables can be an issue if you’re a little on the taller side. I’m fairly tall (5“6) and my knees just barely fit comfortably underneath the table.
All in all, I’d say it’s a pretty good deal, and I’m definitely coming back here in the future.

I love going to Wonderful Kitchen! IT’s only $ 20 for all you can eat hot pot~~ Their quality of meat are pretty consistent, don’t expect top dollar beef or lamb but for their price, I think it’s pretty reasonable.
I like going here because they have a big selection of veggies, dumplings, and balls~~ lol they have fish balls, beef balls, lobster balls, hand made lamb balls, etc… Have to try their home made noodles too, it’s pretty tasty but needs to be cooked thoroughly.
Service was very good too! Very attentive! The servers dont’ talk much but they know what they are doing!
Will go there again soon!

After a long day at Pebble Beach, my bf’s family and I decided to stop off for some shabu on our way home. It seemed like the perfect closing of a eventful weekend…
We considered Wonderful Kitchen as it was conveniently located on our way home. It had decent star ratings and decent reviews… ugh. disappointed.
This wasn’t our first time for shabu but the aroma here wasn’t inviting. Clearly maybe it was more ‘authentic’ versus the places we’ve been to before but with that said, we remained open minded and gave it a try. After-​all, $ 19.95 for all you can eat wasn’t bad at all.
Welcomed at the door, I instantly knew we were going to have a language barrier. No offense, I’m all about culture but he barely and I mean BARELY spoke a tint of English. We were seated and at the table were menus that you would just fill in the quantities of each item; beef, chicken, veggies, noodles etc. As the HUGE bowl of soup arrive, as mentioned by other reviews, it contained lots of authentic veggies and seasonings that were foreign for us. Our order came in decent intervals but can’t say it was «good service» being that we couldn’t understand each other, things came out really slow and they didn’t have rice??? that killed it for me by the way.
I felt bad for the serve as not only did he not speak English but he was alone serving about 6 tables. He did have his boss or at least someone else come out to help him understand us but at the same time, that guy only seemed to come out when he couldn’t understand us?
Tables are awkward, dont sit and tuck yourself in too fast, you will get a bruise. I have one already from last night.
Overall, i don’t foresee myself returning. I will stay with My Shabu House in Burlingame where all you can eat is $ 31 and all you can eat and drink (sake included) is $ 41 which provides you with a more modern venue, attentive English speaking assistance, has rice and just an overall cleaner environment that includes TVs and sectioned hot pots.

Decent but cheap shabu! My friend introduced me to this place and we ended up coming here every week for 3 months. We always order the $ 10 shabu meal that comes with a variety of vegetables and the meat of our choice (lamb, chicken, beef). The portions are quite huge as we can never finish our entire meal. But the quality of the food is OKAY. in fact, it’s pretty mediocre but it’s a good place to grab lunch since we’re always in a rush to get in and out. The broth is good though. Smells a lot like indian spices. I wouldn’t suggest anyone to go out of their way to make a stop to dine here but if you do happen to be in the area and you’re craving shabu, it’s not that bad.

TIPS:
— It’s still using the old sign «Shabu Shabu»
— when you sit down, don’t slide in too far or your knee will hit the bars underneath the table! Or bring knee pads instead.
— sauces cost 50c extra but the broth is good on its own
— discount if you pay all cash
Tasty broth (herbal kind) and yummy meat. I like the pork the best but the beef and lamb are also good. Tofu, mushrooms, veggies, they were all good. Just don’t get the seaweed. it’s like chewing rubber. euww.
Service was good: our hotpots were always refilled and the response time was quick.
I usually am not big fan of hot pot/​shabu shabu since I think they are a bit pricey. However, this place is definitely good value.
We got discount coupon for our next visit, maybe because we came as big group.
Deduct one star because of the terrible table. I hit my knees twice there :/

My super Taiwanese coworkers love this place and we came here for our holiday lunch today! All 19 of us got the 9.95 (or is it 9.99?) lunch special which includes:
— your choice of meat (fatty beef, pork, chicken, or lamb)
— a plate of veggies (skinny mushroom, one flat mushroom, napa, that one bitter-​ish hot pot veggie)
— octopus, 2 x of 2 types of tofu, 2 x fish ball, 3 x fried fish paste, 3 x imitation crab roll
— clear vermicelli & thick potato (?) noodle
*dipping sauce costs extra but I got by fine without it.
I’m personally not a fan of lamb so I opted for the beef! The plate looked like a shredded mess but when it came down to taste, it was pretty good. I doubt you can overcook it and it was really tender! Everything tasted as expected, the thing that stood out the most to me here was the squishy octopus! I’ve never had octopus in hot pot before so I hesitated before dropping it into the pot, but it was really cool to watch it cook! It squirmed around as if it was alive (but of course it isn’t) and then I chickened out and ended up giving it to my coworker. :)
Their broth was pretty tasty, very herbal like the stuff you’d find at Little Sheep, but I liked this one a lot better because 1) less pricey and 2) not OVERLY herbalicious! I could actually enjoy the taste of the soup at the end of the meal unlike at Little Sheep!
Also heard from the coworkers that their spicy isn’t that hot, so if you like spicy, there’s plenty of chili oil & paste you can add on your own. Enjoy!

My friends and I love this restaurant. However, I would only recommend this restaurant to friends who are into authentic Chinese hot pot, let’s start from the outside…
THE RESTAURANT SIGN
The «Shabu Shabu» sign was left from the previous restaurant that really served «Shabu Shabu». Technically, «shabu shabu» and «hot pot» are pretty much the same, a pot placed at the center of the table with a stove underneath it. You cook and serve the food yourself… etc. It really is just whether you are thinking «Japanese» or «Chinese».
THE INSIDE
The restaurant smells like the herbs used in soup base. For my friends and I, the restaurant smells very nice and increase our appetite. But for people who are not used to the herbal smell, they may not like the smell. Please keep in mind, you won’t be able to leave w/​o smelling like the restaurant.
SERVICE
The service is excellent, the waiters/​waitresses are all very friendly. Although it does seems a bit short-​staffed sometimes so you’ll have to wait for a while to get the waiters/​waitresses’ attention.
THE SOUP BASE
The soup base uses a lot of Chinese herbs, which is not appreciated by everyone, especially the non-​Asian friends. And I hope you know you are not supposed to eat those herbs in the pot. Anyway, that is why I stated in the beginning that I would only recommend friends who favor authentic Chinese hot pot.
FOOD
The meat are awesome! My friends and I love the beef and lamb. Octopus can be fishy depends on the day.

First off this place doesn’t deserve the negatives for taste. Seems the negatives are from those that doesn’t like the aroma of the Mongolian hot pots like Little Sheep hot pot.
This is my first time here and the moment I stepped in and smell the familiar chinese herb, I knew I made the right choice to come.
My review is mainly in comparison to Little Sheep hot pot.
Taste is at least 90% similar. Service is nothing but excellent. Waiters constantly came back and asked if we wanted anything else (we did the buffet and this shows they’re not shaddy) and my glass of water never went empty and the price? Well, for $ 19.95 a person our tap was $ 45.36 for the two of us… I’m not complaining. For the amount of food we ate, I would have paid twice that at little sheep. I hope this place do well and remain open.

Yes, it’s not Shabu Shabu!
Well, my best guess is that they weren’t sure how to translate ‘huoguo’ into English, so they picked Shabu Shabu. Don’t expect shabu shabu, but don’t fault them for probably not having a good translator. Jeeze guys. It’s in a Chinese shopping plaza and all you have to do is look at the menu to realize it’s Chinese… and if you can’t realize that from the menu, I feel like you really shouldn’t be giving them grief for their translating difficulties.
Ok, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s move on.
We had so much stuff. + means good, — means meh:
bitter melon +
lamb +++
beef —
shrimp +
fish fillet +
veggies +
mushrooms (enoki & beech mushrooms) +
fried tofu +
regular tofu —
lotus root —
fried fish cake thing +
fish ball – (not that good here)
fish ball made of shrimp +
tripe (I’m not a fair judge because I don’t like tripe, but I thought it was okay)
The fish was very fresh (I smelled it before putting it in to verify) and the lamb was good quality, cut very thinly.
Service is pretty prompt and very friendly. The waitstaff speak both Mandarin and English. They offered to refill our broth/​water/​tea a lot.
$ 20 all you can eat is a great deal. We calculated it out, and unless you’re a group of two who’s barely going to eat anything, the AYCE is the better deal. You don’t really need the dipping sauces, they’re right.
Also has AYCD tea, but you can ask for water too. I seriously haven’t drank that much (water) in years, but it was worth it. …and yes, it probably has MSG, because it’s legitimate Chinese food, which often uses MSG. Embrace the Magical Salty Goodness, folks.

Shabby Shabby Shabu Shabu
The sign on the building says «Shabu Shabu» but this is really a hot pot restaurant.
Because I tasted rotten seafood, I’m giving this place the lowest possible rating.
Pros:
+ Quiet atmosphere.
+ The price includes the herbal and spicy broth. The pot has a divider, so the two broths stay separate. No hidden extra charges.
+ The lamb and beef balls were great.
+ The pork blood and tripe were good, if you like that kind of stuff.
Cons:
— The seafood was rotten during my dining experience.
— «Crab Stick» was rotten. It’s really imitation crab meat shaped into a log.
— Octopus was fishy.
— Pig intestine tasted like rotten poo.
— The herbs in the broth made my tongue numb. Avoid eating the herbs; use the strainer to strain your soup.

I seriously don’t know how this place has 3.5 stars… I guess I was the only one who had a HORRIBLE experience here with my family. We all came here late at night, probably 9pm, after failing to eat at Ajisen Ramen down the street. I was so upset that they closed on us at 9pm. We were seriously craving ramen and I remembered this place that has ramen a few years back. So, we pulled up in the parking lot and saw that the ramen sign was still there. Great! So we entered the restaurant asking them if they were still open. Yes? Even better! So we all sat down and looked at the menus.
Uhhhh… first thought. WHERE IS THE FKING RAMEN. I was so confused. This was nothing like the menu I saw years ago when I went to this place. I knew something was wrong. They must have switched owners or whatnot. So when the server came, I asked them about ramen and he pointed to the whole list of «noodle» items. I asked him, «are you SURE it’s ramen.» He nodded and said yes, it’s ramen. So, I ordered the duck «ramen.» My cousins followed in my pursuit, ordered «ramen.» Some of my other cousins ordered OX noodle soup or rice with egg and what not. My sister order «shabu shabu» or well… HOT POT. Whatever. I couldn’t even decipher what it was.
A huge pot of soup came and was placed on the stove that did not work. The soup didn’t boil until 20 minutes after the staff was trying to fix it. So ghetto. Obviously they were a new restaurant that was clearly UNPREPARED. When all got our «ramen» we were horrified. IT WAS NOT FKING RAMEN. Thick, VERY THICK, hard to chew noodles came with whatever meat we order. The broth wasn’t even broth, it was SAUCE. WTF! I called over the waiter and asked him AGAIN, «THIS IS RAMEN?» He nodded and said yes. WTF WTF do you not have the decency to turn away people looking for ramen? UGH I was SOOOOO UPSET.
I tasted some of the «hotpot/​shabu shabu.» I don’t know what the hell to call it. It was TOO MUCH MSG, flavor and had weird herbs and plants floating in the soup. It was just too much. Nothing like hot pot and nothing like shabu, shabu. I don’t know what the hell it was. The meat platter came. Whatever, common stuff. Nothing was horrible about it. But wtf was wrong with the soup? They didn’t refill our waters fast enough to keep us hydrated. The soup was just too SALTY. Ugh. Fail AGAIN. The ONE and ONLY thing I liked was the scallion pancakes. THAT’S IT. And that wasn’t enough to even give one star to this place.
It’s places like these that makes me ask why Unilocal doesn’t have ZERO STAR ratings… HORRIBLE AND DISGUSTING. Are you trying to Chinese? Or Japanese? Figure out that before you open any restaurant. AND TAKE DOWN THE FKING RAMEN SIGN. UGH.

I came here on a date night and thought it would be like the Japanese Shabu Shabu because it said, «shabu shabu» outside but it wasn’t like that at all.
+1 — the broth was different, flavorful
+1 — the lamb/​beef/​veggies were good
–1 — some of the seafood was spoiled and smelled bad, someone at my table had to spit out the bad food, the octopus smelled really fishy and I couldn’t bear to even taste it.
–1 — some of the spices in the soup made my tongue go numb
–1 — the waiter never came back to see how we were doing but checked on other patrons
–1 — I couldn’t scoot my chair in close enough because a bar at the table kept hitting my knees
+/​-​the restaurant smelled like an Indian restaurant and not a Chinese restaurant, confused me.
+/​-​the air conditioning was on really high, so it was freezing until we started eating.
+/​-​the spicy soup was greasy/​tasty
So, I have to give it only 2 stars. I would not recommend this place to my friends.

Found this place via Unilocal for the mom’s birthday dinner. My family wanted to go to a buffet (quantity over quality), but after the disgusting experience at Yummy Buffet, I strongly vetoed the idea of going to yet another cheap buffet (quality over quantity). So, I searched buffet and Wonderful Kitchen came up. I called and made a reservation for 21 arriving in an hour.
Our party of 21 totally did not need a reservation on that Tuesday evening… there was only one other table of four when we arrived. Service was great since we were pretty much the only customers. Ordering was via a form where you filled out the quantity of each item you wanted — one portion is about the size of a small bowl for most items. We were given complimentary sweetened iced tea because we were such a large party. They also gave us a «free» meal for my mom since it was her birthday and we had over 20 people in our party… but that was only after I asked if they had a birthday discount.
They have posters advertising the grand opening all-​you-​can-​eat special, and it supposedly only runs until the end of July. But there were other posters that originally stated only until the end of May, and then were amended with later dates, so I would call ahead to make sure they’re still offering the buffet if that’s what you’re looking for.
«All-​You-​Can-​Eat» notes:
–They advertise surf clam on the all-​you-​can-​eat poster, but it’s actually an additional charge for that item.
–Only the original broth is included in the price… if you want the spicy broth, it’s ~$ 6 extra.
–My five-​year-​old cousin was charged the same price as adults.
My family liked it so much that our party of 21 arrived again a week later for my uncle’s birthday dinner. But this is my review, and I thought it was okay. Not dying to go back, but sure beats all the other gross buffets out there.

Really flavorful broth and I think its a good deal for all you can eat! Just make sure you have an empty belly! :)
Beware, you will leave smelling like all of the wonderful spices that make the broth wonderfully delicious. at Wonderful Kitchen. Teehee

WONDERFUL KITCHEN
All you hot pot lovers out there — come out and gorge yourself at this wonderful all-​you-​can-​eat hot pot bonanza! At $ 19.95 per person, it’s an awesome deal. Try all you want of every hot pot item! The broth comes in regular and spicy or half/​half, and is of good quality. Meats range from lamb, beef, pork, to chicken. Seafood includes shrimp, mussels, fishballs, etc. Tons of veggies to choose from and the most variety of mushrooms I’ve ever seen! Excellent service also makes this place a bright place to dine at! Free sugar ice tea is a good contrast to the hot foods. Fresh quality, delicious broth, excellent pricing, and good service makes this place a Must Try!

Came in on a friday night for dinner. Was seated promptly and was given menus with a list of yummy hotpot items to choose from. In terms of the broth, the regular flavor one tastes like herbal medicine, definitely get the spicy broth, very flavorful and not too spicy, and you don’t even need dipping sauce. The lamb and beef were very good and fresh. Overall all the meats, vegetables and noodles were fresh and tasty. My gf said it’s quite authentic, just like the ones she had in china. In terms of price, 19.99 for buffet i think is a pretty good value. Compared to the hot pot place on lundy, this one is much better. Service was very friendly and quite attentive. We would definitely come back as long as the service and food continues to remain the same.
i’m taking one star out because of the uncomfortable table w/​the bar, made my legs quite uncomfortable thru out the meal.

Receptionist was friendly and polite.
Sat down and the table had a bar at the knee level. Extremely uncomfortable. Ordered a Bud and waiter brought over a pot of tea, but both the beer glass and tea cup were filthy.
Will not repeat.

My husband and I had a huge craving for shabu shabu, and we remembered seeing this place in the area. We walked in and didn’t realize that this place had just recently opened. Whenever we try new restaurants, we always give it the benefit of the doubt.
A nice gentleman greeted us at the door and seated us in a nice corner seat by the window. He gave us 3 pieces of paper (which happened to be the menus), and a pen. We looked over each piece of paper, and it turned out that we really wanted to do the «All you can eat» deal. We looked at each piece of meat, vegetable, etc., and noticed that each was itemized, and there was a space next to each item that stated «qty». We were confused as HOW to order off of this «All you can eat» menu, so we asked the gentlemen how to order. Since both my husband and I received separate menus, the guy told us that we can put down how many pieces of each item we wanted in the hot pot. Seemed pretty simple. Then my husband had to ask again (more like reiterating) to see if we were ordering correctly, and the gentleman had a confused look on his face, and just nodded his head. That’s when I had a gut feeling that we could have possibly ordered incorrectly.
A few minutes passed, and the gentleman came out with the hot pot. We ordered the half and half (one half was spicy broth, and the other half was non-​spicy). We tasted the broth, and we LOVED it. It was a mixture of herbs and spices that is just impossible to describe. It was just GOOD! Then the servers came out with the meat and vegetables. And low and behold, they kept coming out with more meat and vegetables, and more meat and vegetables, and more meat and vegetables. They had to bust out with an additional TRAY to accommodate all the plates of meat and vegetables. Let’s just say that when they were done putting all the plates on our table and on the additional tray, I was relieved because I was afraid they were gonna bring more! Let’s just say, that for a party of 2 and a half, the amount that they served us was enough for a party of 8. NO JOKE. Well, thank goodness my husband had an APPETITE that evening because we were able to finish off the plates, and we were left with JUST 3 un-​touched plates.
So…word of advice. I recall putting «10» as the quantity under the meat section, and they came out with 3 FULL PLATES of meat. So when it says «qty», put at least 2 – 3 if it’s for a small party… that goes for meat and veggies. The «All you can eat» deal was $ 19.99, with no extra charge for «untouched» plates. So I guess it was pretty worth it, but now we know better. Their food was excellent. I just wish it came with a side of straight forward instructions. Let’s just say that after our initial visit to this restaurant, I will NOT be having shabu shabu for at least a year. =/

This corner location in the popular Chinese strip mall on Dixon Landing has seen its fair share of tenants over the years. I remember awhile back, it was actually a pizza joint for the longest time, one of the last remaining holdout businesses from the previous landlord, when everything around it had already turned Chinese. Since then, I can see why it was indeed the last storefront chosen to finalize the takeover.
Could it be the poor feng shui? Rent too high? Or perhaps simply not so great restaurants occupying the spot? I’ve been working around the area for the better part of two years now, and during this course, I have continually noticed shops coming and going. It seems that every few months, the windows would be boarded up, with another construction project going on, and after a few weeks elapse, wa-​la… another shiny new restaurant grand opening to minimal fanfare.
On Friday, April 15, I had the opportunity to check out the latest incarnation, a northern Chinese establishment called Wonderful Kitchen. Around 1:30 pm, the place was virtually empty, with only about two small tables of two occupying the cavernous confines. The employees (and I assume the owners) were very cordial, but I wouldn’t necessarily say overly friendly.
The menu consists of your typical northern Chinese fare, with xiao long bao, dumplings, green onion pancake, beef noodle soup, etc. They also offer hot pot, which is a carry over from the previous tenants, but since we only had limited time, we opted for the items out of their kitchen.
Let me just say this. Perhaps I’ll amend my review later after I have tried the hot pot, but based on the fried noodles, green onion pancake, seafood and chive dumplings, all of us were left very underwhelmed, especially considering the local competition selling this very type of cuisine in the immediate vicinity. Furthermore, portions are very small for the price. The only saving grace was the beef tendon, but even this was a less than satisfactory size.
The interior is wide and spacious, and the tables are spread far apart enough to provide plenty of room. One major annoyance, however, is the design of the table itself. For some reason, there is a very low slung metal bar that I kept banging my knee on. I would never, ever be mistaken for a vertically blessed individual, so I can only imagine the torture a larger sized person would have to endure. The TV on this day looped images from Wonderful Kitchen’s menu, while the music was a mix of American top 40 hits and Korean pop.
In closing, let’s hope that the hot pot is nothing less than stellar because it will take a lot to make up for their regular food. If not, it’s not hard to envision the musical chairs trend to continue at this address. To show how hastily slapped together Wonderful Kitchen is, many of the plates are carried over from the old ramen shop, and have the wrong logo. Perhaps this is only temporary, but it doesn’t make a very good impression.
I’ll be sure to update after testing out the hot pot, but something inside of me tells me to expect more of the same.