Boiling Pot

I can’t believe that this place closed down! I’m so sad :(
I came here before with a friend of mine, and the food was delicious. I’m really sad to see it go.

I was really excited when i saw this living social deal for this place. I love shabu shabu and was dying to try it. Too bad i didn’t read the reviews before i actually bought the thing cause if i had i probably wouldn’t have bought it.
When my friend and I went, it was almost empty. there was one other small table of people and there were 2 waitresses. We sit down and we take a few minutes to decide what to order. The waitress comes around once while we’re trying to decide and she gives us attitude cause we’re not ready! seriously?
So we finally order and we both got the miso broth and it was literally a cold pot of water with a chunk of miso paste floating around in it. it wasn’t warm broth or even dissolved broth. we apparently had to mix the miso in ourselves and season the broth ourselves too (which we didn’t know).
she brings out 2 plates of veggies for us and doesn’t mention that i’m getting a second plate of veggies for my actual order. i was sitting there thinking, this is sooooo not worth the money. so she finally brings out the actual plate of veggies, which was better, but it still wasn’t the type of veggies i was expecting. it was just a lot of filler veggie, oh well. i guess i’ll know not to come back again.
my friend ordered the chicken plate and the waitress brings out a plate of the steak. umm, you heard us say chicken, but i guess you wrote down steak? what’s up with that? Anyway, so we clear that up and we proceed to the eating… which was fine… a little bland, but fine.
toward the end of our meal, our waitress comes up to us and tells us that the total of our bill is the exact total of our living social voucher (which i’ve never had a problem with before) and that we needed to order something else. I was like, «What? Why??» whatever, so not worth my time. i ordered a pellegrino which i received and drank. we come to find out later on the bill that it’s twice the price as it is on the menu. Apparently, they had run out of the size that’s quoted on the menu and so they gave me a different size without telling me that there would be a price difference. I don’t really care about the couple of bucks difference, but come on, when i order something i expect to pay for what i order. I took the bill up to the waitress and explain to her that it’s the wrong price and she says, «well, it’s not the wrong price, it’s the different size and it cost more». okay, but that’s not what i ordered or what it says on the menu, which i show her. and she says, «well, there’s nothing i can do it’s the price that it is».
at this point, all i want to do it just pay the stupid bill and leave so i paid and left, but seriously? you’re going to argue about a couple of dollars with a customer who is clearly in the right? NEVER GOING BACK HERE AGAIN!!!
If i could, i would give them negative 1 star! argh! makes me so mad! Horrible customer service!

Absolutely the worst ever Shabu/​Hot Pot… this place just disappointed in every single aspect.
The service was TERRIBLE. The servers, clueless and rude.
The broth was bland. And we also had to wait for some chicken stock granules to dissolve into the non-​hot water. Ridiculous.
The meat was sparse (9 slices? really?)
The noodles were rock solid frozen when they came out.
I could make something WAY BETTER at home. with only water.
Honestly…if you’re a fan of satisfying, great food… and especially if you’re a fan of hotpot and shabu… don’t come here.
Seriously. And if you bought a coupon… I’m sorry. I did. And I’m sorry.

I’ve been dying to try shabu shabu and was stoked when Living Social offer a deal to The Boiling Pot. At the end of the day, I am pretty thankful I found the deal i.e. I am pretty thankful I didn’t pay full price to eat here.
The service wasn’t too bad, but it was a one woman show. Our server was the only one on duty and she did everything — from the drinks, to breaking down the meat. She was great at explaining how shabu shabu works and even went as far as helping us season the soup. Though the she was great despite the staffing handicap, the food on the other hand was just meh.
The gal pal and I ordered the shabu shabu deluxe miso soup ($ 24). It came with a variety of meats: Chicken, beef, scallops, fish, crab and shrimp. The crab was actually imitation crab and was quite gross when it went in the soup. It turned into a mushy mess. I was anticipating the fish being equally as unappetizing, but it wasn’t too bad as long as I took it out of the pot pretty quickly. The chicken and scallops were okay, but the shrimp and the beef were yummy. Even though the server helped us season the broth, most of our food was pretty bland. I think perhaps the flavor is purposefully mild, but I like my food to pack a bunch. If I were to come here again, I would get only shrimp and beef, plus I would add a shit ton more seasoning.
Overall, I give kudos to our wonder woman server, but the food just wasn’t that spectacular. I would be hesitant to go back.
Tip: The restaurant is on the side of the mall, near Macy’s. Park in the parking structure on Del Mar for a short walk to the Boiling Pot.

Clueless service led to uncomfortable and weird dining experience.
The food was decent, I guess. We ordered the miso soup base. It was bland.
The server grabbed the Go Deals coupon from the table, stood there, and studied it for quite some time. I felt like I was going to be scolded.
We had the appetizing experience of waiting for our cold water to boil and small lump of miso to dissolve into bland soup.
The restaurant was sad. No music, no tv, no customers. Server? Hardly there!
As our soup was reaching boiling point, we were presented with our seafood platter and were left wondering about our chicken and beef platters. When we asked her, our poor clueless server explained with a chuckle that she was the only person working and that she would get to it.
So, we dared not ask about our appetizer… which appeared magically at the end of our meal.
Did I tell you about the mid-​meal excitement? We were asked if we wanted anything to drink!
More excitement? Pipe and drain repair people in the middle of the dining room!
At the end of our meal, I was asked, for the first time, if I wanted more water. Since we were leaving, my server decided filling up my glass halfway would suffice.

I was flipping through the local Clipper magazine and saw a BOGO coupon for this place, so we gave it a try. I had never been to a boiling pot type of restaurant but had seen it on TV, with spicy, hearty sauces and a fun eating experience.
Unfortunately this place fell below my expectations. First, our server seemed really annoyed and unhelpful. She asked us if it was our first time there, and we said yes. Then she walked away. I was expecting her to bring some kind of «helper» menu, but she just walked away. She did not offer any explanation on how to cook the food, season it, etc.
Second, the food was bland. The water in the boiling pot was very bland – it did nothing to infuse flavor into the cooked food, and the server did not offer any suggestions. We tried using all of the condiments but we were not successful. However, the the quality of the raw meats, seafood, and vegetables was good. The seafood plate was actually impressive. But a general lack of flavor left us dissatisfied.
Third, boiling the food required too much effort. It sounds weird, but I actually felt tired after the experience. It was not fun, like Korean BBQ, and by the end of the meal we were trying to finish quickly to get out there. The steam from the pots was getting to me as well.

Not worth it! Too expenisve for the the amount of food you get plus the food is so so.

healthy and inexpensive food.
they have an anniversary promotion going on all Shabu Shabu is $ 2 off !

It was different then the other shabu shabu that I have been too before and lied to my friend who took me to dinner how well it was because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings since he was so excited about bringing me here and didn’t want to look like a Foodie snob! The service thou was decent and our waitress was very humorous but the menu lacked was I was use too at other shabu shabu’s, when asked if I wanted water or beef broth, I opted for flavored water and was brought a water bowl with bouillon, there was no choices if how much meat I wanted, it was either beef, chicken or seafood choices. I found the meal lacking flavor! I wasn’t thrilled with the noodles or vegetables either and filled up on white rice and soda since my 7 – 10 pieces of thinly cut beef went quickly! Thank you to the staff for the free dessert since apparently my friend frequents there, but why? When we left he stated I’m still hungry want to get a Burger?

Decent. I was skeptical because of he mixed reviews but after stopping in here for dinner, we were surprised that they had a decent happy hour, two for one drinks and the place was packed.
Happy hour ended at 7pm, FYI.
Regardless my husband and I had a plate of gyoza and ordered the regular size beef entre of shabby, around 16.50 each. All in all we walked out of there full and with a 51.00 tab after tip. I’ll be back!
Only downer was the staff had an argument right in front of us before we got our food.
FYI, if you sit on the counter you’ll get your hot plate.

I came here in high hopes of finding my new shabu shabu place since my favorite place Mr. Shabu Shabu is now closed :(. Another reviewer haad mentioned that the Boiling Pot was comparable — soooooo NOT true! For one, the quality of the meat was really bad — once cooked, it was stiff and white, like pork and Angus beef has never tasted so bad to me. The broth was bland, even after I added the onions, garlic, & daikon and chili powder.
There were no other customers there when we showed up @ 8 PM on a Saturday night — that should have given us a clue. While service was decent, the bland food, powdery udon, and wrong rice used (they didn’t use japanese rice, but used broken rice) has made both my bf and I really sad after we ate it.
The Boiling Pot has left a bad taste in our mouths — literally — my mouth had the same taste as when I got sick and everything tasted bland, even 30 minutes after eating it.
Eat here at your own risk!

My first experience having shabu shabu was at Shabu Shabu House in Little Tokyo, Downtown LA. I liked it, however I did not like the difficulty trying to find parking and the 2 hour wait and you’re not even guaranteed to be called because the owner might decide to cut the wait list! Forget that!!!
I saw Boiling Pot Shabu Shabu driving by Lake. Mouth watering memories of shabu shabu beef goodness prompted me to try the place.
The waitress was very sweet and attentive (eventhough there were only 3 other patrons dining that night). My husband and I made it in time for Happy Hour. ½ off drinks and discounted appetizers. We chose the large beef plate (each), which was pricy at $ 20. But it came with some noodles and veg. We both chose the miso broth. By the way, we each had our own boiling pots. No need to share. Came with ample sizes of peanut sauce and a dark brown sauce that tasted like ponzu.
Overall very yummy experience and I’m definitely coming back.

came here with the bf since mr. shabu shabu was close and he’s came here once before.
it was pretty dead inside. but the price was decent. the service was good. this place definitely is your typical shabu shabu place and i was not disappointed. we each ordered a large beef shabu shabu original and an order of gyzoa.
they did have a sign on the door that states, «100 best Chinese restaurants» & the bf states that they have to be good if they have that.
there’s a parking garage so its an easy parking situation.

I really love this place.
The food quality is good and the all waitstaffs are friendly and prompt.
I am from Japan and I am sometimes dissapointed «Japanese food» in America, but shabu shabu is AWESOME!!! This is the reason I keep coming back.

I can not understand how people don’t like this place. This shabu shabu is absolutely great! Clean, very friendly staff, and amazingly good food!
The reason many people don’t like it I think is because they don’t know how to do it right. You have to make yourself your own broth which is different from other shabu shabu places, which makes it a lot better I think.
You should check it out!

Okay, so this place was a little weird… Good, but odd…
The backstory:
The lady and I decided to go out for the 45^th time since our move (no stove until the end of the month) and we thought we’d try something new. It’s strange how its location is both very memorable (RIGHT under Trader Joe’s and share a parking lot) and completely forgettable (faces north, strange parking situation, signage you see once you’ve driven past it already). So, during our brainstorming and constant purchasing of pre-​packed food from TJ’s, it popped into our heads.
We decide to go and got there about 6:30 or 7pm. Had no problem whatsoever finding parking in the structure, which was a pleasant change from the norm in that parking lot. The restaurant was EMPTY… There was literally NO ONE else in the entire restaurant with the exception of our server and another guy working there. In fact, that didn’t change the entire hour and a half we spent there. Mind you, it was a Wednesday, but still really odd that not a single other person showed up the entire time. I probably would have just closed the place down for the night because God knows they weren’t covering the cost of keeping the place open with the two of us…
Since we were the only people in there, the service was very attentive, if not almost too much. It was clear that this was her first job as a waitress, but she was really sweet and the 15 questions on how we were doing (during a meal that you cook yourself) was passed with a laugh.
They had some unusual drinks on the menu and from 4 – 7 they’ve got a 2 for 1 drink special so the lady had a watermelon martini and I had a «Tokyo Iced Tea». While sweet and fruity isn’t my normal M.O., I do have a particular like for Midori and it’s a staple in a good many of their STRONG drinks. Yay booze!
We started the meal with shumai appitizers and they were fantastic. Six of them were served, three to a skewer and had a great sweet sauce, similar to a hoisin sauce. Perfectly done, nicely presented, A+ for the apps.
The main course (we got the same thing) was the Certified Angus Beef platter. They brought our cooking pots over with cold water and put all of the eats in front of us before we could cook them (chalk it up to the server’s inexperience) but all of the ingredients were very fresh, and presentation was pretty standard for a Shabu-​Shabu place. They had a «medium» and «large» size for the platters and we went with the medium which was sufficient with the apps we had beforehand.
We were both filled up so I didn’t even look to see what they had on the dessert menu…
Overall, this was a very positive experience. The cost came out to about $ 25-​ish per person with drinks and splitting an app, however it would have been significantly more expensive had we gone with the seafood platters which were about double the cost (but looked really tasty including crab and lobster amongst other things). Definitely worth a trip back, just need to make a note to remember that it’s there!

I thought this place was very good!
the service was great.
Its not crowded so you don’t have to worry about the wait like other shabu shabu places.
I love their spicy tuna roll thingy (dont really remember whts it called) but yeah. I’m a fan! :)

I should have listened to you Unilocalers. I should have. But what to do when you want to try something new, don’t wanna drive far, and you’ve been meaning to give Boiling Pot a try?!
So the boyfriend and I headed over to Boiling Pot. The manager (or who I am assuming is the manager) came over to greet us and quite franky… he’s the only reason I give this place 3 stars… if it weren’t for him, I’d have likely given them 2 stars. The food isn’t bad or anything… but as Fiona C said below. it’s just «A-​OK and overpriced.» Does that deserve 2 or 3 stars? Maybe not… but it was just so disappointing to get some clear hot water and very little food for so much money.
We ordered two «platters»…the beef platter and the seafood platter… I’m not sure if you could really call it a platter though. two shrimp, some tiny scallops, two imitation crab meat sticks… really really not enough to get you full.
We really wanted to like this place. and we really liked the guy who kept greeting us… but overall. just an average place.

A-​OK and overpriced.
The quality of the meat and vegetables weren’t that great.
Portions were pretty small for what you pay for — I wasn’t full when I left dinner but didn’t want to spend any more money there. Even in Pasadena you have better choices for shabu shabu — like Shaab.
Overall? Meh.

Ouch, after reading these reviews (and after being there last night) — people are harsh!
Okay — first off — just because a Japanese place is not owned /​run by Japanese doesn’t necessarily mean it’s horrible — case in point — Tokoro Sushi in South Pasadena. They’re Korean run, but it’s pretty good.
Now about BP — well, because it appears to be Chinese run, the ponzu sauce is different than Japanese places. Now THIS particular ponzu was far better than some of the shabu places in SGV — edible. Compared to Little Tokyo — meh. Their ichimi — actually it wouldn’t be ichimi — whatever it was, had NO flavor — either because it is cheap stuff, or it had just sat there too long. This creates a not so good tasting sauce others had talked about.
Vegetables — well, their green onions were old and we had to have them replaced, but most other things (we ordered shiitake mushrooms) were okay — except the udon noodles. They tasted weird enough not to eat.
Service — well, for coming in at 8:30 on a Saturday night — was horrible. We were immediately seated but it took a while for the girl to help us — why? There was a regular customer who comes in often (based on his conversations with them) to flirt with the two cute Chinese waitresses. That’s fine, but they need to pay attention to the customers first, then flirt back. The 1 waitress that was supposed to be serving us never noticed us, I had to flag down the other waitress who would then tell ours to come by (for refills on drinks, rice and old green onions).
Cost — yeah it’s pretty expensive, but you have to consider it’s a shabu shabu place in Pasadena. If you think of the location and the convenience of it — well, you have to accept that they pay higher rent and that the cost would be passed onto us.
Oh — I also noticed they do serve some boba drinks but at $ 3.50 — I told my wife I’d probably go insane if it wasn’t good.
Is it worth it? To me — not at all. However, if you’ve never had shabu shabu and are unwilling to drive out the Little Tokyo — this wouldn’t be TOO bad to try. Now again, keep in mind it is NOT your typical flavor — and there are far better out there, but require a drive and a long wait in line.
Finally — there’s a sign that says there is a $ 20 minimum on credits cards, and there is some sort of happy hour special between 4pm-​7pm (but I was starving and I didn’t see the details).