Simply Shabu

Hot pot is always nerve-​wracking for me because I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing… and also because I’m very indecisive when it comes to selecting a hotpot broth.
Oh, is that a sauce bar? Okay, I’ll make a sauce with EVERYTHING in it. Cue Anne’s chunky hotpot sauce.
Oh, individual hotpots at the bar? Cool! How the heck do you work this thing?
There’s an order to putting in the food? Okay… I’m gettin’ it, no worries.
Oh no, my soup is too thick now because of all the delicious meat and veggies I’ve been cooking in there — and by this point, I’ve burned my tongue at least once due to my own impatience.
These are my hotpot stress thoughts, if you couldn’t tell.
Nevertheless, fresh, high quality ingredients and individualized hot pots can be found at Simply Shabu. You’ll leave super stuffed!

This was exactly what I was hoping for/​expecting. It’s a standard Chinese-​style hot pot restaurant in Philadelphia, but minus the squat toilets.
The spicy broth didn’t start off as flavorful as the places I’ve been before, but the sauce bar was there to cover for it until the flavor started to get more noticeable as my dining partner and I ate. The menu was sufficiently wide, and the food was of high quality (well I don’t know if hotpot-​style meat and fish balls are ever technically «high quality», but they were fine, too). As is the case with any good hot pot meal, the amount of food (we ordered a 9 piece lamb, beef balls, shrimp, potatoes, and bok choy) looked insufficient prior to the meal, but left my date and I absolutely stuffed, with a beef ball or so to spare. All for a very pleasant $ 28.
We ate an early dinner, so had the place to ourselves until the end, so it’s hard to comment on meal-​time atmosphere, but the staff was certainly friendly and helpful.

This was my first time at a hot pot restaurant so I was very excited. Simply shabu is a very fun experience and a great place to come and BYOB.
My main complaint about this place was the lack of customer service. Halfway through my meal, my hot pot was no longer hot enough and I had no idea which buttons to press on the side to get it back to the correct temperature. I was lucky that there was someone at our table who had been there before and fixed it for me.
I love the sauce bar and the experience in general, but I really wish there were a few more chef prepared appetizers on the menu!

Service was much more attentive even with a full house. Refilled our tea plenty of times (yes, i drink like a fish), and checked up on us a few times to make sure we weren’t out of broth. They didn’t mind me moving my ressie up by nearly 1 ½hrs (my regular plans changed)…
With that being said, I reward them with another star =) Keep up the good work!

Inconspicuous Taiwanese-​style hot pot bar in the Chinatown district.
A group of us came here on a cold winter night in search of some warm hot pot to fill our bellies. We were shown to seats at the bar and ordered the dumpling appetizer and meat combination hot pots. (The menu also features ala carte hot pot and a few other odds and ends.)
The dumplings were, in a word, incredible! They’re served up hot with thin skin crisped nicely on the bottom, and stuffed with pure meat. On par with Din Tai Fung in Taiwan — I would make a meal of these alone. While waiting for our broths to heat up, we visited the sauce bar. The sauces were good overall, but the Taiwanese BBQ sauce had a stronger seafood flavor without much salt and somewhat of a grainy texture. Not what most places serve, but it was much improved with a dash of soy sauce.
The food itself is typical hot pot fare. Each hot pot combination comes with your choice of meat, mushrooms, tofu, broccoli, tomato, corn, carrot, taro, butternut squash, spinach, fish ball, and an egg. I love starting off my hot pot with the slower-​cooking foods, such as the taro and squash, then dipping in the meat to cook immediately before eating. Every bite is piping hot and delicious! Even better, by the end of the meal, the simple broth develops into a wonderfully complex, rich, and savory soup. Simply Shabu doesn’t salt the broth too much which I appreciate.
For dessert, we ordered shaved ice with red bean, strawberries, and mango. The dish came topped liberally with fresh fruit and drizzled with sweet condensed milk. Mmm! On the downside, the ice was not shaved as finely as we would have liked and was already partially melted when it was served. I would have liked more sweetness (the dish is traditionally served with dark sugar syrup).
The staff is very friendly and repeatedly checks on you if you sit at the bar. 4/​5, but the to-​die-​for dumplings, BYOB status, and severe lack of competition in the area makes this place an absolute must-​visit!

Came here with my boyfriend on Valentine’s Day and everything was pretty good. We were treated with warm welcomes and the food was delicious.
Our waitress was very friendly and sweet, she explained the menu for us and we decided to order two combo sets. Each sets came with a bowl of veges, a plate of meat of your choice, and noodle or rice. For the amount you’re paying I say this is pretty worth it. I would definitely come back again when i’m around the area.
Since we came here on Vday, when we finished our meal they gave us chocolate covered strawberries. Yumm!

In a desperate search/​craving for Shabu Shabu, I stumbled upon this place. I guess I should have known that since Simply Shabu is Taiwanese style, it would not satisfy my hunger for the Japanese style of shabu shabu I find back in California (who knew you could use the word «shabu» so many times in a short paragraph??).
Anyways, a hot pot of boiling soup is always a plus for this terribly cold weather. I chose for the Spicy broth because spicy is better than potentially bland. They didn’t lie when they named it spicy! It definitely packed a punch!
I found the DIY sauce bar to be interesting! There were many flavor options available, which I liked! However, I would have been more than happy just to have my ponzu and goma sauces. Also, I think it would be way too easy to get too excited over the endless flavor combinations and end up creating something not so tasty.
Overall, the meal itself was decent but not great. I ended up choosing the meat combo with both beef and pork. I didn’t think the quality of the meat was as good as I’ve had at other Shabu Shabu places. There is a wider range of veggies though, including taro, which was a nice surprise. Unfortunately, you don’t the option of creating the udon soup with whatever broth, meat, and veggies you save for the end like the Japanese style restaurants! It is such a great way to finish off a meal.
So sadly, though the meal itself wasn’t bad, I just wasn’t satisfied with the end result since the style of hot pot did not match my craving!

The first thing I have to say is I’ve given one star just for the name. (Ok, I didn’t really, but it’s kind of fun to say, right? We just called it Shabu Shabu that night because, well, red wine…)
I was Shabu’ed for my first time this past Friday night, and I absolutely plan to go again. The place is super small, so make a reservation! They are smart — reservations have start and end times so people can get in. Expect your dinner to take a while — you’re cooking as you go.
First and foremost — don’t go too crazy on the appetizers, save room for your main course. Having written that, however, get the fried pork dumplings. They were literally the best dumplings I have ever had — seriously, ever. You can make your own dipping sauce for them — but to be honest, I didn’t even add a sauce, they were that good.
We ordered the spicy broth and loved it – pork and chicken and a big, fat bowl of veggies. As others have written, toss your root veggies in right away because they take the longest. Nice kick to the broth but not too much. Loved cooking in broth — yes, a lot of sodium, but not the oil you typically get from some Asian dishes/​cuisines.
I love that you make your own sauce! The sauce bar has a range of options — and as someone who cooks Chinese food at home, I know the balance of what I like — heat to garlic to soy to vinegar, etc. One review suggested they add some sugar — brown sugar would be a great addition to the bar.
Aside from bringing your own wine/​alcohol, I’d suggest you ask up front for an extra fork to dip the raw meat into the broth. I got a little shkeeved handling the raw meat without jumping up to wash my hands in between. Someone else posted that it’s a good idea to ask for an extra bowl or two, especially if you are getting noodles. Just keep in mind there isn’t a ton of table top space, so when you’re done with something, have it taken away.
Super nice staff, friendly fellow diners. It was a sub-​zero evening, and we felt it was worth the discomfort of walking 5 blocks to and from where we parked for our experience. Definitely plan to return!

New to the hot pot experience and let me tell you… f-​u-​n. it’s like painting with a twist minus the painting with a twist. Immediately entering the restaurant we were greeted by the extremely chipper and warm staff.
Having known nothing about hot pots the staff became the most essential part of our evening. My date and I let our server guide us and he did not allow us to over order. (my wallet thanks him) The sauce bar was simply adorable… I love the idea of creating your own, the tricky part is remembering what the hell you just created and the quantities of each ingredient. I made a scrumptious creation of… yeah…should have written that down. We ordered a ton of veggies, a few of which I couldn’t identify but they were deliciously cooked in our spicy broth as well as the vegetarian broth. Ordered the dumplings as well. These were straight gold! Some of the best I’ve ever had.
I can’t stress how fun this experience was. Being part of the cooking process really keeps you in the moment which if you ask me, is priceless.
Simply Shabu is a perfect place for a date night, or a small group of friends.
Oh and it’s BYOB, need I say more?

Best hot pot I’ve had outside of china. Really fresh and delicious meats and vegetables and a huge sauce bar where you can mix your own sauce. Cool non-​standard sauces as well, including a fermented tofu and a bonito sauce. Also really tender beef and fresh scallops. And dark watercress, which ive never seen before. Great atmosphere for both first timers and veterans. And really friendly staff. Come check it out. It’s quite optimal.

This is decent Taiwanese hot pot/​shabu style restaurant, where you cook your own meat and/​or vegtables in boiling broth pots– my new Intimidating food adventure! I placed my order for pickup and by the time I got to the little neat resturant, my diner bag was waiting for me, and I only live few blocks away. Very efficient!
It’s the first time I ever had hot pot /​shabu, and you can’t imagine how excited I am over this place! It was a perfect choice for this cold weather!
I ordered the meat combo: I picked a very flavourful soup base– the kimchi broth –a vegetable base with housemade kimchi. Worth a try!
I got the beef and chicken combination for my meat and it came with a side (your choice of white rice/​udon noodles/​cellophane noodles) a box of variety of vegtables to cook including corn, large pieces of cabbage, tofu, mushroom and more. What a lovely combination of colours and flavours.
This warm dish did warm me deep inside, I will go and dine in for a full experiance very soon! This place is a must-​try!
Four Unilocal

Very much A-​OK. It’s just hot pot — they throw some boiling liquid in front of you, some stuff to dunk in it and you’re on your way. Simple.
That being said the staff didn’t really offer anything here other than showing you to your seat and reminding you that after 1.5hr your time is up. OK, I get it. Other than that things were rushed and the process not really explained, which could be an issue for anyone who didn’t know what they were doing. Not big deals though.
The two of us ordered the seafood combo with some other assorted balls and fried tofu. Beef and pork balls were… odd. Would not recommend. Very dense and unmeatlike. But the seafood and veggies all seemed fresh, and the place in general was clean.
Would say that much food was probably too much for two people.
Sauce bar was cool I guess, they give a couple suggested combinations but again, you’re pretty much left on your own here to do as you please.

My boyfriend and I dined at Simply Shabu last night for the first time. Together we ordered the meat combo and surf and turf shabu.
Let’s start with the positives:
+ the sets come with noodles, meat, vegetables, and egg, so you really feel like you are eating a balanced and complete meal
+ the meat was flavorful and well marbled, especially compared to other shabu shabu or hot pot places in the area
+ you get a nice selection of vegetables, including squash, spinach, and oyster mushrooms
+ the house broth has no preservatives in it. This is huge for me, as my body — the additive meter — usually experiences an allergic reaction after consuming hot pot
+ for dinner, Simply Shabu is slightly cheaper than the hot pot restaurant that just opened nearby
And now the negatives:
— even though you pay more to have two kinds of meat in the meat combo, you don’t actually get much extra. My boyfriend is lucky that I eat like a bird
— the surf portion of my shabu set did not seem fresh. For example, the scallop was not sweet and had a slightly sour taste
— the sauce bar had no sugar. This disappointed me as I’m accustomed to making a potent garlicky and spicy soy sauce based sauce with a heaping spoonful of sugar
— I was very excited to order a side of lotus root using my Unilocal checkin offer; however, the lotus root was so thickly sliced that even after an hour of cooking it was still inedible
— the house broth was yearning for salt
As you can see from my review, I had a very mixed experience and am not sure that I would recommend Simply Shabu to you. I suppose if you have a craving give it a try. Ultimately, I think food like this is best made in an electric wok in your home with a rich and fragrant herbal bone broth. Maybe that’s just me though!

I love shabu shabu, as long as you are not too finicky about your friends’ cooties or double-​dipping or chopsticks fights for the last piece of meat!
Philly now has two shabu shabu restaurants in Chinatown and I prefer the other one for the following:
1. Larger dining space and better seating arrangement. This place is smaller and the seating is limited — so large parties of 6 or more may find faster seating and more comfort at the other place. We gotta have some space and privacy, tiny Asian people or not!
2. Quality depends on what you order at both places. I do like the seafood option here despite the oh God damn high price for the wild caught salmon pieces and other fish. The house broth is good here, but the kimchee broth is weird tasting and my friend who likes spicy didn’t like the flavor.
3. Faster service at the other shabu. I agree with other reviewers that service can be slow here. When cooking soup bring everything at once and not just the salad. Owners, please hire more staff to tend to your hungry customers!
4. Variety of sauces and condiments for dipping. I like the other place better since I like to play with all the different ingredients — which can be a disaster since it ends up tasting like nothing I expected, and adding more soy sauce or bbq does not salvage it.
5. Both are byob but I think the other place also sells beer since they recently got their liquor license.
Three stars for slow but friendly service, okay value for limited quantity and cost, and small space.

I was definitely a hot pot newbie when I came here last Saturday… but now I feel ready to take on another shabu shabu experience head on! We came here with a bottle of wine and started ordering whatever sounded good to us off the menu. For first-​timers, they offer an easy option of ordering a combo, which comes with basically everything under the sun. However, it makes the meal pretty expensive for what it is. So, I tried to order a la carte with some kimchi broth, tofu, enoki mushrooms, and calamari to see if that would be enough food for someone normally. It kind of wasn’t.
Another misperception I had was that you actually drink the soup, but it turns out, you just use the broth to cook your food, and then use your own dipping sauce to impart flavor into your meal… fascinating!
The food was delicious, the space was pretty, and the service was friendly. Next time, I have a strategy for what I will order and it will be completely a la carte. I think that by trying most of the menu last time, I will be able to order properly next time for half the price!

Ordered:
beef combo set (that comes with a plate of beef, veggies & cellophane noodles)
Food:
–broth: great depth in flavor, and did not taste as if it was made from a powdered/​packaged broth like Hippot Shabu; although it may «seem bland» as previously commented by other Unilocal reviewers, it is truly closer to traditional Chinese broth used for hot pot with a more savory bone flavor
–meat: was presented beautifully, but is served semi-​frozen which was a bit disappointing; the meat was more fresh and tender at Hippot — BUT, Simply Shabu definitely portioned more meat
–veggies: great variety and will actually fill you up
Overall, it is a decent shabu place with a few exceptions:
–price (a little steep for shabu)
–reservation/​seating system: sure, people call in early for seats and that makes sense; but when a family of four with little kids walks in seeing all empty seats at the table are forced to sit at the bar, that does not sit well with me — especially when all the seats were still empty when we left!
–shaved ice toppings: we were so excited to try this, but they ran out of strawberries & red bean, which are my favorite

Oh simply shabu you were simply delicious! So grab your wine and come here to test your boiling-​food-​skills!
The cooking your own food experience sure makes for an entertaining dinner! When I cook at home, I usually eat 50% of my meal while I cook, and this place its considered normal to do so. If you know what you’re doing go for it and create your own, if you were a newbie like I was go with some of the recommendations on the menu. First of all you pick your own broth and then different veggies and meats. You even get to make your own dipping sauce for all the food. They have a sauce bar and you go up and mix and match your flavors. Obviously it was a little bit overwhelming but don’t freak out when you go up there, they have directions on how to create a sweet and savory sauce. They cater to everyone over there!
I HIGHLY recommend the seafood. It was simply delicious and it came with shrimp, scallops, salmon, fish and mussels. They don’t play around with their portions either, you will leave feeling stuffed! We got two shabu meals and had to turn down the FREE orange slices at the end of the meal. This place is just that good. Also, did I mention its BYOB? I love BYOBs.

Yes, omg! Hot pot. How awesome is it? The space is very modern. Stove top tables, bamboo finish chairs and tables. Green and cream walls. Very open and cool looking.
I ordered an antioxidant smoothie. It was made of mixed berries. Very delicious. We ordered our hot pot. For each hot pot we get to choose two different broths. We got spicy and house broth. I tried booth broths and the spicy broth was not spicy but rather medicinal. Almost licorice. Not a pleasant taste. The house broth was simple but good.
Ordered a la carte our beef meats, fish balls, beef, enoki mushroom, wild ear mushroom, spinach, udon noodles, cellophane noodles, and fried tofu. These items were portioned for two people and plenty.
The sauce counter was cool and unique. Although, I did not like the flavors of the sauce I made my very own and unique sauce (I’m just a great cook, lol).
Scoop, dip and eat. Hot pots just make you feel better. This place was kinda hidden off the main streets of Chinatown. Walked past and said «what’s this?» Looked it up and wanted to try.
Here’s my review:
Ambience 4 star. Clean and modern
Service 4 star. Waitress — attentive and refilled, cleaned as needed.
Spicy soup broth — 3 star
House broth — 5 star
A la carte items — 4 star
Smoothie — 5 star
Must try this hidden gem. Very unique and different flavors of hot pots. I will return to try other broths and a la carte menu items.

Shabu doesn’t come to mind when I think of Philly. However, after a day of eating the delicious fatty foods that usually come to mind when you think of what Philly has to offer this was the perfect way to end the day.
Simply Shabu was very refreshing and clean. It made my insides feel better after all the grease I had eaten throughout the day. I ordered the seafood combo ($ 17) with lamb which came with a huge veggie platter and a side order of the fish ball with roe. I haven’t had fish ball with roe since the last time I was in China years ago. That fish ball sealed the deal for me! I wouldn’t mind coming back to order five servings of just the fish ball with roe. Their meats and veggies are locally sourced so extra fresh! I’m a fatty so shabu doesn’t usually fill me up but I was stuffed by the end of this meal.

The Simple Dos and Don’ts for a Shabulicious meal at Simply Shabu :
DO make a rezzy if you have a larger party (or even if not, this place gets busy!).
DON’T expect there to be that much space between tables.
DO pick up wine/​sake/​whiskey/​booze on your way. (BYOB)!
DON’T be sketched out by the alleyway and nondescript door, look for the fogged up windows.
DO add your own spices to make a spicy broth.
DON’T waste an extra dollar on spicy broth that you can spice yourself for free.
DO follow up on your order (Hey waiter, where are my noodles/​egg/​tofu/​beef? Service was a mess. Gonna give them the benefit of the doubt because they’re new but c’mon!)
DON’T worry, after all that, they’ll probably forget to charge you for something so everyone wins!
DO ask for extra bowls for sauces so you can slurp up delicious broths in one bowl and dip meat in other various sauces.
DON’T mix all the sauces together, cus that was weird. (Follow the instructions on the board).
DO order beef, shrimp and a la carte normal (asian) vegetables (bok choy, watercress, nappa, enoki mushrooms) to supplement a combo.
DON’T limit yourself to just the combo-​because nobody wants your weird corn on the cob and tomato in their broth Simply Shabu.
DO go with your friends and enjoy a fun, cheap (super full for $ 20 each) DIY meal!
DON’T go with your friends and family who «just don’t get the DIY food craze» (they’re stupid).
SUPER excited this place exists! Hope the service improves. Can’t wait to be back!