Hotpot First Shabu

And the hot pot obsession continues!
I LOVE this place. Can’t get enough of it. It hurts me inside that I always have to get someone to eat with me since I can’t togo it and eat at home like a fatty by myself.
The extra spicy numbing broth is what keeps me coming back. The first time I ate it, my tummy was actually on fire for a couple hours after. The next few times I got used to the spice so I had to ask for extra spicy pepper/​powder on the side. Definitely does the job for my crazy spice tolerance.
Meat quality (lamb & kobe) is excellent. I always ask for the more fatty side of the kobe– it melts in your mouth when cooked rare. The split charge is waived if you order at least $ 10 worth of sides, so 2 large meat plates + 1 veggie bowl + 2 soup flavors comes out to be ~$ 35 for dinner. You can substitute anything in the veggie bowl for more of what you like, and the ponzu and sesame sauce is delicioussssssssss.
I’ll be back, even in 90 degree weather. The obsession is real.

I am soooo sad. This establishment did not meet any baselines of what I would expect of a good experience for shabu shabu.
SERVICE:
The staff seemed inexperienced. Our guy server had a difficult time going over the meat selection, and he just stuttered throughout the ordering process. I don’t mind if you’re probably new (you gotta start somewhere) but at least go over the basics of the menu with us!
Btw I’d like to point out that we found a huge bug in our broth. It looked like a large mosquito. Not sure if it was flying around and it somehow got in there or if it came from the vegetables. A female server just muttered «sorry» quietly and swapped out the broth nonchalantly after I brought it to her attention. I’m not sure why this made me upset… at least sound like you’re sorry maybe? Because not only is my appetite now ruined but now I have to wait another 10 – 15 minutes for the new pot to boil again because their ELECTRIC burner takes forever to heat up the soup. Sigh.
The staff also tend to drop utensils on the floor way too often.
BROTH:
We got spicy & numbing + tonkatsu
The spicy & numbing soup lacked flavor. The tonkatsu was more decent because of the umami flavor.
QUANTITY/​PRICING:
Can I say nickel and dimed? I felt like I paid a lot more money than I should have for a small quantity of food.
American kobe beef large we got about 20 slice.
A medium side of lamb got us 6 pcs
A large side of lamb got 8 pcs
(yes just 2 pcs difference between medium and large… $ 3 difference!).
Plus the meats are sliced super thin where you don’t really get to enjoy the texture and flavor of the meat. I can’t taste the quality if it’s sliced so thin.
And that small sized bowl of vegetables that you see in the picture? That’s to be share between 2 people.
Rice is not free either…
Sorry, I’m not coming back.

Inconsistent service now that I’ve come here several times. No fishballs.
They did not have any more rice! I had to get the mungbean vermicelli instead which becomes a gummy mess after a while.
Meat wasn’t sliced as thin
Don’t be afraid to get the numbing/​hot broth
It barely tasted mild even after the broth evaporated and got more concentrated.

It was okay not bad. Perhaps I should of gone higher than medium. The girl warned me that would be spicy but I felt it was lacking in spice even my friend who thinks hot Cheetos were spicy thought it was bland. The tonkotsu was flavorful though.
Service was alright. I felt bad for the servers since it was only two and they were doing everything. They need more servers because it’s impossible to cashier, host, and serve 11 tables with just two people .
Choices were a bit on the pricier side but it was good. Wish they cut the cabbage so it’s not a whole chunk in the pot. The choice of sauce was okay as well.
I think for 35 per person with tip and everything. I thought it was average at best.

Shabu Shabu! My friend and I went for lunch and it was pretty empty. Parking was a little hard to find since its downtown.
We ordered Spicy Miso + Tonkotsu Soup and two American Kobe Beef Large. We had a hard time deciding between the medium and large but went with the large since there’s only a $ 3 difference. I was actually disappointed with the portion for large. I felt it was a small if anything. Like any other Shabu place, they give you a bowl of veggies, option of rice or noodles, and sauces (ponzu and sesame). The broth was good! At one point I couldn’t tell if I was breaking a sweat because it was spicy or too hot.
They have dinner prices for lunch and dinner. The meal costed us each $ 21 which is good for Shabu. I would’ve given it another star if the portions were a bit bigger.
On to the next Shabu Shabu place!

I’ve been to Japantown a couple of times and I’ve always walked by this place. I’m so happy to have tried it a week ago. I can’t say I’m a hot pot connoisseur because I have yet to hate a hot pot place. It seems all the same to me.
I came here for dinner on a weekday, no wait. YES. We ordered a medium pork, large kobe beef, and a large lamb. Only when you order a meal plate of meat do you get rice and a side of veggies. The veggies were pretty standard (tofu, cabbage, spinach, mushrooms, etc). I think the only gripe about this place is how little sauces they give you. I guess you could always ask for more. Portion-​wise, I would definitely say everyone in the group should order 1 meat plate to fill you up.
The service here is VERY attentive — almost too attentive as some workers will just stand by watching you eat lol! I’ll come back to try different meats here.

My boyfriend and I love this place!!!
Our favorite shabu place was one pot in Cupertino but now they are like even…
We had non spicy miso broth and pork bone broth with 2 large Kobe beef. The meat was too amazing, we had to order another extra large beef;-)
Their sesame sauce was really good! Servers were friendly! Broths were decent! Meat was the best! Highly recommend this place!!!

New hot pot place opened up in Japantown in downtown San Jose. Kind of a small, but modernized shop! My cousin happens to work here (: Service was all right, my aunt kept commenting on how one of the waitresses bugged her because she looked so out of it. As if she didn’t want to be here at all and it clearly showed on her face, LOL.
We ended up getting 3 vegetarian and 1 of the A1 meats I believe. Meat was all right, they give you a crap load of veggies though. Maybe only 2 fishballs, couple pieces of tofu, few mushrooms and a lot of the leafy veggies though. Broths were all right, I barely touched the sauce that they gave me. I was never into hot pot since I’m never ever full from it LOL. They do give you an option of vermicelli noodles or rice (?) for your hot pot meal. The noodles were quite interesting in texture, wasn’t a fan. I only went because my aunt invited us on a perfect day for hot pot aka gloomy, rainy weather!
Service was pretty good, broths were kind of on the plain side.

First timer.
I came here for lunch yesterday with a friend. I really liked my experience, It was fun. My friend on the other hand didn’t enjoy cooking his own food, total Debby downer. Anyways, we ordered potstickers as our appetizers and I went with the spicy and numbing… And It was true to its name spicy: P also the Kobe steak. Everyone receives a side of varied veggies and fish balls, I wasn’t a big fan of the fish balls.
Overall I really liked this place I would definitely come again. Oh and the price 14.99 for lunch: D what stood out the most was the sesame dipping sauce… My god that shit is good! I wanted to steal the bottle that I spotted across the room, but I composed myself lol NOt Kidding

Omg one of my new favorite shabu places in the south bay!!!
This restaurant was bookmarked when I saw it as one of the hot and new places to try. I was excited when I saw that it was a few doors down from where I was studying at.
It’s a little small inside but we didn’t have to wait when we came that night. The service is impeccable! They are all attentive, helpful, and extra friendly! Yvonne was our server and she was sweet. With shabu, I’m obsessed with the dipping sauces and it’s safe to say that I liked their sesame sauce (I got 3 refills lol).
We ordered half medium spicy & numbing, half tonkatsu broth. Both were delish! We both ordered American kobe beef. You get a choice between rice and vermicelli. Their vegetable selection was great! Cabbage, spinach, tofu, mushrooms, imitation crab, and even the fishballs with the pork meat inside!
I’m so happy there’s a new shabu place closer than Cupertino! I love their tables too haha. I can’t wait to come back!

I got the large American Kobe with half miso and half spicy numbing soup, or whatever it’s called. The miso is not bad, but not memorable. I’d say it’s pretty bland. Same goes for the spicy soup.
The meat was not high quality. The way they cut it made it seem like it would be a lot and filling, but I felt like I was eating $ 10 meat rather than $ 20.
The set up was nice, big pot lots of soup. I like how they coordinate everything. The service was decent, kind of like any hot pot place. Weren’t attentive, but if you needed something they would bring it out right away, like water/​beer refill, bowl of rice, etc. However, they won’t really check up on you so you gotta wave them down.
Overall, not bad. I would come back, however, there’s other places I prefer.

This place replaced the previous shabu spot, Shaburi. I was a fan of the last place so I really am hoping its new replacement is up to par.
Seating is now table style versus the previous bar style. With the last bar style, you had your own small individual shabu shabu pot whereas now, you share a larger centralized pot where there is a divider of soups.
Soups:
Went with soups 1 & 2. Spicy and numbing and the spicy miso.
Neither were all that spicy. Though my nose did run a bit, both very doable. I personally preferred the miso over the spicy and numbing.
Meat:
2 Kobe beefs (highly recommend)
Meat portions have slimmed down since the previous place. So has the plate of veggies and there’s no longer a small portion of noodles on the veggie plate. If you want ramen/​noodles, it has to be ordered separately.
However meat, soup, and overall taste was up to par. Service kept up with us and adjusted our pot temperature accordingly. They kept an eye on us and frequently came back to check up, so service has improved.
A bit sad to see the last place go, but the replacement is good enough to return.

I’ve been to three other pot pot places back in NJ, and this is the worst. The menu was different from the others. You usually will order all the sides and meats separately and share. Unfortunately the way this works is that everyone orders a meat and it comes with a bunch of veggies and sides. Now this may not seem so bad but if you don’t want it all to yourself you have to pay a $ 5 share fee.
The hot pot was done well but I did not like that you could not make your own dip. They gave you soy sauce and another dip that was pretty plain
Also the rice came out late and was underdone.
Still an okay experience, as I love hot pot but I would suggest finding a different place

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My friends & I eat shabu religiously & this place is now my new favorite. The manager and our server, Antoine, was really nice and attentive. This new location is super convenient because it’s right in Japantown. Plenty of parking as well. We came around 8 and there was a wait but fortunately for us, we came right before the rush.
For a medium sized Kobe beef, they actually give you quite a lot of meat. You get a wider variety of vegetables like Japanese pumpkins, fishballs w/​fillings, crabmeat, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and cabbage. We got their spicy numbing broth which comes in three different levels of spicy. My god, the name itself already sounds like fire in my mouth but the mild was just the right level.
Definitely coming here from now on!

One thing that really sets them apart from other hot pot places is definitely the service. You are always welcomed upon arrival and it’s geniune. And it’s an added bonus that the food here is equally delicious.
Broth: A lot of options but I opt for the numbing spice. I asked for medium but I think I’ll stick to mild next time. It was too oily for my liking. I’ll ask for spicy on the side next time.
Sauces: Good. I always add garlic and chili oil to sesame sauce :)
Meat: Good but the best. I tried the Kobe and Lamb but it lacked that strong Kobe/​Lamb ‘flavor’. Still better quality than most.
Veggies: My favorite here. The stuffed fish balls are amazing.
Ramen: Not of a fan of this kind of thin/​stringy ramen. Some advice: use the thick ramen (similar to neoguri ramen). The thin ramen cooks so fast and becomes soggy.
Glass noodles: Get this vs the rice. They didn’t charge me when I asked for a little extra last time. Thank you :)
Overall, i love this place and you bet I’ll be back. Thanks for the awesome food and service!

Really bomb shabu here.
I rate shabu places based on 3 things: Broth, meat quality/​vegetable, sauces. Well thats basically all there is to shabu anyways LOL
Their broth, I highly recommend their spicy and numbing one, I got medium spicy. It had the perfect hit of spice for me and also had great flavor. We also got the miso non spicy for a change in flavor. And the miso is delicious as well. I do prefer the spicy one a bit more though. I also love making myself a nice bowl of udon at the end, so I mixed the two soups and it was delicious! The miso added a little more depth to the broth so it wasn’t just pure spice. Delicious. It’s always nice to end the meal on a bowl of noodle soup in my opinion!
Then there’s the meat. I ordered their American Kobe, and my boyfriend ordered their Lean Angus. Both of them were delicious but I would prefer the American Kobe, that extra bit of fat in the meat just made it so tender and flavorful. It’s a pretty good portion size, I ordered the medium and I felt like it was a good amount for lunch. They also give you a veggie bowl that has napa cabbage, carrots, spinach, imitation crab, enoki, etc. My absolute favorite in the mix was this fish ball that was stuffed with ground pork i believe? SO DELICIOUS. The filling adds such a nice saltiness and extra flavor to the fish balls. Pretty decent assortment of veggies, and it comes with a bowl of rice as well. But I prefer udon to rice.
For the sauce, they have ponzu and sesame. I typically prefer using ponzu for my meat and such, but they have a house made sesame sauce that is DELICIOUS. I thought it was creamy and had the perfect amount of sesame flavor to it. All my friends loved their sesame sauce as well. Their ponzu was also delicious. They also provide minced garlic and hot chili oil for you to add to your sauce if you so desire.
Service was great, friendly and accommodating. They do get pretty busy, so get there early! We went for Friday lunch as soon as they opened so we were seated immediately, but by the time we left their restaurant was filled.
Delicious place, will definitely be returning!

Came here on a Thursday night to try this new hot pot place out that just opened a week and a half ago in downtown Japan town. When I got there, we were greeted and got sat down right away since not a lot of people were there at that time.
So the menu was quite easy to follow seeing as there is only two steps. You just had to pick a soup base followed by your choice of entrée. You had three options for the soup base: Spicy and Numbing (House Special and choose from mild, medium, and spicy), Miso (Spicy or Non-​Spicy), and Tomato. Your choices for their entrees include: American Kobe Beef, Certified Angus Lean Beef, Premium Lamb, Premium Pork, and Vegetarian.
Each entrée comes with a Veggie Bowl that includes: Napa Cabbage, Spinach, Carrots, Enoki Mushroom, Shiitake Mushroom, Tofu, Fish Ball with Pork, Imitation Crab Meat, and rice or vermicelli. You can always add on some extra sides that are already included or some that are not included like: udon, ramen, egg etc.
Anyways, we ordered the half Spicy and Numbing with Medium Spice and half Spicy Miso for the broth. Both were really good, but I actually liked the Spicy and Numbing a lot more even though it wasn’t spicy for me at all. As for the entrée, we ordered the American Kobe Beef and a Premium Lamb entrée. They were both very fresh and delicious.
As for the service, we received excellent service tonight! Our main server, Vanessa, did an excellent job helping us and explaining the menu for us first timers. We were also helped and greeted by the other staff including management themselves as well. Everyone was super nice and friendly.
The only thing I did not like is that they charge a $ 5.00 fee if you wanted to share an entrée (which I normally do at hot pot places since I don’t eat too much in one sitting). I kind of felt forced to order another Entrée and really stuffed myself more than I would have liked to. It makes sense if it was a bigger party and they just all share one entrée and added a bunch of additional sides, but for me, it was only a party of two so I might as well get two entrees or I’ll be paying the $ 5.00 charge which is equal to me ordering an entrée. So might as well get an extra Veggie Bowl with it.
But overall, I really did like this place and would definitely recommend this to anyone that is looking for a good hot pot place or simply looking to try something new. Loved the food and love the staff. Thank you Vanessa and the rest of the staff for being so kind and attentive. We will definitely be coming back!

Came in during dinner with my husband and our friend and we loved it!
Location: Right next to San Jose Tofu Company and across the street from Jimbo’s.
Parking: Holy crap, I think I should buy a lottery ticket because we found parking on the street like 10 feet away from the restaurant. When we visit J-​town we usually park across the street from Sushi Maru and walk.
Ambiance and Décor: Modern and spacious. It wasn’t too crowded and we could actually hear each other talk from across the table which is nice. This place is Asian-​fusion rather than straight up Japanese shabu. Also, there’s nice spacing between the chairs– I usually get anxious when everything is super close together but I was totally fine here.
Service: The manager was super nice and was all smiles. Also, our server was really pleasant and checked up on us often (but not too often where it’s like «Dude leave me alone– I’m trying to eat»). My water was always filled without having to flag someone down.
Food:
+ Sauces
— Shacha: SO GOOD. I can put it on everything.
— Sesame paste: Really tasty! Tons of flavor. I’m a fan. I had to ask for it, but make sure you do too!
+ Broth
— Half miso/​half medium spicy numbing: The spicy and numbing is probably my favorite of the two. Miso was nice and miso-​y (is that a word? NOW it is!) without being overpowering.
+ Veggie/​Sides bowl: AHHH! They have this fishball with pork filling and omg fsdjksldfjsklfhsdofh. I’ve never had anything like it. Also, veggies are nice and fresh and they have my favorite enoki mushrooms! Yay!
+ Meat:
— American Kobe Beef: This was my favorite meat of the bunch. The cuts are generous and it was super fresh.
— Lamb: Sooooooo good too! I usually have a problem with lamb tasting a little too gamey, but this was perfect.
— Pork: I honestly can’t remember because I enjoyed the kobe and the lamb so much.
Drinks: THEY HAVE SAKE HERE! WOOOOO! I’m trying to calm down a little, so I had a ramune– but my husband and our friend had some sake!
TL;DR: Asian-​fusion hotpot place. Lovely service, really good food.

My cousins and I needed to find a place to eat in downtown area and we decided on shabu! You’re going to have to find street parking and we were lucky to find one across the street from the establishment!
We came in for dinner and were immediately seated. We ordered the split pot of medium spicy of the Spicy and Numbing (that’s the actual name of it) and medium spicy miso flavor. 2 Kobe beef plates and 1 lamb plate. Each portion comes with rice and a bowl of veggies, imitation crab and the amazing fish ball stuffed with pork! We also ordered a side of instant ramen. It also comes with 2 sauces, the ponzu and the sesame sauce! I personally like the sesame sauce with my meats!
The numb and spicy broth didn’t have a lot of flavor to it and it wasn’t spicy like the name suggests. The miso broth has much more flavor and I enjoyed it more. There was enough food for 3 starving girls. I don’t think I would be coming back because I’m not a fan of shabu. I just liked the pork filled fish balls!

From the wonderful people that brought you Hotpot First in Sunnyvale, they’ve decided to take the magic down to San Jose and open a second location but shabu style!
I personally love shabu style so this was definitely up my alley. Their restaurant is unique in the sense that it’s not like traditional Japanese style shabu but it has elements of it mixed with chongqing style hotpot. It’s like the best of both worlds.
Why should you go here?
1. The meat. The meat quality and quantity for the price is superb. The beef and lamb were tender, rich, and filling. You can tell that their meat is high quality with just one bite.
2. FISH BALL WITH PORK FILLING. OMG. I’ve been trying to find these balls since I first had it in LA like 4 years ago. There’s just no place up in Norcal that sells these things so it was to my surprise that they serve them here! Reunited and it tasted so so soooo good.
3. Broth! So unlike traditional japanese style shabu, they have different broths. You can still get miso if you want but they also have their traditional chongqing style broth! IF you’ve never tried it, you definitely should. Get it spicy because I think the spicier the better. You can definitely get more flavor that way.
4. Quality and Quantity! I was so full at the end of meal. The prices for the meal is around the same price as any other shabu place but I definitely think you get more than other places.
For dipping sauces, you can actually choose from ponzu, sesame, bbq satay sauce, chili or all of them. I would say that the only con here is maybe parking. Parking can be a little difficult during peak lunch/​dinner hours but other than that, great place to satisfy your hotpot/​shabu cravings :)