I have just tasted a bit of heaven and its name is Shabu-sen. Tonight we decided to head on over to Shabu-sen, a little shabu-shabu place in Japantown. I’ve been there twice before, but today is different. Today we went when they have all you can eat shabu-shabu or sukiyaki. Before I delve to deeply into today experience there I’ll share what i remember of my first two visits. The first time we visited the Shabu-sen it was a Saturday Night. We were promptly seated next the counter which had a good view of them preparing the food. All of the waitresses were Japanese and spoke it as well, this is a plus epically for Japanese tourists that are visiting the city. They use a combination of portable electric and gas stoves to heat the shabu-shabu and sukiyaki pots. We were lucky enough to get a gas on at the time. It seems as though the majority of their stoves are electric. Don’t get me wrong I like electric stoves too, but with gas its far more responsive to the temperature you are setting it at.
I ordered the pork and was quite pleased with the taste and flavor of it. Although it wasn’t kurobuta it was quite delicious. With the meat they serve a plate of vegetables most of it was napa cabbage, but they also included negi, carrots, shitake mushrooms, tufu, udon, and dried shirataki, albeit in smaller portions. They also served a bowl of rice and two different dipping sauces, ponzu and goma. All in all the first night was good with one little problem, the goma had way too much garlic in it. That overpowered all other flavors in the sauce and made it hard to use for me so I stuck with the ponzu for most of the night. The next time I visited I tried out a combination plate which included prime rib eye and dry aged rib eye. Both were good, some of the better beef I have eaten in the United States. The sides were the same but the goma sauce was actually good this time and I used it almost exclusively throughout the meal.
Now on to tonights dinner. We ordered the all you can eat platter which is only offered Monday through Thursday. They have time limit of 90 minutes where you can eat all you can. We started off with the beef, they served the same vegetable plate as before, but in addition we were also got a small bowl of zaru soba, and wakame salad. The wakame was good a nice blend of sweet and spicy. The soba however I was not so impressed with, the soba was over cooked and the soba sauce lacked saltyness and was a bit on the sweet side. The beef that was served was good, not as good as the prime or dry aged, but it did have a little marbling which made it more tender and flavorful. Next we tried a mixed plate of pork and beef. The beef again was good, however the pork was not that good. Compared to the porked I tried the first time I was there this was a few levels worse. Its not bad pork just not what I expected from this restaurant. Initial the service was slow, it was very busy and seemed like the waitresses had their hands full. When the crowds settled down the service became faster. The third plate of beef came out a lot faster then the second. So thumbs up on that. A big thumbs up on the goma sauce this time. They have fully redeemed themselves for the first nights problems. The goma sauce was great this time around. Great sesame flavor and it was thick and creamy it fit perfectly with the beef sort of ringing in the big flavors and holding them down.
All in all a great meal. I will go back again.
