Shabu Shabu Zen and Sake Bar

We loved this place for dinner!! They gave us a tulip for Mother’s Day and were so sweet to my daughter. We had the edamame, rice cracker shrimp and seafood Shabu Shabu which was so good! Also cucumber sunomono with octopus has this sauce that is incredible, never tasted food like that before. Had a great visit! Even the people sitting on either side of us were wonderful, many people from LA and Newport Beach who made it a point to visit. Don’t let the exterior fool you, it’s a great place!!

Pretty good, but pricey. It's in a strip mall, so you might expect it to be cramped and cheap. Just expect it to be cramped. For 7 people it was $400 and only 2 got sake or beer. A flight of 3 small shot glasses of sake was $17. The beef is decent, but you only get 8oz unless you pay extra for a few more ounces. The vegetables are underwhelming. You get a single bite of enoki, maybe 2 onions and the rest is mostly cabbage and lettuce. You pay extra per person if you add a flavor to the pot. The service is decent, but it's not like they are jumping to refill drinks or get empty dishes out of the way. The 2 sauces are maybe a little too authentic and no one at the table said they loved either. Overall everyone enjoyed the food and experience, but the portions were stingy for the price.

Not only is the food fresh, delicious, and homemade. But the service was OUTSTANDING! Every person that assisted us did so with a huge smile on their face. My friend is allergic to shellfish and the server was very knowledgeable of the menu and told us which dishes to stay away from. It got busy towards the end of our meal and even though the servers were running around they still took the time to open the door, walk us out, and thank us for joining them for the 100th time! We will definitely be back! DON’T SLEEP ON THIS PLACE!!!!

The service here is great. Though I've had shabu in the past at other restaurants in the Bay Area the experience here is most refreshing. You know how you get that congealed gunk floating at the surface when you boil meat? The ladies here will skim that and make sure your broth stays clean. They do other niceties to make sure your tended to and feel taken care of, even if you're just by yourself. I also had the coffee pudding for dessert, which was heavenly.

This place is awesome. The presentation is done right and the food was some of the best I've ever had. Our waitress was excellent at explaining how it works to my friends and me. I do recommend calling ahead and getting a reservation as we were lucky to have shown up at the right time.