Shabu² - Houston

Our reservation was set for 8:30pm, but didn't get seated til 8:50pm (no big deal). Our soups didn't start to boil until 20 minutes in. Therefore, we understand we have limited time to eat so the staff can close. However, they did not warn us for last call so we did not get enough meat as we would have liked for AYCE (our waiter was nice enough to get us one more round of meat). They ran out of a few items on the s tier ayce meat which is understandable since it was toward the end of the day. I recommend anyone to try to eat here before 8pm to get a better experience than we had. Also, our waiter was new, but nice. However, the older Asian female worker forced our waiter to inform us that we had to leave and it was 10:10. Our reservation time was set for 1.5 hrs : I was still eating, I was saving this ayce dinner as my one big meal for the day. Didn't bother to talk to the manager because I knew how poorly ran this place was after our experience.

Shabu squared is houston's first shabu shabu restaurant and bar. if you don't know what this is, shabu shabu is a Japanese nabemono hot pot dish made of thin cut meat and vegetables cooked in water. the understood is onomatopoeic, derived from the radiated sound of wish-shish, when the ingredients are stirred in a pan and served with dipping sauce. it is very different from the typical Chinese hot pot restaurants throughout chinatown. we have visited shabu shabu for years, and we can confirm that it is one of our favorite restaurants in houston. they have a free private parking space, which has always available space. we usually go to lunch on the weekend, and it is not really busy in the way. when they go to dinner, they can experience a longer waiting period, so remember. regarding the food, we always order: sukiyaki broth for $3 with spicy paste 1 extra) bark belly (6 oz) for $16 sashimi grade lachs (6 oz) for $21jede broth comes with a bowl of vegetables, mushrooms and noodles. it also comes with two dipping sauce and a bowl of rice. make sure to ask the sharp hot sauce drops for the immersing sauces! if they eat with more people and share the broth, they will calculate them extra for these items. overall, shabu squared is a great restaurant in houston. it is clean, the service is great, it is spacious, it is modern, and eating is incredible and tasty. Sure, they can spend much more than they are used to, especially for eating in/near Chinatown, but it is worth it for what they get. I would highly recommend checking them!

Tony is the man who has led us through this amazing culinary experience. the meat was beautiful and delicate and our broth (mixed with an additional drop carolina reaper, habanero, skorpion chili oil tincture added.) tried a new Japanese echigo beer (several taste as a light beer, but still good and not hoppy) the sweet was fresh and we followed tonys recommended as we were first time witnesses. pansa llena, corazon contenta will definitely be back.

Had the spicy crab broth. Very flavorful! Thanks for the recommendation from our waiter. The only thing I didn’t like as compared to other hot pot places is getting to choose your veggies. The cuts of meat were phenomenal!

Probably one of my top 5 shabu experiences. The meats were tender and delicious. Service was efficient. Lastly the dips and broth tied everything together! Space was a little tight but you can classify it as “intimate” haha Very enjoyable meal