Kariya Shabu Shabu & BBQ

Are you craving KBBQ? Do you want Shabu Shabu? Are you so hungry that you could eat a buffet? Have no fear because Kariya is here!!

The amazing Kariya restaurant in Artesia, CA is for those looking for a little bit of every thing! You must come hungry here. They have a lot of food and it's for an awesome price too! ($9.99 on weekdays and weekends are $12.99). Quality food for a quality price.

Kariya restaurant go-ers can customize their shabu shabu from a variety of soup bases, meats and veggies. I love all their various options from meatballs to taro to tofu to pumpkin. There is something for every shabu shabu fan out there. The shabu shabu then cooks right at the middle of your table and around it is Korean bbq.

Korean bbq here is just as great as the shabu shabu. You have a good selection of brisket, chicken, pork belly. They even bring out rice paper for your Kbbq meats.

As your shabu shabu and KBBQ is cooking, you can indulge in some of their buffet goodies. Their buffet has fried rice, noodles, egg rolls and teriyaki chicken. There is also some tapioca dessert for the end of your meal. It is also at the buffet that you can get the various sauces and dips for your meats.

I really liked everything here. Their meats were of pretty good quality. They were lean and tender. I also loved the shabu shabu soup. The various veggies and meats you can add are great! I really liked the taro and meatballs. As for the buffet, the fried rice is perfect when paired with the KBBQ. I was so full at the end. Everything is very fulfilling.

I'll never look at any shabu shabu or kbbq place quite the same after trying Kariya. Kariya offers you the best of both worlds and for a good price as well. It's a bit too bad this place is a little further down from me but I wouldn't mind driving here once in awhile to partake in their awesomeness.

AYCE (All You Can Eat) Shabu Shabu/BBQ

This was an interesting concept where you could enjoy shabu shabu with a pot in the middle and BBQ on the sides of the pot. Basically can shabu shabu also cook BBQ at the same time. They have different sauces and seasonings you can get to dip your meats or other foods. I enjoyed the BBQ more than the shabu shabu. I didn't pick the food I wanted just ate whatever was ordered. There are different prices for all you can eat. I had the cheaper menu so it wasn't all that great with less options of foods I enjoy. I would go for the highest price when I feel I got to live life and enjoy good food. If you eat everyday and if you're going to dine out why not enjoy the best every chance you can get.

I actually really liked this place. The food was delicious and I loved the concept of doing hot pot and KBBQ all at once. They have a hot food bar towards the front of the restaurant and served Korean Fried Chicken and Eggrolls. They do not serve sides here at a normal KBBQ restaurant but have a list of items you can request.

There's a bar for sauces near the front as well. It would've been nice to have them put up an recommend recipe list for he sauces. I really liked the garlic, green onions, and garlic sauce together, delicious. I would definitely recommend!

4.5 stars.

Yummy!!
I think this one of the delicious bbq place I ever been to.
Plenty of parking since, it is located in a plaza. We were seated quick with a party of 6.

I would give them a five star but.... the floors and and tables were sticky.

This place is inexpensive about $11-12 for dinner.
Love how they have a side bar, for sauces. Not only that, they have rice, fried rice, chow mien, orange chicken and dessert soup station.

Their fried rice is so delicious!

Love their meat, so yummy.
The hot pot was not bad either.

Option for hot pot:
pumpkin
spinach
tofu skin
tofu
corn
beef balls
Napa
and many more!

Overall, I really enjoyed the food here.

I got a last minute invite to join in on dinner at Kariya. Ayce shabu and bbq? Could there be anything better? Sadly, yes. There are two different things to eat, which makes it interesting if you want both, but I feel as though quality is sacrificed as a result. The price isn't too bad, so that's an upside.

When we first arrived, my friend had a rose tea from another shop in the center. We were just waiting around at the front, since a couple people hadn't yet arrived. The woman behind the counter told us that we couldn't have the drink inside and would have to finish it. We were made to feel quite uncomfortable. I get not having outside drinks at the table, but also in the waiting area? She ran outside and put her drink in the car for afterwards.

There were six of us sharing one little pot of broth and the circular grill surrounding it. To me, this wasn't enough space. I was always wanting more meat or more soup, but it was hard to reach and things kept running out. We should have had two at the table for the size of the group. Also, maybe because we were piling things on, there was a lot of oil and fat dripping and splashing all over the place. There was a group of two behind us, and they didn't seem to be having that issue.

My friend told me that the chicken in the buffet area is good, but they ran out when we got there and it was never refilled. They also ran out of garlic sauce, and by the time we finished eating, the dessert soup thing was gone.

My friend also wanted more napkins, because she was using them to wipe up the oil. She asked like a million times and no one would bring us any. Finally, another server came to the rescue, but it took what felt like thirty minutes. Bah.

Arrived at 9pm on a Friday (1 hour before closing) and there was still a line outside! Lucky for me, I only waited 5 mins because of my small party. Yay :D The moment I walked in, the manager was all smiles with a "Hello! Welcome!" waves* Kudos for that.

We got the $11.99 AYCE option and it was more than enough. The shabu and meat, in addition to the chow mein, steam/fried rice, egg rolls, and garlic sweet chicken appetizers easily filled us up by round 2. There are 3 rounds total btw! I loved the vegetables and noodles for the shabu, however I could pass on the kbbq. The flavor & quality of the meat were either bland or overbearing. Don't go crazy on ordering the veggies in the 1st round, b/c you'll regret it after. It's a lot yo! They have tapioca w/ green bean dessert too. I'm whatevers about it, but just try it?

Our waitress, Nancy, was VERY attentive and helpful. Sometimes a bit much, but we didn't mind it. Often, she'd come by to cook the meat, refill drinks, or prepare the shabu for us. She even made the sauces for us too b/c we're too noob and didn't know how. At 10pm, closing time, she even asked if we wanted more meat instead of kicking us out... hah.. We're grateful. Thank You Nancy! We'll be back!

I like coming here during the late fall/winter months because you can have hot pot and Korean bbq at the same time! The wait staff here is really friendly, helpful, and attentive.

You can't beat the prices for $14 AYCE dinner. They also have an area with self serve for sauces, rice, dessert, eggrolls, and orange chicken.

Went here last night and we were a party of 6! This review is for the server which definitely affects the service we received!

This one lady in particular (you can see in the picture i will post) was so RUDE that when we kept asking her for more meat she gave such an inappropriate reaction that she didnt need to say a word, but her actions came off in a jerky manner!

My brother in law then went to speak to the manager and basically questioned if there were still meat left, because from the servers reaction it's as if she was so affected that we kept asking for more meat! Uh hello its an ALL U CAN EAT Kbbq! Don't question the customer if they want more meat or not! Just do your job and give the customer what theyre asking for!

It's bad servers like this that make the restaurant be considered a 2-star!

Kariya teach your servers good customer service and not just by what they say to customers, but their actions and facial expressions also affect that!

-- 70/100 Reviews of 2016 --


Shabu shabu + KBBQ + Buffet = Happiness ^___^

**Disclaimer: Come HUNGRY**
....because it's A LOT of food.

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How it works!

First -- Choose a Soup Base:
+ Kariya House Special Soup + Plain Seaweed Soup
+ Special Hot & Spicy Soup + Japanese Miso Soup
+ Japanese Coconut Curry Soup**
+ House Vegetarian Tomato Soup
+ Korean Spicy Kimchi Soup

I personally think the soups are OK. Not as flavorful as I expected them to be, but the Japanese coconut curry soup stood out to me the most.

- Options -
Option 1 - Meats and Vegetables
(sliced black angus beef brisket, sliced chicken white meat, sliced tender pork loin, sliced pork belly, beef tripe, pork blood, pork intestine)
Option 2 - Meats, Vegetables & Seafood + everything else
(USDA Choise Slice Rib Eye, USDA Choise Beef Belly, Atlantic Flounder, Miso Salmon, Spicy Squid, Clams, Garlic Calamari, Shrimp, Chili Sea Bass w/ Bone)
Option 3 - Lamb & Steak + everything else
(New Zealand Sliced Lamb, Black Angus Top Sirloin, USDA Choise Pork Tenderloin, New Zealand Mussel)

++
Marinated Meat (included w/ all of the options above)
(special marinated beef brisket, house spicy garlic chicken, spicy garlic pork, sliced pork belly)


+++ ( See attached pictures of the menu)
Veggies, meatballs, tofu
Noodles, wontons & rice

- Buffet -
While waiting for the food to cook, head over to the buffet table for fried/steamed rice, Kariya's special fried chicken (SOOO yummy), chow mein, soup, salad, etc. They also have a DIY of sauces/dips. My favorite concoction is the garlic sauce w/ green onions. Perfect for meat dipping ;D
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Service:
Very good. Our server was very attentive and quick. No problems with splitting the check either, although with groups of 6 +more, 15% gratuity is added automatically.

Food:
+ Meat was not the best quality, but not the worst either. I enjoyed the special marinated beef brisket, sliced black angus beef brisket, and house spicy garlic chicken the most.
+ Shabu shabu was delicious! Really enjoyed the Japanese coconut curry soup with cabbage, imitation crab meat, beef balls, spinach, mushrooms, fresh tofu, egg noodles & Hong Kong Style wontons

For their affordable prices, great food, and awesome customer service I would definitely come back!! So perfect for cold, rainy nights too!! ;)

I never had Korean BBQ and Shabu Shabu at the same time. A friend recommended this place so I thought I would try it out with them.

Location is nice. Plenty of parking around 6 when I came. The restaurant itself was nice and clean which I greatly appreciated. The staff was pretty friendly too.

Instead of getting all you can eat Korean BBQ, they give you three rounds. You pick from a card sheet what BBQ combo you want and what type of Soup. They have a selections of meats, fish, and unique meats. We did the $13.99, which is the cheapest but had all the good basic meats. You can choose up to four out of 6 proteins to BBQ. So it was a lot including the custom Shabu Shabu. While you wait for your protein and soup, the have a little station with rice and appetizers to enjoy. There you will also fine this sauce and seating station. It definitely comes in handy, but I did t figure that out until after we started cooking.

The cooking was easy to do. Only thing is the pot and grill is on the same fire. So if you trying to cook the protein on a medium to high temp, the Shabu Shabu boils and splats over. Making the grease from the grill pop , which definitely hit me a few times. That was getting annoying.

Now the food taste So good, but it was a lot. We didn't even order a second round they bought out so much. And we had a hard time finishing. Now his there is a substantial amount of protein left they will charge $5 per person. Since we only order one time the meet we had left over they did t charge. The gave us a lot and they knew it. So I'm happy they were forging about that. Only thing I wasn't crazy over was the fact that proteins that weren't marinated tasted bland. It wasn't until the end where I finally remember that I can Season my dish from the provide little station the provided. So it was my own doing that I didn't Season my wait when the provide the tools to do it yourself.

Pricing was reasonable. They have good one get one free deals there on the milk tees. As I said before our entry was good but it needed to be better seasoned.

So you should go. It's cool friendly place with good food. Who can deny that.