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Harvard (Red)
Mon-Wed. 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Thu-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 a.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
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This was my first experience with shabu-shabu and I was really please by the results.
I went with a work associate on a Monday night and had no problems finding a table. The decor is very hip and fun. We had a sushi platter which probably isn't necessary depending on how hungry you are but it does give you something to do while you are waiting for your soup to cook.
I ordered the chicken in the chicken broth. They brought me 9 rolled slices of chicken what amounted to a 1/2 to 3/4 of a chicken breast, a full plate of vegetables, teriyaki sauce, and a little tray of condiments, jalapeno, ginger and other spices to spice up the dish. I must say, I cooked myself up a good meal.
Shabu-ya does offer veggie items including a miso broth and miso shabu-shabu which looked really tasty.
I think this would be a great date place and a great place to go on a cold winter night for a good filling meal. I am going to try and find a shabu-shabu place a little closer to home in Chicago now!
Honestly, the food here wasn't bad, even though it was obvious that they were skimping out on portions. I've had shabu in Alston for half the price and got more food. The decor is fun, but the tables seem way too small, the table we got was for 3, and could barely fit 2 people's food on it.
The waitstaff seemed very friendly, but there was definitely a language barrier. I could barely understand my waitress, and with food like shabu shabu i think its pretty important to hear whats going on. I ended up flagging down another server a few times who managed to let us know what to do with everything.
The worst part of my shabu experience was the owner who was very overbearing and intense. I understand that the place isn't very crowded, but that doesn't mean I need some lady coming up and interrupting my conversations every 5 minutes. Once would have been acceptable, and i would possibly have been honored to have an owner talk to me, but the fourth time she came to our table i felt like getting up and leaving. She would say "hows the food?" and before i could tell her... very bland and theres not enough... she would say "its great right!" and the whole time bent over and was practically acting like me and my 27 year old girlfriend were toddlers.
Come here when theres a bit more of a rush, and i honestly think that you'll enjoy it more. Or at least dont make any sort of eye contact with any worker that isn't dressed in all black.
This aside, I would like to give this place 1 star for the tiny portions and for the fact that i couldn't finish a sentence with my date without being interrupted, but I'm going with 2 because of the sushi. I have come here on separate occasions by myself and sat at the sushi bar (possibly to avoid being harassed? i think so. ;-) The sushi chef is very friendly and seems very experienced. He whipped up my rather large order quite fast, and i actually saw him stripping fresh meat off of fish. If it was only a sushi joint, i would give 5 stars. Overall, come here for the sushi, nothing else.
Conclusion --------- Sushi = some of the best I've had, 5 stars.
Overbearing, incredibly annoying female owner = negative 3 stars.
Average = 2 stars.
Shabu Ya is pretty decent. I'll break it down like this:
Service, laid back but friendly and great about checking on ingredients: 4 stars
Sushi: pretty spot on - especially the veg stuff: 4 stars
Shabu: small portions, slightly pricier than other joints, and pretty bland. 3 stars
Veggie broth: they only had one, which was ok, but again, blander than blandidey bland city: 2 stars.
Drinks: not a huge selection, prices are ok, but the pours for the wine are a little stingy (less than a half glass): 2.5 stars.
Overall, a pretty decent place. I'll be happy to go back for sushi but will likely skip shabu in the future.
The korean food here is ok, but certainly not as great as what you'll find in Allston. I was turned off when I ordered Bim bim bap only to find that instead of the usual bulgogi, they had used ground beef. I know, I know, what a disgrace to korean food. Seems to me like they are trying to cut corners, but the price is still somewhat high...
I was torn between 3 & 4 stars... If I was reviewing a particular dish, I would give 5 stars. The dragon roll -- OMG!!! Wow... Spicy tuna slathered on top of... oh, I don't remember right now. Ah, must mean I need to go and have it again!
So, when I plan a trip, I keep in mind that they have a "happy hour" menu in the afternoons, $1 nigiri and reduced prices on other items. Now, some people think $1/piece of sushi is something to be careful of (like $1 oysters) -- but I've noticed this isn't that unusual. The Porter Exchange sushi bar has $1 nigiri all the time. Anyway, the person I go with loves salmon nigiri, so she loads up on them when we go.
I had the rib eye shabu once. It was good. I've never had that before, and don't think I'd have it again. I think I just like vietnamese pho soup better.
The decor is fun, the staff is upbeat, fun, and helpful. Nice place to sit and watch the people go by, while having many dragon rolls. :)
Location and setup gets 5 stars.
The food gets 3 so that comes out to an average of 4 stars.
My Unaju dish (eel) was just OK, but I'm sure other menu items are much better. My friends absolutely loved their sushi, so next time I'm going to try that instead.
I went to Shabu Yah off a friend's recommendation.
I can't say I was really happy about it, but I wasn't disappointed either.
The interior is really nice, though it feels a little out of place for a hot pot restaurant, I wasn't expecting it to look like a retro 70's futurism collision, but I guess that thing would appeal to them harvard kids. The place was dead empty, me and my girl were the only ones in the place at the time. I liked the fact that they served Sushi, and unfortunately, the sushi was the best part of the meal i had.
The service was okay, and the unlimited vegetables thing is a complete myth. I got a pinch more watercrest and two pieces of tofu when the "vegetable cart" came around and asked what we wanted more of. I ordered the short rib there and got 14 pieces of fruit by the foot roll ups. I wasn't happy about that, but it is what it is.
If this is the best place in Cambridge for hot pot, then I'm sorry for you folks there. . . you're missing out on the good stuff across the river.
Not a satisfying meal.
The reviews warned that the serving of noodles/rice is skimpy, but I eat very little starch anyway, so I went. Even for me, the serving is scant. Really, how much do vermicelli noodles cost? My husband was so hungry after dinner that he wanted to stop and get a burrito on the way home.
I thought someone had said in a review that the vegetables were at least unlimited, but we were charged an additional $4 for two leaves of cabbage, four stalks of watercress, one mushroom, a 1 inch cob of corn, one piece of broccoli, and three green beans. And the kim chee broth we paid $3 extra for was bland! The only flavor came from the condiments and the Sriracha hot sauce we asked for.
The sushi (Red Sox and Caterpillar rolls) was tasty but the tuna didn't look fresh (kinda gray instead of red), the rolls were small (I'm sensing a trend), and the construction was a little sloppy (I've made prettier rolls at home).
The decor is fun--there is a semi-private table obscured by a hanging metal bead curtain, but this is definitely not a restaurant I can recommend and definitely not worth a second visit.
Like a lot of pregnancies, this place was a "whoops". We came here by accident, looking for Shilla Korean restaurant, only to discover that it has now been closed down, and sort of 'merged' with a shabu shabu place upstairs that is Shabu-ya.
When we walked in, I felt like I was in some movie set in the 70's depicting the future, a la Woody Allen; an acid trip of sorts.
Anyway, my family was starving, so we hit the sushi menu for appies, and ordered 4 different shabu soups with different beef types. Here's the scorecard:
1) Sushi.......... tasted like the 'all you can eat' variety that slopped a lot of 'whatever is leftover' ingredients with a lot of mayo, hot sauce, and/or eel sauce. FAIL.
2) Shabu soup selections.......... not the greatest selection, but enough variety for those that crave either plain Jane or spice. Not great in flavor, but it does the trick. PASS
3) Food quality........ SOSO. Not the greatest beef quality compared to other places in Chinatown or Allston. I was a bit disappointed. Felt like the bottom shelf stuff to me. Edible, but not memorable.
4) Value for money...... FAIL. Sorry, with the portions, quality, and overall feel of the meal, I was disappointed. It costs the same as other places, but I left there wanting more.... even wanting to 'un-eat' my meal. Nobody in the family enjoyed it other than the 4 year old, who doesn't know Udon from her left toenails.
5) Service. Perhaps I was lucky. We did get a great waitress (some Emerson grad student) who did her best, was very pleasant, and even gave a couple soups on the house. This is what made the meal bearable, and not hating life.
Sorry, won't be coming back here. I'll stick to Kaze in Chinatown.
I cannot say the food is good. Furthermore, there was mud on the vegetable, obviously, they hadn't washed the leaves carefully before severed.
Although the owner, a couple, tried to be very friendly, and would come frequently and keep asking if you like the food? And then, before you give feedback, they would answer to themselves by saying I can tell that you are very satisfied with the food, it's very good, very good....... I really think that it's kind of disturbing.
Overall, it's pricey, not very tasty, not clean, and very irritating.
those who write that it is pricey may be poor college students, which I sympathize. For Harvard Square it's not cheap, but well worth it. It was delicious! The portion sizes were perfect. I was stuffed - although can always eat more of this food. Yum! Super friendly!!
Worst sevice and restaurant ever!!!! Went this Memorial Day to get a frozen daiquiri and good meal but got a generic smootie and bad service! I had to raid the neighboring table to get chopsticks and napkins, told it was against store policy to give single diners a window seat ( there were only four patrons in the whole place) and they tried to pass bad smoothies off as rum daiquiris. A real ripoff...
What a sad and expensive joke!!! Shabu Shabu, just down the street is a far better place... and much better service!
With not one other person in Shabu Ya this afternoon, I had my run of the place, able to scope out the funky/futuristic decor, enjoy a leisurely lunch of miso soup and special maki, while be the recipient of some swift and sweet service.
Though I was the lone diner, there seemed to be little to no feel of empty, ghost-town like atmosphere. They were playing cool music, the staff was laughing and joking with one another and the room seemed to be aglow with neon furniture and metallic accents.
The bowl of miso soup came quickly, and it arrived in a perfect temperature, so I could eat it right away. Key, because this girl was starving and the last thing I wanted to do is sit there and and drool over my soup and listen to my stomach growl because it's too hot to consume. The Red Dragon Roll was spicy, perfect in form (no loosey goosey rolls here!) and filling: shrimp tempura, avocado and spicy tuna with tobiko! Dip that 'ish in some wasabi-soaked soy sauce and your taste buds will leap for joy (and probably scream for some water)!
With some friends in tow, I'll be back to sample the shabu shabu!
One of my favorite shabu shabu places! The staff is always friendly, and the owners are always there to make sure that you have a great experience.
I don't understand why people are complaining about the decor being "inauthentic" because it really reminds me of the trendy restaurants of Tokyo more than any other shabu shabu restaurant that I've been to.
The food is amazing - especially the specialty maki! And, if you aren't in the mood for shabu shabu, the Korean menu items are delicious.
I came here for a quick lunch one weekday, and was the only one in the restaurant. Not only did it take them over 25 minutes to serve me a very small portion of shabu beef and vegs, the waiter actually told me there was a mix up in the kitchen...
...as in he forgot to put the order in. For the only person in the restaurant.
Go to Chinatown for shabu.
Can you say you've had blisters in your mouth? Not venereal blisters, obviously, but blisters caused from shoving boiling hot meat and veggies in your mouth so fast that they melt the skin on the roof of your mouth? Well, I can.
Shabu Ya (or Shabu, as I like to affectionately call it) is amazing. The sushi's great, the interior is rockin', and DIY food is SO fun, you won't mind your mouth burns. I got the beef sirloin plate with the kimchee broth, and I'm still digging it four hours later. I'm not hungry at all!
Pros:
Close to home
Great service
High Quality
Cool Retro Vibe (Only to find out later, that their decor is representative of an actual Hot Pot. Ask someone else to explain, if you can't figure it out)
Cons:
Ordering something that is actually "cooked"
One of my friends ordered an item that wasn't raw, nor cooked by her. Chicken. She ordered chicken on (supposedly in) a lettuce cup. 15 minutes later (no food), our waiter came over to tell us we threw the kitchen off. "They aren't used to cooking back there, so they are like GAHHHHH"
After watching from afar as Yelpers yelped their hearts out about Shabu, I decided to try it out with a half dozen of my closest pals. Hidden away between Wagamama & Staples, this little Shabu oasis was nearly empty on the Friday night we went. It was 8pm and fortunately for us - the party room was free (the party room is made of heavy beads and an abundance of chairs and three hot plates in the center.
Emma & Aaron took charge and we got the Miso, Chicken, Thai, and Chinese Spicy broths - All were good, but the Miso & Chinese Spicy broths were my favorite. We quickly annihilated the Lamb & Beef Short Rib plates we got- they were quick delicious in all the broths - but I really liked them in the Chinese Spicy and Miso best.
As for the Shrimp Dumplings we got - those ... were not even close to being delicious - so if you're tempted - just stick with the meats.
Our waitress was totally nice, helpful and even gave us a free freebies on the house - she was warm, friendly, engaging and really made the experience awesome. I also loved the fact that everyone said goodbye to us on the way out. I imagine that this place would be a perfect pick if you wanted to do something Shabu-tastic for a birthday or mini event/celebration of somekind.
Some places - it's about the food - some places it's all about the experience. This is an experience related place - the food was good- but cooking with you friends and drinking all that delicious, warm broth when it was cold outside - yeah. I'm down with that.
By the end of our mass-eating-out - we'd only spent $30 bucks for 2 beers and all the shabu we could shake our stick at. I'm totally gonna go back.
Okay.... I must be fair and honestly knock down a star and a half for Shabu Ya. The reason is, we came back today, and well it just didn't measure up to our experience the last time.
Maybe staff training? Not sure... first and foremost, the big mistake our server made today was that I asked if they had Scorpion Bowls. She came back and was like yes, but thinking I asked for Scorpion Rolls? Maybe? About 15 minutes goes by and she comes out with Scorpion Maki's. Errrrr.... I don't eat shrimp nor do I eat eel, so..... I was hesitant at first to accept this, but the rest of my party would be willing to eat it. Little did I know that this lil dish cost $15 until our bill came.
Fine, that's okay, *sigh* she may have heard me wrong, or language barrier whatever. At least friggin' apologize. Nope. She had no idea what to do. Whatever, I move on and I'll pay for it.
*Sigh* I ask for more of their condiments, you know the garlic, peppers, scallion, and sate sauce. She's confused. I want more in this size - *points to sauce dish they use to serve ponzu sauce in*. Took her awhile. Again language barrier? Or dead brain cells? Not sure. Could be both.
Errrr... okay... now this is what irked me the most. She came over to refill our teas towards the end of our meal, which was great! But she clearly saw that we were boiling down to the bottom of our pots and I had just tossed in some more veggies that my dining companions weren't finishing. Could you at least get me SOME broth? Oh yeh and where was our veggie cart refill this time?
Now... normally I'm not one to care much about service when it comes to dining in Asian places, but really? Alright, benefit of the doubt she could be new. But how's about some training? Train with someone who knows what they're doing? I mean seriously, we were the ONLY table in there....
And another thing - what's with the sharing of veggies on a plate? Some of us just want our own plates of veggies. I may not necessarily know the other person I'm dining with when in a group. And how do you really split the portions evenly. Would it be so hard to just give everyone their own veggie plates? It's not like you put that much vegetables on there anyway? BTW the portion they give you for 2 people is the amount I would eat by myself. Soooo sharing one of those is not ideal in my book since I will probably eat all of it. Actually I did eat all of it. (Sorry Steve)
So.... as much as I love Mrs. Yoon/Yeun/Yun I hafta knock down Shabu Ya to a 3.5 stars. I'll keep it a 4 because I love her personality and how awesome she is. But.... the story must be told.
I'll be back... but that's because you're the closest Shabu to me. And I HATE (yes, that's with caps and I used the word hate) Shabu Zen in Allston. But this might make me go out to Quincy more for my favorite Shabu of all.
Wowwwwzaaaaa!!!! I mean really!
I woke up yesterday morning after several bottles of wine and…
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Shabu shabu definitely hasn't caught on in my former city, Philly. A Yelp Philly search of shabu turns up just three restaurants, only two of which actually even offer it. Not surprising then that I'd never even heard of it before moving here.
I was excited to try shabu shabu but was a little nervous about making a fool of myself in public. Cooking is not always my strong suit. Luckily, our waiter at Shabu-Ya was enthusiastic about explaining the process and was full of fun and/or useful facts for a newbie, such as:
- Shabu means "swish"
- Cook the vegetables first
- The restaurant's ultra-contemporary dining room is designed to mimic a giant hot pot, with green and pink booths and hanging lights of various shapes standing in for vegetables and meat, and metal sculptural elements on the ceiling representing noodles (the decor is completely fabulous and fun, and is a big part of the experience of Shabu-Ya)
- There are not one but two vegetarian broths available -- a miso broth and mushroom-based broth
My husband and I shared edamame and spring rolls (which are vegetarian), and for our hot pot, the vegetarian platter with udon noodles, a miso broth, and an extra plate of assorted tofu (of all sorts of textures and flavors). It included foods we'd never tried before, from mysterious mushrooms to tofu puffs and unfamiliar leafy plants.
Everything was delicious and filling, and another plate of vegetables was swiftly delivered when we were running low, which featured broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, tofu, greens, and even slices of corn on the cob! We also had a selection of seasonings to add to taste like chili and garlic, and two types of dipping sauces -- a soy sauce and a delicious sesame sauce.
Despite less than stellar chopstick skills, we created a delicious meal with a minimum of mess and relatively little coaching, and we had fun doing it. Success!
shabu shabu is a tough thing to do right. but shabu ya does a pretty good job. the entire experience is just a solid one overall. there are some things here and there that could be changed.
to start off, the decor is nice. it's very modern and contemporary. perfect for the harvard crowd. it's super swanky. it's less of an intimate type of place and mostly casual. though they are good with private parties. they even for shabu shabu, they can accommodate parties as big as 10-12. and they've even been known to close the restaurant for extra big parties.
when it comes to the service, they do a fairly good job. everybody is friendly and nice and are always willing to help. the only thing is, a lot of the servers seem a little overwhelmed. they do their own hosting and their own bussing, and a lot of the times, they don't have time to wait on you hand and foot. the servers are all very interesting and some of them even seem very hipster-ish. that's what you get when you go eat in harvard sq.
now the food. the food is quite good. the shabu shabu was a surprise. there are so many things that can go wrong with it, but when i tried it, i was pleasantly surprised. i was quite skeptical of it before. the meats are fresh and beautifully presented. the vegetables are fresh, and they even have a veggie cart to refill your veggies. that's the only time i've ever gone to a shabu shabu place that refills your veggies. the one thing that really bothered me is the starch. you get a choice of vermicelli, udon, or rice. however, the portions for the udon and vermicelli are pretty small. i think they could definitely do more.
but shabu ya also offers korean and sushi. oh my god, the sushi is PHENOMENAL. i love it so much. its very fun and fresh and the plates are always beautifully presented. the sushi chefs are always at work and even their soy sauce is homemade. however, on a busy night, the sushi chefs can get pretty backed up and you sometimes have to wait a while for the sushi. the korean food seems decent. i've never actually had it, but its the same owner as shilla and since shilla closed, i assume their recipes and such are the same. shilla's food was great so i'd expect the quality to be about the same.
when it comes to price, for a shabu shabu place, it's reasonable. a little on the more expensive, but that's because they're located in harvard sq. sushi is moderately priced, and the korean food is pretty well priced. but the lunch prices are AMAZING. i'd definitely suggest just going for lunch everyday, all day. it's incredibly cheap for lunch.
I call this the Rain Man review:
Number of Hellos and head-nods on the way in: 3
Colors displayed in the restaurant: 1,236
Number of private booths: 6
Level of chopstick proficiency required: 10 (1-10 scale)
Number of vermicelli noodles in my tomyum broth: 268
Types of Sake offered: 8
Assortments of shabu shabu: 13
Minutes to de-shell cooked shrimp: 5
Number of broths: 6
Number of good imported beers offered: 3
People in restaurant on Sunday night at 7pm: 15 (capacity 50)
Time of closing from Thurs-Sat: 12:30am
Types of noodles/rice for shabu-shabu: 3
Kinds of veggies for shabu-shabu: 6
Minutes to cook thin-sliced quality beef in broth: 1
Bill for 3 people, 2 shabu-shabu, 2 appetizers, no alcohol: $50
Number of head-nods and goodbyes on the way out: 5
Four stars, de-definitely four stars.
Starting off the New Years right!! Made a Shabu excursion out to Cambridge with a bunch of Yelpers and SBS'ers to celebrate the new year. I'll give you one guess as to who was there... The Shabu whore herself of course.
They gave us the semi-private section because we had such a large party. The place was decorated refreshingly - but somewhat futuristic and slightly odd. The owner actually came over to greet us and welcome us. She explained that the whole place was designed after shabu. Now it makes sense... The colors, shapes, decor, everything. Red benches for the meat, private room as the shabu pot, the lights shaped like steam bubbling out of the shabu pots, etc etc.
It turned out to be even more of a special occasion as we had 3 shabu-virgins amongst us!
They took our orders and food arrived fairly promptly. The staff was good about explaining everything with kindness and complete understanding for the newbies. I also ordered an order of spicy tuna maki, which was fantastic. Decent sized portions, fresh food, great taste.
As we were getting to the end of our food, they came around with a whole vegetable cart to fill our plates again!! BONUS! I was pumped, as this just made my day. I never want shabu to end, and it was like a dream come true!
Overall, everything was great and we had a great time. The only bad points were waiting a while for the check, and well actually that was it.
Find the time to check it out... you'll be glad you did. It just may be your new favorite Shabu spot!
After trying one of the Chinatown shabu shabu restaurants, I wanted to introduce more friends to this delicious, fun, and healthy style of cooking. After reading some reviews and having walked and driven by both of the Harvard Square establishments, I set my sights on Shabu-Ya.
The decor is bright, modern, clean, and cheery. Often times with restaurants in the city you feel squished but this place is very open and spacious feeling. I love that the restaurant has different sections without actually feeling sectioned off. There's a bar and lounge area, a sushi bar, a round island for singles hot pot, and booths; but nothing actually seperating these areas.
Our server was very friendly, and did an excellent job explaining how Japanese hot pot meals work, and also giving us an idea of how long each of the vegetables (which he identified for us in case we weren't quite sure) should be cooked. I appreciated this very much as my last shabu experience did not have the same type of explaination.
I ordered the kimchee broth and my dining partner ordered the tom yum. The kimchee was very good, just spicy enough, and just an overall great flavor. My friend was also very pleased with her choice.
The meat and vegetables were all very fresh.
I didn't try the sushi but they had a great menu. I'll definitly be back for more shabu and to try the sushi.
Take a centuries-old Japanese meal, doll it up for American tastes, then serve it in a fun, futuristic atmosphere with lots of drink. Shabu-ya fits perfectly with the ethic of Harvard Square.
Shabu-ya is upstairs next to Bombay Club, in the space of the short-lived Malaysian place. They've done it up Jetsons style with charming primary colors, separate bars for wine, sushi and shabu for one, and tables and semi-private booths for larger parties. Staff is super-friendly (about five people said goodbye on our way out), and they advertise sushi happy hour 3-5.
We got the rib eye shabu with tom yum broth. Yeah, cooking the meat in the subtle kelp broth is traditional, but the tom yum was so good, we just keep eating it. By the end of our meal, we had eaten about 10 little bowls of soup each.
You get the hot pot, meat, platter of veggies, dipping sauce, rice or noodles, and garnishes: ginger, scallions, hot pepper, tamarind paste. We weren't sure whether those were meant to flavor the broth or go on the meat. This was only my second shabu so I can't speak with expertise, but everything was delicious. You just cook the paper-thin meat by giving it a swish in the broth. Wiki says shabu-shabu translates roughly to swish-swish, but I've also heard it's onomatopoeia for the sizzling of the meat.
We also sampled the sushi, which was disappointing. Hotate nigiri was good, though the chef has a heavy hand with the wasabi. The spicy tuna roll was sloppily formed, the cuts jagged and the pieces irregular sizes. It looked like a sushi student's first maki.
This is the good shabu-shabu place in Harvard Square. I've been to them both and can tell you with confidence that Shabu-Ya is miles better than the contemptible Shabu Square. Here's why:
Tasty broth that's more than salty dishwater.
Udon noodles that resemble udon noodles in taste, diameter, & consistency.
Chic design and decor.
Knowledgeable, helpful waitstaff.
They serve alcohol.
We enjoyed our meal here, I'll be back, and I recommend it to others. Need I say more?
Decorated with a modern retro twist, Shabu Ya is certainly a good place to go when you are in need of a fix but it all comes at a price. While I think the quality of Shabu Ya is just as good as Shabu Zen, I think that the portions are slightly smaller and the price, quite a bit higher.
We started off with some sushi and sashimi as appetizers- catepillar maki, 1 order of unagi sushi, and 3 orders of salmon sashimi. Overall the sushi was decent but I found that the cuts of salmon weren't as good or fresh as I had expected them to be.
As for the hotpot portion of our meal, I ordered the vegetable delight and lamb combo. The vegetable delight could have been bigger and I feel like there should have been a larger assortment of items. It only consisted of three types of mushrooms, one type of tofu, broccoli, a piece of corn, carrots, and three types of greens. During the end of our meal, our waiter brought over a cart of vegetables (which I didn't know would happen) and asked if we had wanted more. I guess this must be the unlimited vegetables that everyone keeps talking about. I just wish that this had been brought to our attention sooner.
In regards to service, I think that the service here was the best that I have ever received at an Asian restaurant, much less a Shabu restaurant. Usually you are left to fend for yourself after the food as reached your table, but our server was attentive and not at all overbearing.
I was wholly shabified (related to 'satisfied' in shabu talk) with my Shabu Ya experience. I mean, I kind of want to install a hot plate on my desk now and eat exclusively in shabu shabu style.
Shabu Ya is located directly above wag-yo-mama, which makes sense because SY completely dominates the Wag in every way possible. Walking in, you kind of feel like you're on an Austin Powers set that was built in an IKEA showroom. You are greeted with smiles from all the SY employees; try to score a window-side booth for JFK St. people watching. There are also these badass "private" tables behind steel curtains; I think you can hot-box these with shabu broth steam.
If you're a shabu newbie (like I was), do not fret, as everything is clearly explained. My date and I ordered some miso broth, Korean kimchee broth, a seafood platter and the prime beef; vegetable platters came with each order. The ingredients were all super fresh and attractively presented. Everything was super delicious. 2+ hours later, we were full, happy, and strangely noticing the easy listening adult hits playing softly through the speakers. When a Kenny G cover of "Silent Night" kicked in, I thought SY was trying to kick us out. Luckily, I asked our waiter if the music could be changed, and within a few minutes some Peter, Bjorn and John was playing. Hi fives, all around.
I heard a rumor this place has been getting busy on the weekends (45 minute waits), so go on the weekday! We went on a Wednesday and it was fab.
Oh and the bathrooms have these totally rad infinity sinks, if that even makes sense.
Now stop reading this, and go get shabified.
I think I need a shabu intervention. Does such a thing exist?? Since my original review, I have been back to this place SIX times, and each time, I brought a different guest with me so that they could experience the awesomeness for themselves. Not one disappointed diner!!
Shabu-Ya is amazing. I really really love it! Dinner prices are a tad steep still, but lunch is incredibly affordable!
FINALLY!! Harvard Square has a great Shabu restaurant! I am giddy beyond words!
I went there…
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What can I say... Had I not been to several other shabu-shabu style restaurants and also serve this style of food regular to my own family... I may not have realized what a bad jobs Shabu-Ya does.
When my wife and I decided to try Shabu-Ya we did not have the time to trek on over to Chinatown. Instead we opted to have dinner here. We ordered the house broth, black angus beef, a modified sea food platter (only shrimp and fish cakes) and the tofu plate.
Our water delivered our drinks and setup the various containers used to mix up dipping sauce. For two dinners one small tray containing four small 1" cubed dishes had smears of condiments, which we could flavor our ponzu sauce with. It was unfortunate that my wife and I had negotiate over who would have 4 slices of scallions rather than 5 slices of scallions in our dipping sauce.
The broth came and looked a kin to dish water and had about as much flavor as an unreduced weak asian influenced stock. Along with the broth our water eventually delivered two sides of vegetables with noodles. At this point in our meal we immediately realized the difference in portions and quality of food. Our vegetable platters contained a single piece of a nappa cabbage leaf, one inch of corn, one mushroom, one slice of carrot, one broccoli floret, a sparse stock of water cress and a piece of tofu. Had we combined our two vegetable plates we would have had less on one plate than we have ever experienced at other shabu shabu style restaurants.
After ten minutes had passed and my wife and I had cooked and eaten the majority of our vegetables our waiter finally surfaced with our "protein" as he described it.
Our beef plate was rather average in quantity of product. It was very tasty albit sliced at times too thin, leaving us to scrape shreds of beef off the serving platter. The seafood platter left us wanting more. The seafood platter contained four prawns and four slices of two different types of fish cakes. A frozen single serving dofu plate at a local asian market contained twice the amount of sea food cakes for significantly less. The tofu platter was OK; however, some additional variety would have been nice. Next time I would just cut up my own tofu and stay home.
The decor of Shabu-Ya was not to my liking. Their design is very modern with crisp lines and high contrast colors. Our small round table left very little room for the food and drinks. It felt as if we were sitting in the laps of other dinners being so close to them. Due to the open floor plan you really notice how often the staff are running around and acting uncoordinated. We interacted with four or five different people on the restaurant floor through the evening. For people with more than five in their dinning party consider calling ahead as we saw numerous parties of 6 crammed into a booth designed for 4 people.
I think the people responsible for the restaurant concept forget that shabu-shabu is a comfort food, which should be served in an atmosphere that is comfortable both in space on the table and between dinning parties.
Tonight was my very first time experiencing shabu shabu, mentions of which are frequent on the talk threads. I must say that I was a little skeptical upon entering Shabu-Ya--my inner cheapskate was cracking wise about the trippy decor and the fact that I was basically paying to cook my own food in a restaurant for fairly high prices. My misgivings were, happily, misplaced.
I shared a beef sirloin pot with a friend, and after we got over our initial bewilderment, we were pretty impressed. The food was incredibly fresh and flavorful--the vegetables, in particular, were great. I also liked the fact that I was able to thoroughly enjoy a meal in a restaurant that wasn't deep fried and obviously unhealthy. The service was also very good--our waiter was extremely attentive, and walked us through the motions of getting our food cooked with good humor, as we were both hopelessly confused shabu virgins.
I am now a believer that everyone should experience shabu shabu at least once, especially since the process is just as much fun as the meal you eventually get to enjoy. I would not take a first date here though, as the entire process can be pretty messy--I was not terribly graceful in transfering the contents of my hot pot to my bowl, and in truth, there's nothing remotely sexy about fishing in a giant metal bowl for veggies and slurping broth. However, if you're looking for some comforting, relatively guilt-free food that can be enjoyed with a group, Shabu-Ya is your spot.
I finally got a chance to come out here today for a nice brunch/lunch Shabu experience. However, it wasn't completely what I expected.
-Service was kind of spotty. I somehow was able to get my drink refilled even just before we got our checks, which was kind of weird. However, the water in the broths was never refilled. Coupled with this was the scorpion bowl/scorpion roll brouhaha, in which Roni ordered a scorpion bowl, only to get scorpion maki.
-I don't recommend the seafood option, unless you like your shrimp full-bodied and shelled. The full bodied, as it turned out, wasn't my primary issue with this, as one can easily remove the head. But the shell was unavoidable. It may be how others like it, but for those people who don't, it should be known that in the Shabu option, this is how it shows up (the sushi option doesn't have the same issue).
On the plus side, the food is decent, and the sinks in the bathroom are funny. Also, the decor is interesting, though they do need to work on their music choices. I'd be willing to come back, because the food is good. But it seems like there are some definite kinks in the process.
As much as I miss the Malaysian restaurant that used to be here, I was really impressed with the decor change. The waiter was very helpful regarding the menu. The sushi was delicious!
I can't comment on the shabu since I didn't have any, but my companions enjoyed themselves.
I'd have to agree with the decor of this place being really quirky - its a pulp fiction meets the jetsons - but at the same time it creates a very hip atmosphere.
At first, I was a little thrown off by the portions of the mixed meat shabu I ordered (after the meal though, I concluded it was perfectly portioned). Also DEFINITELY go for the kimchi broth - especially if you are going for the veggie platter (which my friend agreed she should have done). The kimchi broth is realy really good, authentic jigae flavor with a thick broth that adds a good kick to your shabu.
Also, like many people have mentioned, with your shabu order it comes with UNLIMITED vegetables, so don't forget to ask for more. The napa cabbage, mushrooms, and tofu really add good flavor to the broth and balance to your meal.
The only thing I was really disappointed by though was the shoyu sauce that we were given to dip the shabu in. At first, I expected it to be a Korean sesame sauce of sorts, but it turned out to be a wishy washy attempt to create a special sauce that was not nearly salty enough nor thick enough to stick to your shabu. Next time, I'll just ask for some soy sauce blended with sesame oil. Seriously, this sauce almost brought my opinion of this place down one star. With a little more work, I think it could really add to Shabu-Ya's food. But to make up for it, the offer a good mixed plate of little add ons like chopped garlic and chili peppers so that you can add to your broth or sauce.
So in conclusion: Get the Kimchi Broth (+$3), the Mixed Meat ($18), Barley Tea (Free), and pass on the sauce. Definitely would come back here again.
I can walk to both of the new Harvard Square Shabu Shabu places so I am biased because I would not go to Chinatown just for a lunch. With that said, the first place I went (and reviewed) Shabu Square was okay (rather like eating at iHop) but I probably won't go back, although it is cheaper. Shabu-Ya, yep, I will be back.
I like the Jetson-style decor. Fresh, fun, and different. I could live without the televisions, but I could always live without the televisions. The staff were friendly, attentive and informative. (But there was not toilet paper in the women's room, tsk, tsk. however the situation was quickly fixed)
The day was cold, I ate a lot of veggies, I felt hydrated and warm. I felt full without stuffed.
The Thai broth was so good I wanted to take the leftover broth home. I want there to be broth houses (in my dreams) where I could pick up a good cup of broth.
Simply put, Shabu-Ya pales in comparison to Kaze, Toki, Shabu Zen and...well, my kitchen. Shabu Shabu is a simple concept but apparently more difficult to execute than one might think.
I ordered the Surf and Turf with udon noodles...it arrived with noodles more akin to soba. The soy sauce was refreshingly lemony but clearly watered down. I understand diluting soy sauce, but to the extent that it looks like oolong tea? Excessive, if I may say so myself. The servings are paltry in comparison to Shabu joints of comparable cost. We had an uneven number of people but Shabu-Ya did not have an extra burner, as many places do, for the odd person out.
The food was good enough, but not as fresh as Kaze. The decor was clean and modern. I would schlep to Chinatown before coming here again.
Before Shabu-Ya, I was a shabu shabu virgin. Luckily, or maybe unfortunately, my first time really set the standard high for future shabu shabu endeavors.
It all began when I walked up the stairs to the restaurant, located on the second floor of a small shopping complex. I was greeted by a grinning host and the well-lit ambiance that is Shabu-ya. The furniture is an eclectic mix of modern designs with shiny finish and clean surfaces. After drinking in the feel of the sheek environment, I was lead to a booth by one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The view is great for people-watching around Harvard square while allowing for a great naturally lit atmosphere and the feel of open spaces.
I reached over the table to take the menu from our attentive server, and noticed the layout of the table. It looked like a stream-lined stove top complete with temperature controls and a lot of space. The menu is a little overwhelming to the uninitiated, but after it was explained to me it all became incredibly simple.
After ordering the obligatory miso soup, I ordered some sushi as well. Although the restaurant is known for its shabu style dining, I can never pass up trying a new sushi creation. I was glad I did. The presentation was excellent, and the flavor matched the looks. We also ordered beef tongue which was my first time sampling this dish. It was very mild, sliced thin, and had a great flavor.
For my entree, I ordered the seafood platter for $16.95, which comes with shrimp, salmon, squid and fish cake, as well as unlimited vegetables. I ordered a Thai tom yum soup base and vermicelli noodles. The server emerged from the kitchen with a really cool looking ying-yang shaped steel soup bowl, which creatively separated my tom yum soup base from my friend's chicken broth base.
The vegetables came out first, followed by the meats. I began enthusiastically dumping everything I could into the broth, only to learn that moderation is key. I learned important little tidbits such as cooking the shrimp too long damages its flavor and the vermicelli should be cooked using the ladle. After overcoming these culinary obstacles, I became more confident in my shabu abilities, carefully cooking each item more precisely and with greater vigilance on each pass. My hard work paid off, and the food was amazing. The best part is that I almost cooked it all myself and it was so incredibly easy! The tom yum broth was outstanding, especially after absorbing so much of the flavor from all the different ingredients I shoved into the bowl. After stuffing myself with delicious seafood, the owner even came out and asked us how everything was. All I can say is this:
I can't wait to do shabu shabu again, but I fear I now have such a high standard to hold against future restaurants I may never again be satisfied until I return to Shabu-ya by Harvard Square.
Walking in, I felt like I was on vacation, at a theme park. Very space age, retro ikea. Space age-retro? I know, right?
It's just plain old nice to have shabu in the area, but I felt like they were a little on the pricey side for the amount of shabu items I received vs. competitors in the general Boston area. They also took way too long to give us uncooked food maybe they were washing it really well or something...and did that general somewhat annoying but humorous thing where an older woman came by to chastize me for not using my broth with my vermacelli...chill lady. Only Korean moms get to talk to me like that.
It seemed like a fun venue for a party though, they had these little nooks for private parties that were sectioned off by their metal stuff. Eh. Give it a try if you're in the area...
The decor is great and I really love shabu, but I was disappointed by the broth. Nice quality items, but more expensive than Shabu Square for, in my experience, equivalent quality.
The broth at Shabu Square was so much better - at Shabu Ya, it had no salt when it first arrived, and only got tasty when the waitress added extra broth to fill the pots. I think that they just made a mistake.
The tempura was amazing and I would love to try the sushi, but overall, my experience here was underwhelming. I'm surprised how much other reviews of Shabu Square and Shabu Ya have differed from my own - mine are entirely reversed from majority.
Guess I'll have to go back to both and try them again!
I didn't actually have shabu shabu, so I feel a bit disingenuous giving this spot 5 stars, but WE ATE IN A PRIVATE ROOM! And it was private because it had hanging metal chains. It doesn't get much more awesome.
What I did eat was the Red Sox maki and it was delish. Seriously, seriously delish.
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