Nabe Shabu is situated on 2nd St in Little Tokyo.  I walk by this place practically everyday and most times it is not that full. 

I finally had a chance to meet the owner (Diana) a couple of weeks ago as she was passing out fliers outside of the restaurant.  Now you all know how I LOVE Shabu House but i absolutely hate the wait.  So last week me and Tom decided to go hit up Nabe.  We rolled in around 9pm and were the only ones in the restaurant.  Diana was working and greeted us warmly.  Let me first start off by saying that Nabe is the NICEST shabu restaurant in Little Tokyo in terms of decor.  The place looks very modern and classy.  This is compared to Shabu House which has a neon Tom and Jerry wall decoration.  hahaha.

We had the dinner special (which i think is $12).  The lunch special is $8.50 (i think).  The meat was prepared for us rather quickly and they gave us 3 sauces (ponzu, sesame, and i dunno the other one). 

So i’ll give you the honest breakdown of this place:

PROS:  Great atmosphere; family style or bar style shabu; good quality meat; lots of vegetables; 3 kinds of sauces (shabu house only has 2); decent pricing; little or no wait; friendly staff (and cute). 

and now for the CONS:
** Not enough meat.  Shabu house gives you more meat.  Both restaurants are around the same price so i would expect the amount of meat to be the same as well.  I left not feeling full.
**  Sesame sauce.  Sesame sauce is my FAV part of the meal so it is of the utmost importance that it be good.  Shabu Hachi has the best sesame sauce that i’ve tasted so far with Shabu House coming in 2nd.  I did not like the Nabe sesame sauce too much.  It didn’t have that “taste” and was a bit salty for me.   

The meal was topped off with my fav GREEN TEA ice cream.  mmmmmmm. 

I really hope this place makes it.  I think with a good push in marketing, more meat, and a tweaking of the sesame sauce, Nabe Shabu can be a real winner.  It definitely has the ambience and friendly staff to bring repeat customers. 

After our meal I talked to Diana  more and I get her to agree to give FREE Green Tea Ice Cream dessert to anybody who eats dinner there and mentions that “Justin from GO Productions” sent them.  Make sure you ask for Diana though!  So there you have it.  Next time you’re in Little Tokyo for some shabu shabu, give Nabe a try and get some free ice cream.  Can’t go wrong with that right?  =)

Nabe Shabu Shabu
356 1/2 E 2nd St 
Los Angeles, CA 90012
  

Be Sociable, Share!

•