**** Shabu World has closed
In my post mentioning that Swab ummmm, Shabu World had opened, good FOY (Friend of Yoso) the Zompus told me he'd love to check the place out. So that following week, I met MrZ for a meal at Shbu World. I gotta say, even close up, the sign still looks like it says "Swab World".
We entered the restaurant which is nicely done…..but looks pretty much the same as Shabu Shabu House.
From the counter with offset counters to the metal pots used for the Shabu Shabu……
The standard shabu shabu is basically the same as well….a small piece of kombu in rolling boiling water. I wish they'd just quit the kombu shibai. Mainly, boiling the kombu makes the water bitter….but there's such a tiny piece that it really makes little difference. Just serve straight up water already.
I got the prime beef ($13) lunch. Which was a decent sized serving, perhaps a bit less than what I had the last time I went to Shabu Shabu House.
The quality of the meat was also better than what I last had at Shabu Shabu House, very tender, but not too fatty….you really don't want anything too fatty as it will basically melt and fall apart when you do the brief dip.
There was also quite a bit of vegetables……
It was quite a bit….though disappointingly all the usual suspects, which had me again wishing for some shingiku or shiitakes, which would also add some nice flavor to the water. Too much napa cabbage for my taste…..like they are just trying to fill you up.
In the case of spitting images, and this is without a doubt almost exactly like Shabu Shabu World, I believe one should differentiate oneself, better meat, better produce, and better sauce. In this case, the dipping sauces tasted very artificial, like it was from a bottle.
These were actually pretty bad…… In the end, we were provided a bowl with basic bottled tsuyu base to finish off the udon. I could only imagine how the "miso" and "sukiyaki" broth would be.
It was kind of sad, MrZ and I were the only customers in the place during our entire lunch. As we left, one of the really nice women working there asked me first, if I was Japanese (yes)….then a more problematic question. The always tricky, "what do you think?" I'd say tricky because in my experience, 90% of the time folks running a business really don't want to know what you really think and saying what you think puts everyone in either an awkward or contentious position. But this time I went out on a limb and mentioned that even though the meat was decent in quality and the service was (perhaps a bit too) attentive, I felt the sauce tasted very artificial and processed. The young lady actually seemed concerned and told us that "we are always working on making things better and I guarantee you that the next time you come the sauces will be better." Maybe I should have mentioned something about the vegetables too?
In all honesty, we already have one of these standard grade Shabu Shabu restaurants a few blocks away. I'm wondering if we really need another one? I guess only time will tell.
Shabu World
3904 Convoy St #117
San Diego, CA 92111