Kirbie's Cravings

Shabu Works

Shabu Works, an all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurant, recently opened. The restaurant replaced the Mira Mesa location of Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot. I’ve been hoping for an AYCE hot pot option in San Diego, so I was quite excited to check this out.
photo collage of different dishes at Shabu Works

In addition to hot pot ingredients, the set price also includes drinks and a shaved ice dessert bar.

Most of the ingredients are laid out buffet-style at the center of the restaurants. They offer a decent variety of vegetables and seafood.
photo collage of the Shabu Works buffet

They also have small section of cooked foods.
photo collage of cooked foods section

Drinks are limited to a variety of hot and cold teas.
photo of drink selection
Tables are equipped with a large split pot. The broth poured into the pot is just broth. They have a section in the buffet area where you can choose from a selection of “flavor bombs” to customize your soup flavor.
photo collage of flavor bombs
They also have ingredients to make your own dipping sauce.
photo of different ingredients for dipping sauces
The hot pot meats are not in the buffet area. Instead, you have to order through the servers and you’re limited to three orders at a time. Here is some of the food we had:
photo collage of hot pot meats
Our favorite was the US Wagyu Beef Round. The marbling was quite nice and gave the meat a good flavor.
photo of US Wagyu Beef Round
For dessert, they have a shaved ice bar with a variety of toppings and syrups.
photo of dessert baroverhead photo of dessert
Overall, we had an okay experience here. The highlight for me was the choice of wagyu beef but most of the other hot pot ingredients offered weren’t ones I usually look for when eating hot pot. The concept of the restaurant reminded me of the hot pot buffets I had in Asia though Shabu Works is much more limited. I also found the meat ordering experience frustrating as our meat orders got delivered to the wrong table several times. I am happy to see an AYCE hot pot place finally open though and hopefully more will follow. Currently, dinner is priced at $28.99. They have a cheaper lunch price, but it does not include the wagyu.

Menu:
photo of the menu
Shabu Works
9821 Mira Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92131

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