Shabusen Restaurant

01/06/08

not worth it

by dicet at Citysearch

This was the first restaurant in San Francisco we walked out ever. It was quite unfortunate because we were sooooo hungry that day. There were 3 waitresses working that night and from the start, two of them(short ones) were in the bad mood. The tall girl was actually nice so we still waited for our table but one of the short girls gave such an attitude when she took our order that we thought about leaving. We ended up staying because we were starving and thought maybe those girls were having a bad night or something. Then we got this chicken Karaage that was not acceptable at all. Small and cold.. We had to walk out even though we were hungry. It is hard to mess up Karaage so we knew what we would get for shabu shabu. And the food must be at least decent or good to make up for the attitude of those waitresses. (though the tall one was nice)

• Pros: cheap/kind of cool set up
• Cons: bad service/bad food

07/05/06

Not trendy. Just simple, good Japanese food in a pleasant environment.

by tokyofleur at Citysearch

I love coming here because the simple Japanese meals offered-basically shabushabu and sukiyaki- are delicious, healthy and filling. Conversation among friends over pots of shabu shabbu or sukiyaki is a nice way to spend an afternoon or evening. Also, eating alone there at the counter is not bad. Service is fast(probably because the meals are very easy to prepare) and professional. A big plus is the relatively quiet atmosphere. I'm not into loud, trendy places.

• Pros: not loud, good food, inexpensive
• Cons: doesn't seem to serve the nasu pickles anymore

04/24/05

Great For Shabu-Shabu & Group Dining

by john_ccy at Citysearch

I was glad to find Shabu-sen because there are few Japanese restaurants here that specializes in shabu-shabu. For some reason, most Japanese restaurants here focus on sushi, while in Japan, it only one of the many varieties of Japanese food available. Based on the Mongolian/Chinese "hotpot", shabu-shabu is a do it yourself type of dish that's fun, especially with a bunch of friends. Basically, you get a pot of boiling soup stock and a lot of different thinly sliced raw meats & vegetables. You then dip the meat into boiling stock until it cooks, then dip it into some sauce, and eat it. It's really yummy. At the end of the meal, you throw whatever's left into the pot and it makes a great soup to finish everything off.

I also like the atmosphere of Shabu-sen since its decorated pretty well with large windows.

• Pros: yummy food, fun with friends, price