I have been a repeat customer at the shabu house and I can't get enough of the golden chicken…read morebroth. They made the broth in house and it was flavorful. The owner is charismatic and I love to chat with her every time I come. The wagyu was nicely marbled even for basic tier all-you-can-eat. The tempura Oreo was a nice surprise at the end of the meal--classic fried Oreo with a nice crunch and strawberry drizzle. It's a good place to come back to scratch the shabu itch.

don't even know where to start. This place completely blew me away…read more First, the service. Irene made this entire experience unforgettable. She was so warm, friendly, and genuinely helpful. It honestly felt like we were ordering with a friend who just happens to know the entire menu inside and out. She gave amazing recommendations and even told us she makes the hot sauce from scratch (which... you can taste the difference). That level of care really set the tone for the whole night. Now the food... not a single miss. Seriously, not one thing we didn't like. We went with the Ultra menu ($108), which includes lobster, and it was 100% worth it. For broths, we chose the Tom Yum and Tonkotsu. Both were rich, flavorful, and perfect in completely different ways. The meat selection was incredible, especially the wagyu options, they literally melt in your mouth. You can tell the quality is top tier. The flame-torched wagyu nigiri was absolutely out of this world--perfectly balanced and paired with a wasabi powder that elevated every bite. We also had the hamachi cloud, which was so fresh, flavorful, and had the perfect crunch--such a standout dish. And the spicy clams? Easily one of our favorites. Super fresh, super tasty, and packed with flavor. Beyond the food, the entire staff made us feel genuinely welcomed, which made the experience even better. The location is perfect. It's right in the center of Japantown. Inside they have a bar where you can sit and talk with the servers face-to-face. And it's a great spot to people watch while you eat. I truly cannot recommend this place enough. Between the incredible quality, the variety, and the next-level service. This is a spot I'll be coming back to again and again (and yes, I'll absolutely be asking for Irene).

A great AYCE spot. The selection of soups are good and the portions of each are great…read more Highly recommend this place for anyone who wants to have a big group

My husband and I dropped by around 6:30p and were seated right away. This was a rainy Thursday, so…read moremaybe that's why it wasn't as busy. It was also $35.99/person. For the selection of meats (including wagyu), I felt it was well worth it. I love AYCE and this place had a solid system where you put in all your orders onto a tablet mounted on the wall next to your table. The service was quick and the food was tasty. My husband and I enjoyed the mushroom broth the most! I hope to be back!

Owner served us and food/portions were fantastic for AYCE…read more Nice pitcher of beer half off with AYCE 10/10 would go again

Delicious AYCE spot near Japantown. They have high quality Wagyu, they literally cook in seconds…read moreand melts in your mouth. I love their sesame sauce with ponzu sauce, it pairs the meat very well. The staff is very attentive and made sure we were good :) Highly recommend this spot!!

We are visiting from LA and after a long day of walking, we were starving and wanted some delicious…read moreall you can eat. Unfortunately, this place was a huge disappointment. Food: 4/5 We got the all you can for $39.99 that includes the soup base, unlimited meats, some appetizers, veggie bar, and sauce bar. The meat selections were really limited and everything that came out was just the same cut of lamb and beef in different plates. Many of their items were on the menu but not offered on their ordering iPad. The quality of meats was pretty good and I did like their hotpot flavors. The wheel of meat was gimmicky, but good for pictures. Service: 4/5 This place was pretty slow in their service. It took us about 15 minutes before our soups came out and another twenty for the meats to come. Our server explained that they were short staffed so we gave them some grace for their slow service. Ambiance: 2/5 The reason why I ranked this place so poorly was because of their health code violations. There were multiple dogs in the restaurants. They were leashed and clearly not service animals. One of the dogs was long haired and I was afraid they would be shedding everywhere. Overall, I would not recommend this place. As someone who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, it is not easy to mess up hotpot, but I am afraid because of the dogs on this premise with the open veggie and sauce bar that I will never be back here.

I came back to Hotpot Champ after trying it a while back, and the setup has changed quite a bit…read morefrom when they had just opened. On my previous visit, we would check off what we wanted on a menu, hand it to the server, and everything would be brought to the table. They also had sides set out along with a guide showing different ways to make your own dipping sauces. Now, meats are ordered through an iPad, while noodles, vegetables, mushrooms, meatballs, dumplings, eggs, quail eggs, tofu, and other hot pot items are self-serve. I'm a little torn about the changes. The self-serve setup is convenient because you can grab what you want whenever you're ready, but I preferred some of what they offered before. I remember the meatballs being fresher, and they used to have actual shrimp, whereas the shrimp option now is more of a shrimp paste. The soup bases were still just as delicious as I remembered. We chose the Sichuan spicy at medium spice and the tonkotsu. The Sichuan was flavorful with a heat that builds as you eat--medium was already plenty spicy for us and will definitely open up your sinuses! The tonkotsu was creamy, savory, and comforting. I actually prefer the tonkotsu over the chicken soup base they used to have, and having both gave us a nice balance between spicy and mild. We were also really looking forward to the lamb, but unfortunately they had already run out by around 9 PM. Hopefully coming a little earlier next time will solve that! The staff were really nice and seemed to be doing their best despite how busy they were. Our meats arrived before our soup bases, but they apologized for the delay, which we appreciated. We noticed the staff doing a little bit of everything--serving tables, bussing, and helping at the front with hosting--so there were times when it was difficult to find someone if we had a question. Whenever we did get someone's attention, though, they were friendly and helpful. People were still coming in during the last couple of hours, so the staff definitely had their hands full. Overall, we enjoyed our dinner. Hotpot Champ is different from what I remembered, and while there are a few things I preferred about the old setup, I can also appreciate the convenience of the new one. Most importantly, the soup bases are still delicious, and the tonkotsu was a welcome change. We'd come back again--hopefully a little earlier next time so we can get our lamb!

Jane was on top of her game and really friendly highly recommend going here. The food here is great.read more

The food was absolutely delicious and the service was amazing! Jane and Jenny were both so friendly…read moreand welcoming. A special shoutout to Jane for helping us choose some of the best dishes. Everything she recommended was so good! We had such a great experience and I would definitely come back if I'm ever in San Francisco again. Highly recommend!

The sticker shock of the Braised Beef Short Rib for 2-3 people was a splurge. Despite this $86…read moredish, the flavors are undeniably rich & flavorful. For an additional $6 I got glass noodles incorporated w/this dish. The noodles really absorbed the beef broth, especially the next day. In addition to the glass noodles, beef ribs, carrots, onion, & a few teokkoboki rolls were also in this dish. I notice more & more Korean restaurants are cutting back on the Baan Chaan's. There were only 3 appetizer Baan Chaan's( a crunchy seaweed that looked like coleslaw-this was my favorite, kimchi & daikon). Service is mediocre, but the Braised Beef Rib is definitely a winner for me.

i think this is the best kalbijjim I've ever had and i frequent a lot of restaurants in Koretown,…read moreLA. i like that they have potato/glass noodles instead of a lot of the rice cakes. the restaurants ive been to for kalbijjim don't offer the potato noodles! staff was really friendly and attentive, i'd love to come back when i'm in SF again!

This was an excellent place for lunch. They have numerous bento box lunch options starting at…read more$15.99. I got the saba shio and shrimp tempura which were delicious. The staff was friendly and welcoming. Also helpful. Simple Japanese decor. Will be back!

TLDR: When you're at the heart of Japan town, you have to embody the nation in all the good ways…read more Kui Shin Bo, embodied the nation's backbone of being average to above average in multiple things. This place covers many of the basics (rolls, ramen, tempura, yakisoba, teriyaki, unagi). I really only see it as a jack of all trades, but a master of none. It doesn't mean that this restaurant has no place in Japantown, but it doesn't inspire confidence when it's located in an isolated region of the mall with less foot traffic, while its competition on the other wing has lines longer than the location's capacity. Black Garlic Ramen: It's always a mystery to me how black garlic improves a bowl of ramen. My expectations, however, remain the same. How thick is the broth? How clean is the broth when consumed? What is the quality of the chashu? Do I get enough noodles? I think the best part of this meal was the amount of soup they give, and the chashu was very good. It sucks that the chashu is tiny, but they did very well. I feel that the noodles were those wholesale ramen noodles that were portioned, and the garnish was fine. The broth was okay, 3.5-ish stars in terms of taste. Dynamite Roll and Volcano Roll: I think it's a problem if I have trouble identifying which is which. I can tell you that both are good enough to try, and the Volcano Roll comes with raw fish. Both come with a good crunch and a good sauce, but like most Japanese places that lean heavily into the rolls, good luck finding out what you ordered and what you just ate. Ambiance: Very classic Japanese. They're really at their best to convince you that you're in Japan. It may get tight during a busy day though. Service: Standard. You order, your water gets refilled, you pay, you leave.

food was absolute gas, highly recommend. went on saturday night and the place was even short…read morestaffed and managed to get our food out quick!!!! it was truly amazing!!!!

Worst service ever…read more I have never experienced any service as BAD as this. I booked a table, and when I arrived, I literally STOOD at the door for 10 minutes before any server noticed me. After sitting down it took another 10 minutes before I finally decided to literally walk to every server I saw to ask them to please have someone notice me and start my order. After that it took another 15 minutes and another round of "please can you send someone to my table" for some Mr.-busy-as-the-US-president to come to me. And it turns out that Mr.-busy-as-the-US-president does not even know they have more than 4 types of soup base. After I had the soup, it took 40 minutes and ANOTHER 3 rounds of "could you please check if the order went through" for them to throw a plate of poor vegetables at my table. Of course, they missed some items, and I had to enter another round of asking.

Service , ambiance , and food variety have improved by miles over the years…read more Staff is wonderful, attentive, and the overall experience is enjoyable. Reasonable tier options for menu and great for any time of day or outing.

YakiniQ really said "leave hungry? never heard of her."…read more Pulled up with my homie Jun because this man treated me to lobster last time and you already know... Asians keep receipts but in a wholesome way We don't split love, we rotate blessings. For $49.99/person, this AYCE Korean BBQ was straight violating my self-control. The short ribs?? HELLA BUSSIN. Like actually criminal. Every bite had me ascending like a TikTok food review in 4K. Meat so juicy I almost stood up and thanked the cow personally. The grill smoke got us smelling like seasoned warriors walking outta there but honestly worth it. Staff kept the meats coming faster than my auntie asking why I'm still single. And let me put y'all onto some elite Chinese vocabulary real quick: "好吃到舔手指" (hǎo chī dào tiǎn shǒu zhǐ) = "so good you lick your fingers." That's EXACTLY the vibe. Finger-licking good fr fr. YakiniQ got me fighting for my life, unbuttoning my pants in the parking lot, and already planning my return. 10/10. No crumbs left. Their "Red Hot" peanut sauce is the carry here - no doubt. Highly recommend with my utmost respectful regards!