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Shabu Squared

4.5 (365 reviews)
PriceyJapanese, Hot Pot, Soup
Open 12:00 pm - 9:00 PM

Shabu Squared Reservations

Shabu Squared Photos

Business Info

SHABU SQUARED ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Casual
Trendy
Intimate

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Recommended Reviews - Shabu Squared

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Reviews With Photos

Christina L.

Normally not a fan of shabu shabu as I prefer Chinese hot pot, but this was absolutely delicious. (And indulgent because it's AYCE and /expensive/). Broth is essentially the deciding factor on good/mid hot pot and the tom yum broth here was sooooooo good and flavorful. Not the most wide variety of vegetable options but they had a lot of what I personally like so I didn't mind (squash, bok choy, watercress, cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli, tofu, udon)--plus it all tasted very fresh. The table is also set with premade sauces: one that is dark and sweet and has the fishiness of dashi, and another one that I really liked that's thicker and more of a sweet tahini base.

Meat
Darian C.

The service was a bit slow here even though there wasn't that many people. The meat choices were great and I really liked their salmon spoons were yummy as well. The tom kat broth was unique and tasted good but I'm not sure if I like it over just a tonkotsu broth. It was clean inside and the workers were nice it was just a bit slow.

Victoria N.

One of my favorite hotpot places in Houston! It can get busy sometimes, but parking is plentiful and I'm always seated quickly. There's bar and booth seating available. The service is always amazing and quick. My favorite broths are the spicy crab and sukiyaki. The beef served here is great quality and love the variety available here for seafood, vegetables and more. Sad to see that the concept of the restaurant is changing but will be coming back before it does!

Brisket
Brandon D.

Tried out Shabu squared for the first time. One very nice thing about this place is that it is down the road and not actually in the heart of Chinatown, so the parking is not an issue here. Since it was the weekend, only tier 2 or s was available for all you can eat. This includes everything from tier 1 (chuck flap, beef belly, brisket, crab sticks, shrimp, fish balls w/ roe) as well as some extra options specific to tier 2 (ribeye, wagyu bavette, lamb). I tried the mixed broth (tonkotsu + spicy sukiyaki) and sukiyaki broths. They also provide their ponzu and goma sauces. I thought the ponzu was too citrusy but the goma was good! It's a sesame sauce that is sweet and savory. I tried all the meat options and my favorites were the beef belly and chuck flap, followed by the ribeye. I also got some of their ramen and it's actually a lot so I would recommend sharing it with someone. I think it's really good if you just keep getting the beef belly and chuck flap only, therefore I'd say it's really only worth it if you go during the time period for tier 1 because tier 2 is more expensive and I didn't like their meat options as much.

Beef belly
Jacky D.

With all the hotpot places in houston I wanted to give shabu squared a try before they close down because of the good things I heard. We had a reservation at 7 for 10 people and had to wait just a little for them to get three tables set up us as one table was just finished. One of the smaller hotpot places and the bowls are more for sharing than individual so nice for choices if you have a duo! I liked the artwork on the wall as well. During dinner time they have an S tier or tier 2 for AYCE! I did the tier 2 as those were the perfect meat choices for me. Beef belly, wagyu, chuck, and ribeye were our go to. All other places i been to recently for vegetables and seafood are buffet style and i realized how much i like that coming here. It feels a little weird trying to get a specific amount of veggies by asking for it. No enoki mushroom is a bummer. Overall meat quality is top notch for sure. Service was slow at some point when the restaurant started getting packed more. Their premade sauces offered a variety of umami and strong flavors! If some other shabu choices did not exist I would be devastated as this would've become a choice for me to insert into the rotation. 8.2/10

Salmon
Jennifer N.

This place was recommended to me by a friend and so once we heard that they were potentially shutting down soon, I knew that we needed to try it out! Walking in, the place is very cozy with tables surrounding a center u-shaped bar style seating. We noticed that it's a pretty small restaurant so always good to have a reservation and smaller parties. This place has a 90 min time limit, and so you do usually need your entire party to be there if eating AYCE! If you're someone who gets overwhelmed with options, this place is for you because they have most of items you would expect at shabu but lesser variety which is a pro and con. For vegetables, instead of ordering individually, they provide of vegetable platter which features all they offer. I'm not a huge vegetable person at shabu so not a big deal but my husband did wish they had more variety. For meats, they offer two tiers for ayce and we went with Tier 1 which offered a fair variety and came with a soup spoon of salmon. My favorite meats were beef belly and ribeye - the presentation is also beautiful. I think the broths here are stellar and their premade sauces are to die for - way better than any that I could diy at other hot pot sauce bars. They do charge extra for noodles which was surprisingly. Overall, a good hot pot experience with no frills and decent variety to fulfill their hot pot craving.

Charnie D.

Would recommend coming in early if you want a seat. The meat had amazing marbling and tasted better after dipping it in my broth. The vegetables and meats came flowing, thanks to the workers who made sure our meat orders come to us as much as possible. I would recommend the spicy crab broth to help make your food delectable.

Cuts of meat and veggie bowl (and an egg yolk for the sukiyaki!)
Laura L.

I've been here so many times, one of the waitresses recognized me By far, my favorite shabu place in Houston! All of the meats here are super good quality and fresh. Every cut of meat is either fatty and tender or lean and juicy, but both types are irresistible. They have a good variety of soup flavors with the sukiyaki, tonkatsu, and spicy crab being my favorites! Their all you can eat menu is so worth it in my opinion, especially if you eat a lot of meat. The ayce is not buffet style so you can't pick and choose veggies and other sides, but each person gets a veggie bowl and a bowl of rice. They have two default sauces where one of them is sesame based and the other is a yuzu ponzu, but you can order other sauces they have. The staff here are friendly and nice! The waiters and waitresses are attentive and will come by to either lower or raise the heat of your broths if they see it's boiling too much or too little. It can get a little cramped if there's a lot of people, but they have a good amount of seats and benches for larger parties. They always play good music here too which is also a bonus! This place is a very solid place for shabu, and it's perfect to go on a rainy or cold day. Every time my friends want a recommendation for a shabu place, I recommend this place!

Giang T.

came here for dinner on a weekday and it was packed (despite sign saying it will close on mar 10, but will reopen with new concept) service was rly rly quick i love how the veggie bowl comes with an order of udon as well my favorite was the shrimp balls beef was very tender plenty plenty parking spots as the plaza was quite empty

Lunch AYCE tier
Alanna Y.

Parking is great, service is even better! We went for lunch and got the basic AYCE tier. The meat was very good quality, all the veggies were fresh and the broth was amazing. They do not have a bar for veggies and noodles, but I think that is better because there is less food waste. If you want more of something you just ask and it will be brought out promptly. We will definitely return when we're craving hotpot!

Jessica N.

I enjoyed Shabu here, you can tell the meats are very high quality. I ate the Tier 2. The salmon spoon appetizer that they started you off with was very flavorful. However, I disliked that noodles weren't included with the tier and that there weren't more sauces to choose from. The service was okay, the server got our meats mixed up sometimes and it came out slow. The interior was classy and sleek. Overall, 8/10.

Tom yum soup
Kelly D.

Honestly didn't expect to like this place as much as some other ayce hot pot spots in Houston but I loved it! So sad it's closing in February but I'll be back a few more times before then hopefully. The service was great and you order everything through your server vs self serve. The broth, sauces, and meat are definitely my favorite here. It's smaller compared to most hot pot places but I like that since it's less overwhelming.

Tom yum
Angelina C.

My absolute favorite hot spot in Houston. Make sure to give it a try if you haven't yet, as they are planning on closing their hot pot at the end of the season. I'm so glad they decided to make AYCE available. The Tom yum broth is unbeatable and sooo addicting. I was happy with my tier one and ordered lots of chuck flap and beef belly! The cucumber salad is something I have to get every time I come. Def a con that veggies, noodles, etc are extra on top of ayce but the meat and broth makes up for it. 10/10!!!!!

AYCE lunch menu!

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6 years ago

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6 years ago

Great food and awesome service. I'll be coming back. Spicy Crab and Tonkatsu is the only way to go.

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6 years ago

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Page 10 of 10

Ask the Community - Shabu Squared

Is it all you can eat?

They have that option now!

Does your goma sauce contains peanut? Someone from our group is highly allergic?

Our goma sauce does not contain peanuts. It does contain sesame seeds. If there are more allergies we should know about, please make a reservation with us and indicate the allergies. That way we can have time to use new clean equipments to prepare… Read more

Are you guys opened?

Yes, we are open.

When are you guys re opening?

Sorry for the late reply. We are open everyday except for Monday.

Could we get pick up during Covid 19?

I'm unsure if you can do Togo orders but they are open for serving, I went recently and social distancing was in place with every precaution.

Are you open for take out?

Yes.

Is it a buffet style ? if not whats the pricing like , i cant see it on the website.

Sorry, no we do not offer buffet.

Is this place actually open? When I call, I get sent to a personalized voice mail. The first poster's photos look great.

We are having our Grand Opening this Sunday, 12.8.19. We hope to see you there!

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