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Wawaji

4.8 (43 reviews)
Open 11:00 am - 2:00 pm, 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Updated 2 months ago

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WAWAJI ATMOSPHERE

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Recommended Reviews - Wawaji

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spicy soup with mushroom
Vicky R.

Amazing Spicy Frog & Fish Buffet! Fiery, numbing-spicy broth paired with a mild center pot for balance. Super fresh, tender frog legs, and all-you-can-eat value is unbeatable. Great flavor, clean setup, and quick service--total win for hot pot lovers!

inside
Becky C.

I used to come here a lot before when it was hot pot hot pot. The entire place looks remodeled and serve different types of food and overall vibe now. The good: - FREE DRINKS - FREE Fruit! good variety and fresh - we got the no spicy hot pot soup and it was pretty good but I feel like they are known for spicy The bad: - I think they are known for frog in hot pot based on name and other reviews but its not on menu and when we asked waiter they said that is something we need to ask for. - they have you mark up a menu and bring food out but a lot of our orders were kinda wrong and they gave us too much of somethings we didnt order (they did not charge waste fee or anything but I felt bad wasting the food because none of us could eat it) - they only have one type of noodle on menu but when you ask waiter there is another type! I think they should just put everything they have on the menu mostly because I was disappointed when ordering that I didn't see the frog and everything.

Hotpot
Ray Z.

Came here for hot pot and left seriously impressed. This spot is especially known for their frog hot pot, and now I completely understand why. The frog was incredibly fresh, tender, and soaked up all the flavor from the broth -- not gamey at all, just perfectly cooked and packed with taste. The broth itself was rich and comforting with just the right amount of spice, and the ingredients were high quality across the board. Portions were generous, service was attentive, and the atmosphere was lively without feeling chaotic. If you're into hot pot and want to try something a little different from the usual meats, the frog here is a must order. Definitely coming back.

Shiyi W.

Nice food,if you like spicy food.come here, loved the vibe here, came multiple times with my friends.

Too my parent here often, always empty stomach in full stomach out
Charles L.

Too my parent here often, always empty stomach in full stomach out, strongly recommended

Hotpot little spicy
Apple X.

Absolutely delicious! The spicy bullfrog hot pot was rich, bold, and incredibly flavorful. The broth was perfectly tasty and spicy, and the bullfrog meat was tender, fresh, Every bite soaked up the spicy.this is a must-try.

Jenny S.

The frog meat is fresh and price is reasonable. The ayce has many food options to choose from. They also have unlimited fruit and drinks. Overall it's pretty tasty.

Food is good service is perfect Ambiance also good Will recommend to my friends to come

SH L.

Good place for spicy fog; fresh ingredient ; good service; all you can eat; always a line, be prepared for the waiting line

Sichuan Hotpot base
S F.

This is one of the best place to eat in LA (very competitive location for Chinese food). The frog is very fresh! Also the beef is good! Full of people at night even on weekdays.

Such a great restaurant! Great service and excellent service! Welcome to the Wa 蛙 World! Yummy Yummy Yummy! Good place去for family and friend!

Hot pot

Ver good Suchuan taste hotpot, and service also good too. All you can eat, good deal!!!!

Really nice and friendly staff! Food was great!   Price really reasonable!  Will be back bring more and more friends.
Louis M.

Really good food and great service as well! Definitely will bring family and friends back!

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3 months ago

It's a great place to have authentic sichuan spicy food and I would say it's deserved to visit again

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4 months ago

First time here wawaji. Everything was amazing. The server was great. I like the wawaji and also the fish ! Recommend order the spicy broth!

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Review Highlights - Wawaji

If you're into hot pot and want to try something a little different from the usual meats, the frog here is a must order.

Mentioned in 7 reviews

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Xiao Long Kan Hot Pot - three flavor broth

Xiao Long Kan Hot Pot

4.3(390 reviews)
1.3 mi
$$$

Went to eat here with the Hubs on New Year's Eve around 5:45 PM on a rainy night. Luckily there was…read moreno line when we arrived, but this place can definitely get busy, so I'd still expect a wait during peak times. Ordering is done by scanning a QR code, which was easy, and everything came out pretty quickly after we placed our order. They also have a sauce bar (extra cost) along with some sesame balls and rice crackers, which was a nice touch. Service was okay overall -- we did have to call our server a couple of times when we needed things. The inside of the restaurant is very pretty and clean for the most part, which made the experience enjoyable. Price-wise, it's on the average to slightly higher side for shabu, but overall a decent spot for hotpot, especially for special occasions or colder/rainy nights.

As an avid food lover, I honestly want all restaurants to do well, especially those that are by and…read morefor the Asian American community. This was my second time here and overall it's a great experience- fun sauce bar, quick service, elaborate decor - what's not to like? As far as the eating experience goes, I'd give it a solid 4... that is until I went to the ladies room...or tried to. This was my first time going to the restroom and I was appalled by the mustiness of the air and the dirtiness that I saw. I'm familiar with restrooms at basic restaurants and I don't expect aromatherapy candles or scented hand soap but as a consumer I do expect a certain level of cleanliness especially at an eating establishment. I tried to just suck it up and bear it but had to leave as soon as a saw a thin black ring around the toilet bowls...(mold?!?!) Sorry if it's too much info but just had to share- go for the food and the picture worthy decor but skip the bathrooms till they have a thorough clean!

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Xiao Long Kan Hot Pot
Xiao Long Kan Hot Pot
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All That Shabu

All That Shabu

3.8(728 reviews)
2.3 mi
$$$

Great japanese style hotpot, as the name suggests. Service is warm, friendly and fast. It's a huge…read moreplace with common hotpot place setup, a tiny bit more cramped though so you slightly can whiff the food on the next table. Could be good for you, or the opposite. Disclaimer first, i'm a huge fan of chinese style hotpot. Luckily all that shabu offers a selection of broth and sauces. They are true japanese style, so don't expect mala here, even the chili oil is a bit hidden on containers a bit away from the sauce bar. I tried the spicy beef broth, it has miso flavor and slightly tangy undertone. It has heat, but not spicy at all. The spicy pine sauce and wasabi ponzu (the best!) fulfills my search for heat in this place. All the sauces (except sesame sauce) has acidity/tangyness in it. The meat are good quality and very thin so it's ready in just a few dips. The brisket is fatty, and it's my favorite but only at this place thanks to the acidic profile that cuts through the rich fats. The short plate is very thin and tender, the flat iron steak is more lean. The chuck eye is kinda the middle ground. Unfortunately lamb only served as dinner menu. The vegetable and mushrooms bar have adequate variety, but they only have two kinds of tofu which is soft tofu and fried tofu pockets. No beancurds/tofu skin. They have more selection in seafood though. There's ice cream, soda fountain, green tea and black tea, and even buffet food like fried rice and wonton etc. Overall it's a well-priced hotpot for good quality ingredients, with japanese style broths. And the best thing is they accepts solo diners.

I had All That Shabu a really long time ago in Irvine and remember loving it, but there's just so…read moremuch competition in OC so I haven't been back in years! I tried it again with my friend the other day because we were in the area. I thought it was just okay and probably wouldn't come back here specifically because there's just a lot of better places, but this isn't bad at all for the price. The inside was huge and dimly lit, and they had a large self serve bar for hot sides, drinks, hot pot toppings like veggies and seafood, sauces, and dessert. It was a great vibe! There's a pretty large variety of broths to pick from which is nice. We both got the spicy beef, which tasted rich and tomatoey so it was different than a typical beef bone broth that I expected! It was nice because the acidity helped to balance with the richness of the meats. Of all the meats, our favorites were the brisket and the beef short plate. Personally I like to know which meats are which but sometimes when I asked, the servers couldn't really tell them apart so it kinda sucked because I wanted to know which ones I actually liked to order more of those. They were quick with taking our orders though and meats came out really quick. For hot sides, they had a large variety of things, such as fried rice, crab, crispy fried chicken, kimchi, and more. I liked that there was variety! I just think that overall, the experience didn't wow me as much as it did back then, but definitely cheaper than most places and so you get what you pay for!

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All That Shabu - Inside

Inside

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Nabemono Shabu Shabu - Veggies and meat comes with each combo :)

Nabemono Shabu Shabu

4.3(547 reviews)
2.4 mi
$$
Curbside pickup during COVID-19
Established in 2019

Went here for the first time on Saturday with my girlfriend. I love Shabu, and this place didn't…read moredisappoint! The server was really nice and offered alternatives when they didn't have something my gf wanted. I appreciated his service and hospitality. Seating was fast and food was great as well! Will be coming back. P.S the tofu appetizer is great too

I had a hard time choosing where to go for dinner with my family. I wanted shabu shabu, but I…read moredidn't want AYCE. Nabemono came up, and I ended up choosing it over others. I read reviews which expressed frustration over the service, and I felt like that helped manage my expectations. I know it's a very tough time for restaurants, and I hope they are able to smooth things over soon. We were greeted when entered and we waited a bit to get seated. We were seated at a very large table, which felt funny since it was just three of us. It took some time to get menus. I walked up to grab them, but staff said they would bring it over. Once we ordered, food was quick to come out. Refill requests initially were promptly responded to, but as the first round of customers ended their meals, the service was backed up. It took some time to get refills and the check. Luckily we weren't in a hurry. The menu isn't entirely clear, so we had a couple ordering hiccups. Generally, easy problems to resolve. My family and I enjoyed the food. The vegetables, meat, and sauces tasted good. I really liked their goma dare (sesame sauce), which is my favorite part of shabu shabu. The brown rice portion was substantial, but the rice was reheated and dry. The ramen portion, while tasty was small, like ~1/3 of the rice portion. I personally, like to eat the carb throughout the meal, which means ordering more. The space is large with a lot of hard surfaces. I wouldn't say it is a quiet space--it is good for groups. We also sat closer to the door, so my elder family members were a bit cold while we waited. However, once the burners were going, it didn't feel as cold. The three of us ate for ~90 without tip, which can make sense for folks who don't want to pay $55pp for AYCE dinner. However, I think AYCE lunches at other restaurants during the week are a better value and can have smoother service. Just like many things in this world, my experience isn't black and white. There were things I liked and things that could be improved. I think it's worth a shot for others to try, as long as they can be open minded about the experience and patient.

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Nabemono Shabu Shabu - Cheers! Panko Shrimp Pops are a must!

Cheers! Panko Shrimp Pops are a must!

Nabemono Shabu Shabu - Fresh ramen makes for the perfect chewy noods

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Tasty Pot - A pot of happiness!

Tasty Pot

3.9(357 reviews)
2.3 mi
$$

New Name Alert: Malabar or apparently Malatang…read more Didn't figure it out until I walked up and saw the wrong sign actually. We are hot pot professionals so we knew how many items were going to weight how much. I got it down to choosing the sides and it weight exactly 1.2lb exactly. My wife ended up with 1.2lb also but ended up bringing leftovers home. She got the bone broth healing soup ( clear white soup) I got the golden spicy / sour soup ( golden color , not too spicy but not too sour but still delicious!! Honestly both soups were good, they serve it to you cooked so no stress on waiting. Service was great as it felt like a grand opening party. price is good too! if you don't overstuff yourself. Selection awesome good meatballs good meats ( fat and lean) good veggies mini sauce bar also they pretty much covered all bases for hotpot

Tasty Pot has changed to malatang hot pot style. You put all the ingredients you want in a big bowl…read moreand then they'll charge you by the pound. Price was reasonable at 13.99/lb. We came in around 5:30 pm on a weekend. A lot of the ingredients were in low supply and the veggies didn't look fresh. We had to ask them to refill the beef because the container was completely empty. When we went to get our sauces, they had a limited selection compared to other hot pot/malatang places. They didn't have any sesame sauce available then, even though there was a label for it. The soup bases were alright. The tom yum flavor has a bit of a kick and the healthy bone soup was decent.

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Tasty Pot - 12 different hotpot's to choose from

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Hot Pot Hot Pot - Little Fat Sheep

Hot Pot Hot Pot

4.0(1.1k reviews)
0.0 mi
$$

Disappointed to hear that this place closed. Wish we could be there for the last day atleast. Went…read morehere over the years and each time I've enjoyed it a lot. I hope to see this restaurant open some other time, even if it's in a different place. From what I remember the soup was great, and the other foods we placed in them were almost nice. I didn't mind most of the things most people had problems with, namely, the "presentation." Honestly didn't really care because I really only enjoyed the food. The owner was also nice and chill, along with the rest of staff, hope they're doing well.

I hadn't been to this place in like 12 years prior to this dinner. I remember liking it a lot in…read morethe past. I do feel that this place needs to up their game. Other places have passed them by in some respects First there is no sauce bar here. Just four small containers of sauces you can use. Ironically none of those sauces are soy sauce. A darker possible peanut sauce, a sesame sauce, a pinkish possibly fermented tofu sauce and the standard chili oil. I wanted more as far as the sauce goes and I thought a sauce bar was pretty standard these days Second there is no AYCE bar with small snacks. Kind of interesting When ordering the meat, I guess they wanted to save a plate so the sliced meats just came in plastic containers. That loses some points with me on presentation Other than that everything is fine. They charge a little less for the broth than a lot of places do, so that's nice Got vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, noodles and a couple of meats. Overall it's a fine experience, mostly Ok to Good. But the lack of some things makes it more second tier for me and it would not be a go to hot pot place for me

Photos
Hot Pot Hot Pot - Sliced beef

Sliced beef

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Wawaji - hotpot - Updated May 2026

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