Shabu-Shabu Restaurant

Most of you who are living in Puchong would have heard of this Shabu haven situated at Bandar Puteri, opposite Giant Supermarket. It's this three-storey shoplot designed to look like a hotel from afar and a hotel it is - for food lovers who enjoy ever-flowing food such as prawns, fish, meat, vege, balls and many more.

My friend and I arrived at Shabu-Shabu Restaurant at 7pm sharp on a Friday evening and was glad that the place was not packed to the brim just yet. We were quite worried at first as people were always seen lining up outside the place waiting for ages just to get in for their meals. Surprisingly, we didn't have to wait a bit and was ushered to the 2nd floor after we paid at the counter on the ground floor. We took a lift up and was welcomed by so many plates of food rotating on the convey belt that we didn't know where to begin digging in.

Shabu-shabu is a Japanese variant of hot pot dining. Originally, thin sliced of meat and vegetables were served to the diners accompanied with dipping sauces to go with the food. Diners would then have the freedom to cook their own meal in individual hot pots. This winter dish is eaten throughout the year. When the concept was brought over to Malaysia, it's as good as having steamboat buffet to all Malaysians. Shabu-shabu Restaurant, however, brought it to a new level by combining this concept with sushi bar. Thus, it's a shabu-shabu bar experience for all diners at the restaurant. To me, it was steamboat haven!

As I sat down and began to take in the environment, I thought I was in Japan. With hot pots lining up all around the place and smoke coming out from each one, it felt like I was sitting in a kitchen factory. The way other diners laughed and enjoyed their food put a smile on my face. They looked like they haven't eaten for centuries and it's true - who can resist when hundreds and hundreds of plate were floating around us. I certainly can't.

There was about 200+ choices rotating on the convey belt which include my favourite prawns, cuttlefish, fish slices of various kinds, different types of balls, chicken livers, mutton, beef, scallops, mussels, eggs, noodles, beancurd, vegetables, etc. And occasionally, the bar attendant will bring out trays of thinly sliced pork which was about 1mm thick only. The sliced pork is cold, red and fresh - perfect for a 3-seconds dip into the boiling soup before consumption. Delicious!

Other side dishes include french fries, fried wanton and best of all - baby octopus! I love those! Because we didn't have to stand up to get our food (unlike common steamboat places), we tend to eat more. The food, afterall, did just walk past by us all the time. Simply take any food you fancy from in front of you and pop them into your hot pot. It's so easy to eat so much this way since you won't know how bloated your stomach is until you stand up. I tried counting how many plates I eat but failed because there were just too many.

Couldn't take a photo of the food on the convey belt since it was moving all the time and my lousy mobile phone camera couldn't capture anything moving. But you get the idea, right, just by looking at these photos? Wished I have taken more photos of the food instead of just popping them into my hot pot, but I can't help it. I had a foodilicious time!

Note: Shabu-Shabu Restaurant is situated at 55 Jalan Puteri 1/6, Bandar Puteri, Puchong. Only open for dinner and it costs RM26.50 per person.