shabu | Johnny Prime

Shabu Tatsu is a Japanese shabu shabu (hot pot) and yakiniku (grilling) restaurant in the East Village. They offer up a variety of really great thinly sliced meats to sear up on the butter-basted skillet, or dip into their kombu and vegetable broth for a quick cook.

Some friends of mine brought me along on their dinner where they were meant to feature Kirin beer with the food, in hopes to promote Japanese cuisine and tourism with an Instagram contest. Here’s what we had:

YAKINIKU

Their mixed platter of meats for grilling contained beef tongue, liver, short rib, and rib eye, as well as pork.

The beef tongue was probably my favorite. These babies cook up quick since they’re thin, so you just want to get a good sear on them for color and flavor.

We also grilled off some wagyu rib eye. This stuff was so highly marbled and decadent.

SHABU SHABU

For the hot pot portion of the meal, we had some nice thinly sliced beef rib eye and pork loin.

I still prefer Chinese hot pot over this style, because the broth flavors are more robust and powerful. This broth was mainly water with a small kombu leaf in it, and then you load up some veggies in there as well. It’s still really good, just a preference for me.

The best part of the meal, however, was the starter course! We tried three apps: grilled squid, braised pork belly and dumplings.

The pork belly was incredible. It was cooked in a thick citrus sauce and had a great kick from the spicy mustard on top. I highly recommend that dish.

SHABU TATSU
216 E 10th St #St1
New York, NY 10003

We, my wife, and a friend took a trip to Flushing to explore some of the great food joints in the area – this was a while back, in mid 2012.

It’s kind of like a food paradise here. There are secret, hidden indoor (and sometimes underground) malls of food kiosks tucked away in unassuming buildings. Check out some of the pics:

After some wandering, we ended up trying hot pot at Baidu Shabu Shabu. I think it was like $25-$35pp all you can eat, and all you can drink beer. We got the spicy pot, and a shit-heap of different stuff to throw in, like lamb, beef tongue, beef brisket, beef rib eye, beef belly, pork belly, a host of veggies, and noodles. Needless to say we were fattened up like pigs afterward. I recommend this place – lots of fun. Check out the pics:

Okay so fast-forward over a year later. My wife is feeling sick. We were about to go back to Flushing just to get some soup, but we ended up finding out about a tiny little place called Tao’s Delicacies out on Long Island that we were interested to try out. Turns out it was pretty legit, and $25pp all you can eat, with unlimited soda/canned drinks. They had quality beef stomach, lotus root, mushrooms, shrimp (with the heads on), fish balls with pork inside, veggies, and even tofu skin (my favorite). If you are out on the island, and feel up for the experience of eating in someone’s living room, then check out this hidden gem of a restaurant. Pics below: