Heat Shabu Baru

Reviews

• Lon H.

  star star star star star 2 July 2026

  This was my second time visiting this restaurant. My first time must have been more than 5 years ago and I wasn't really giving Yelp reviews back then. Now that I am Yelp Elite, I need to give credit where it's due.
  
  [Disclaimer: I did not pay for this meal as my friend treated us so I could not comment on the value, only on the taste and experience. Thanks for the awesome meal, Wali~]
  
  My friend knows the owner very well and we came on a Saturday at 5:30pm. Since my friend knows this place like it's his own, we relied on him to order. Shabu shabu is a simple way to eat, but what elevated this meal was the quality of meat. I didn't take many photos during this meal, but I had to snap a photo of the A5 wagyu beef. The marbling, the cut...everything about it was just extraordinary. A few seconds in the hot pot and then the slice of meat just melted in my mouth. It should be called "beef butter." Absolutely unbelievable. Although I did not pay, I know for a fact that this was very expensive.
  
  Other than the star A5 wagyu, the lamb was surprisingly tasty. It didn't have any gamey flavor and it was very tender. My friend knows all the servers. One of the best things was that all of them drank shots with us. We had different flavored shots that they made for us.
  
  Hot pot is one of those things that my wife could eat for weeks. Not me. I probably can't eat more than 2 meals of it straight... but this was beyond satisfactory~ The marvelous A5, splendid drinks, and most importantly the amazing company made this meal priceless.

• Kendra T.

  star star star star_border star_border 1 July 2026

  BE AWARE OF UNDERCOOKED SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS. I ate here a few days ago and got a rash called Shiitake Dermatitis caused by raw/undercooked shiitake mushrooms. It is a whip-like rash that spreads all over your body and itches like crazy. It resolves itself within 1-5 weeks, but you can get prescriptions to help with the pain/itch.
  
  I am officially scarred for life, but otherwise had a decent experience and food was good.

• Jhermaine D.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 29 June 2026

  My husband and I love going to Heat Shabu Baru and have been going there for years. The food is delicious and the service is usually pretty good, but our most recent experience left a bad taste in our mouth. Dinner went wonderful as usual, but it wasn't until we got home that my husband found out that they had handed him back a different person's credit card - so someone else now has OUR credit card. We locked and had to cancel our credit card and will now have to go through the hassle of changing all the information for our various accounts that use that card.
  
  My husband called the manager the day after the switch and explained the situation; we also drove back and dropped off the other credit card. The response we got was lack luster. They apologized and the manager said that the cards must have been switched when they were charged because they were charged at the same time - this is not an adequate excuse, please pay attention when you are handling other people's money. Management told us they would contact us if the other person calls, but made no other effort to make this situation better on our end. I expected some kind of compensation for our trouble since this situation was caused by their error.
  
  My advice, as I told my husband (who will definitely do this from now on), double check that it is YOUR credit card that is returned to you after it is charged before putting it away. This experience has me hesitant to return even though we love the food.

• Franny Z.

  star star star star star_border 13 June 2026

  It was my first time at a Heat Shabu and I had no idea what I was walking into. We ordered the gyoza and it was yummy. We had the miso broth and the tonkotsu broth. We had the American Kobe beef. My friend and I had no idea that we had to make our own so we were laughing and since it was my first time I didn't realize I was putting too much of the veggies, ramen, and meat that the two broths ended up overflowing with one another. I wish the food had more flavor but it was my fault since I was the one preparing it. The green tea ice cream for dessert was yummy and was the highlight of my meal since I didn't have to cook it. The reason I'm giving it a 4 star review is because the quality of the ingredients was good. However, I don't think I would eat at places like these again because I hate cooking already and I don't want to pay to cook.

• Chandi M.

  star star star star star 12 June 2026

  We were in town visiting UC Davis and my bff used to live in Santa Monica where we use to visit the local Shabu restaurant almost on a daily and when it closed life was over lol. We didn't know if we'd ever find a replacement spot and we tried every hotpot spot that came kinda close. But we were never fully satisfied with kinda close. That is until we found this spot and we are so so glad we did. This place has it all including amazing music that will take you back to 80's - 90's. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful, don't get overwhelmed this is fun and so tasty you'll drool while eating lol. All the food was prepared fresh and perfect. And the cuts of meat are to die for. So if your looking for a great experience, great food and cocktails this is the place for you. We will definitely be back over and over.