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After dining in several shabu-shabu restaurants, I always went back to Shaburi Shabu-Shabu and reassured that this is yet the best of the rest AYCE shabu-shabu restaurant I could find in Jakarta. There is at least once in a month that I go here to indulge myself eating the bottomless plates of sliced beef. Yes, it is THAT GOOD especially for those who like soup foods.


The outlet of Shaburi Shabu-Shabu that I always come back for at least once a month is located in Pondok Indah Mall 2, South Jakarta. The interior of the restaurant is full of wooden finish to bring warmth and the traditional Japanese ambience. The seating area is divided into two wings with the kitchen and AYCE spread as the centre.


Compared to the other brand of shabu-shabu restaurant, Shaburi might be lacking in the choices of cooked or prepared foods and raw seafood. The usual prepped food spread would be consisting of sushi rolls, chicken karage, french fries, fried wontons, gyudon, and some desserts like brownies, sliced fruits and ice cream. What I like the most in Shaburi is the super complete vegetable spread. Even for spinach alone, the restaurant provides at least four variations. In total, I think there are more than 10 types of vegetable to choose from, which is so satisfying for vegetable lovers like me!

Tips: The sushi rolls are mediocre, similar in taste, and come in a very big slice. Don't bother to take those in a huge number as they easily make you full.

One of the most important thing in eating shabu-shabu is the choice of soup. It is really up to your own preference. For me, I actually dislike spicy or sweet soup for shabu-shabu, hence I always choose the original Konbu soup. The original soup will never go wrong for anyone who is trying for the first time. In that occasion, I chose the Japanese Herbal Soup which will be my permanent choice next. After trying it once, I personally found that this soup is way better in terms of richness—could be because of all the herbs inside. The soup also complemented the sliced beef pretty well along with all the vegetables and the additional fish fillets, meatballs, etc. As the soup was repeatedly used to cook all kinds of meats and vegs, it got even richer at the end of this delightful meal.

If herbal soup is not your kind of palate, Shaburi provides at least five choices of soup. One of the perks eating here is how they serve single portion cooking soup for each person. So if you come in a big group, you could always choose each of the variants and try which suites you the most.


Let's talk about the sliced beef. I have tried the Shaburi Wagyu set, the Special Beef set, as well as the most modest Beef Shabu set. What makes Shaburi my favourite shabu-shabu restaurant is how they are very consistent about the beef they provide. Even for the most affordable set, the beef was still heavenly. There is no huge drop taste-wise and quality-wise in terms of beef. Looking at the colour, you could also see that it was pretty fresh.


Sliced beef on the table—check! Side dishes, plates full of vegetable—check! Huge amount of raw fish fillet—check! Yes, I am in love with their fish fillet. That is the only ingredient, of course with the vegetable, from the spread that I insanely and repeatedly took whenever there was an absence of ingredients in the soup bowl. After preparing most of the things on the table, I usually throw all the fresh vegetable first, raw fish fillets second, and finally the sliced beef. I don't really like my sliced beef to be slightly raw, so I always cooked it thoroughly and immediately pick it up right after there is no reddish area on the meat.


Another element not to be missed to enjoy Shaburi shabu-shabu to the fullest is the dipping sauce. I don't know whether this is a helpful tip or not, but I usually ask one of their friendly waiters to prepare me the dipping sauce. Their mixture of ingredients always has consistent taste and pretty much perfect for me. The balance of sweet, savoury, sour, and spiciness elevate the taste of the beef as well as all other things I dip into the sauce. You could always ask for higher level of spiciness especially for those who love everything spicy.


After finishing the first couple of sliced beef plates, we could order as many plates as we like. But to avoid food excess, it is always safer to order one or two plates every time you feel like having more. Shaburi also provides low-fat beef for those having a diet (even though I could not comprehend how you could be on diet and at the same time visiting this restaurant—it would be too much struggle to avoid the savoury and fatty sliced beef with all the beautiful marbling).


Shaburi Shabu-Shabu, to this date, is my favourite restaurant for shabu-shabu. With its fewer choices of cooked and prepped foods, the abundant choices of said-to-be-organic and fresh vegetables actually come as a very nice compromise. Logically, with fewer foods to prepare, they could also focus on the quality and taste of the foods they provide and somehow, to me, it is true. I would always recommend this restaurant as each of my experience eating here has been always amazing.

SHABURI SHABU-SHABU
Pondok Indah Mall 2, 3rd Floor
South Jakarta, Indonesia
+6221 7592 0994