Shabu Shabu is a Japanese dining experience
where you boil thin slices of meat and vegetables in a broth. There’s a pot of
hot boiling water and you place the meat in it until it’s cooked and then take
it out and eat it. It’s called Shabu Shabu as that’s the sound of food being
swished around in the water. Other Asian cultures cook food that way as well so
there’s different names for it, like hot pot or steamboat. It’s a
nice communal dining experience.
I had never been to Shabu Shabu before so I
was curious to see if I would like it. I like communal dining experiences where
you cook the food together. If you’re stuck for conversation, you can always
talk about the food or just concentrate on the food. I guess it wouldn’t be so
fun if either of you aren’t very confident in cooking though. You’ll be always
asking, “Do you think it’s cooked?” and then you’d overcook the food and make
it tough or burn it.
I don’t remember the name of the restaurant
but it said Shabu Shabu on it as well. It was in a place in Underwood, Brisbane
where all the outlets and warehouses are located. It’s in a small but extremely
clean shopping centre, the foyer had gleaming white tiles. I think it must be
word of mouth keeping the business alive because it’s in a non-descript
building.
The restaurant can easily cater to a wedding
reception as it’s quite large. There were all these oversized marble tables and
benches everywhere with individual hotplates for diners. The place was pretty
empty but my friend said that Sunday is not a busy time for them, Friday and
Saturday nights are the times where we’d be lucky to get a table.
The waiter was pretty friendly and
attentive. I ordered seafood combination which consisted of prawns, fish
fillets, clams, scallops and squids and my friend ordered wagyu beef. We both chose miso soup to cook our food in.
Our food came out quickly as it was raw, along with complimentary plates of
vegetables and various soup meatballs.
We each had our own hotplate so we boiled whatever we liked to eat. When
we finished eating, the bill came down to eighty three dollars which we split
between us. I would say Shabu Shabu is very affordable if you split it between
friends. We both liked our meals
although we both agreed that the beef tasted better than the seafood, so next
time we’ll try chicken and have more beef. We also thought about changing our
broth to curry.
Afterwards, we went to Sunnybank which is a
place known for its Asian restaurants. We decided to have a dessert that my
friend really liked which was custard in syrup, she added some kind of black
bean to hers and I chose to have seasonal fruits. I did like the dessert, especially with the
fresh cut fruit.
Do you like sharing food with others? Or do
you prefer to eat your own food?
you make me hungry! :O
ReplyDeleteI actually don't mind sharing food with friends, or even acquaintance because yes, you can always talk about the food or the cooking! usually I and friends order a lot of foods and eat greedily at the start, then in the end we argue who should finish the remaining because we're too full^-^
yes, I can't imagine being a park ranger, maybe the feeling of sadness, scared, tired, and anger can be felt in the same time every time another corpse was found. people throw their life easily....
Yeah, it's always fun sharing food as you get to taste a bit of everything!
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm not always certain how dining prices translate between the U.S. and Oz, but considering that you are responsible for cooking your own meal a price in excess of $80 dollars seems rather expensive to me, even when split between two people. That said, the idea/concept of having you cook your own meal is so unique to me and something I would not have ever considered a restaurant might do. So I rather like the idea as a kind of novelty, though I'm not sure if I would go more than a couple of times. I generally think one of the big benefits of dining out for most people is that they do not have to cook.
ReplyDeleteIt's a little expensive but it's pretty much the average price to expect. Seafood and steak are always expensive, to save on cost, we could have order cheaper cuts like chicken or lamb. We had enough food to comfortably feed three people so I still think it's a good deal.
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