Shabuya

FOOD

The AYCE program has four working parts: a choice of broth, sliced meats for the pot, a self-service ingredient bar, and an ordered menu of sushi and izakaya plates. The weekday lunch special keeps the same basic system but narrows the meat selection to five cuts. The regular $28.99 menu expands it to eight.

Five broths establish the base. Original House is a clear dashi-and-kombu broth with vegetables and house spices. Miso combines red and white miso with vegetable broth; Spicy Miso turns that profile hotter. Tonkotsu is the richest option, using garlic pork broth blended with vegetable broth, while Sukiyaki uses smoked vegetable broth and a house spice blend. Individual pots mean broth choice never has to become a table-wide compromise.

Lunch meat rounds include prime cross rib, beef toro, natural pork belly, natural pork shoulder and chicken thigh. The regular menu adds Wagyu sirloin tip, prime flat iron steak and Australian lamb. Cross rib is the leaner prime beef choice, beef toro brings the fat and marbling of beef belly, while flat iron and Wagyu sirloin tip add two more substantial beef cuts before pork, chicken or lamb enters the rotation.

The self-service bar turns those broths into complete hot pots. Napa cabbage, bok choy, mushrooms, tofu, quail eggs, rice cakes and udon are among the recurring choices. Seafood can include shrimp, mussels, squid, fish fillet, fish or shrimp balls and, when available, baby octopus. The assortment can shift with ingredient availability, but this is where each diner controls vegetables, seafood and starches.

The sauce station adds another point of customization after cooking, with the familiar shabu-shabu combination of dipping sauces and condiments. Noodles are particularly useful late in the meal, after several rounds of meat, seafood and vegetables have changed the broth from its starting point.

The izakaya menu runs beside the simmering pot. Current choices include chicken gyoza, spicy tuna crispy rice, takoyaki, swai fillet tempura, jalapeños stuffed with spicy tuna and cream cheese, potato croquettes, and three versions of chicken karaage. The standard karaage comes with spicy mayo; soy-glazed karaage turns sweeter; Volcano Chicken Karaage carries the hotter house sauce.

Sushi expands the program again. Hand rolls cover California, spicy tuna, spicy California, spicy tuna with fried onion, and spicy tuna with krab and crunch flakes. Specialty rolls include Philadelphia, Red Dragon, Happy Salmon, Ultimate Salmon and Mariachi, plus baked H.O.T., Alaskan and Japanese Lasagna rolls. Salmon, tuna, krab, avocado, cucumber, cream cheese, jalapeño, masago and yuzu recur across the combinations.

Hot pot remains the organizing meal, but the fixed price reaches beyond meat and broth. Karaage or takoyaki can arrive while ingredients cook, sushi can fill the gap between meat rounds, and udon can close out the pot after the broth has deepened. Dessert sits outside the AYCE program: Melona bars are currently listed separately at $2.50.