California Shabu-Shabu

3 Reviews on “California Shabu-Shabu”

• Kimdoney1

  Are You Serious?. I would have given California Shabu Shabu 4 out of 5 stars until a RIDICULOUS restaurant rule and staff response to the rule brought down the rating to a ONE! The rule is so ridiculous that I signed-up for Yelp just to post a review on the restaurant. My son and I have been looking for a new shabu shabu restaurant worth my money since Koji at the Block closed down. We were quickly greeted and seated upon entrance. Upon placing our order, the server was notified we would be taking some food to go. The meat was cut fresh and presented to us within 5 minutes. We had finally found our replacement for Kojis, which meant we would be returning on a weekly basis. We were 34 the way through our meal when we ordered another entree for take-out. When we were ready to pack up the left overs and to-go entre, we asked for a container to put the ponzu sauce in. For those of you who are not familiar with shabu shabu, its all about the sauce as the meat is unseasoned and cooked in unflavored water. We were told they are not allowed to give out to go cups for the sauce and they were not supposed to let any of the sauce leave the restaurant because the sauce is homemade. However, they did permit us to pour the sauce over the meat. My son poured one cup over the left overs and asked for another cup of ponzu for the to-go entre. With hesitation to give us any more sauce, we were told they could pour the sauce over the entre but could not replenish his sauce bowl. Are you kidding me! He wanted to mix in the add-ons (garlic, green onions, horseradish and sesame seeds) to the sauce before pouring the sauce over the entre. They quickly changed their mind and refilled the sauce bowl before I had to say anything. My son wanted a little more sauce but we dared not ask for more because of their stinginess. For heavens sake, its ponzu sauce. Do they think Im going to bottle it up and sell it as my own? Do they really think Im going to put the sauce under a microscope to reveal their secret recipe? It would have really been nice had they let me know about their policy when I ordered the to-go entre. What good is the to-go entre without the sauce? I spent $99+ ($4 beverages, rest food) and they had a fit over less than $.50 of sauce. They then had the audacity to offer me free ice cream since we were first time customers. The ice cream would have cost more than the sauce. Are they serious? Just give me the sauce. I brought my concerns to the manager and was told that was just the policy and there was nothing he could do. For less than $.50 in sauce, they lost a customer who would have been a regular and got a bad yelp review. Congratulations. Hope youre happy. I will be taking my business to Tabu Shabu from now on.

  September 27, 2013, 7:04 am

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• Sara

  Great food! Fresh and healthy. Servers are helpful with first-timers.

  March 28, 2012, 2:41 pm

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• ColdPizza

  Fun place to eat. good place to stop by and grab food after shopping at south coast

  November 19, 2011, 9:03 pm

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