Dinner Review: SWSH Shabu Shabu
I wouldn't call Jenn the most adventurous eater, but gosh has she gotten better over the years. When Jenn and I first started dating we were limited to really four different options for food. Hamburgers, Steak, Quesadillas and Spaghetti. That was it. Ten years later she's eating Sushi, Thai and Indian Food, Fish, and all sorts of different dishes. She still is hesitant to dip her toe into new things but she's getting better. Me on the hand, when it comes to food the only answer I know is yes please.
Over the last year or so, some work colleagues have gotten me to try all sorts of new foods (Pho, Beef Noodle, Filipino, and Dumplings to name a few). Beef Noodle is one of my favorites that I got Jenn to try a month ago (forgot to write about it) and she seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. The other new staple is Shabu Shabu which is Japanese fondue style cooking. The first place I tried was in Pomona (called Jazz Cat) and I knew Jenn would love the experience. So a couple weekends back Jenn and I searched Yelp for the best in Irvine. We had a ton of choices but landed on SWSH Shabu Shabu.
The restaurant is small, probably 8 tables and a bar. I wanted Jenn to have the full experience so we waited a half hour for a table and sat down. The first step was choosing your base for the hot pot. Jenn got a Spicy Miso and I had the Sukiyaki. After that you got to choose what you wanted for your meal. We both did the combination which gave us three different entrees. Jenn got the Rib Eye, Short Rib and Shrimp. I got the Rib Eye, Kurobuto Pork, and Shrimp. Along side your entrees you get an assortment of vegetables and noodles that both add flavor to your pot and are delicious.
Because all of the items are sliced extremely thin, it only takes a matter of seconds for your hot pot to finish cooking the items. That put Jenn's mind at ease as she is known to take a timer out any time we have Fondue. The meal it self was delicious, far better then the Jazz Cat. Both of our bases (Hot Miso and Sukiyaki) were incredibly flavorful and matched nicely with our entrees. The meal itself turned out great and I can proudly add yet another cuisine to our arsenal of dinner choices.
