Shabu Shabu is a big all you can eat type restaurant situated near the centre of The Hague. Personally, I have a long history with Shabu Shabu, having gone there for many years sometimes even on a weekly basis. In recent years, I have only been there five times. Most recently more than 6 months ago. I can safely say that Shabu Shabu's quality has dropped over the years. My recent visit there had me feeling somewhat disappointed, mainly with the selection on the menu. It's clear that Shabu Shabu has removed many items from the menu and only kept very basic stuff. In the past, the choice of sushi was very broad, now not anymore. They removed a lot of nigiri options and chose to focus more on maki, which is now unfortunately a common thing that sushi restaurants do as rolls are cheaper and easier to make than nigiri. When it comes to the other options besides sushi, there's sashimi and other Japanese foods such as tempura and meat. I cannot say much about these other foods as I always mainly ate the sushi. I can only say that I wasn't impressed by the other options then and I'm still not impressed by them now. That hasn't changed.
To get to the point, the quality of the food is decent. It's not terrible nor particularly great. As said earlier, the quality was better in the past. There are so many sushi restaurants in The Hague and this place is certainly no longer my first choice. Moving on, another thing that is a bit off putting is the all you can eat style, which was always the case but has become less attractive over the years. They've become more strict and it's clear that they care more about making money. Before, you had more rounds and the way you selected the food was done on paper with a server coming to get it. Now it's all digital and more controlled. The service has become less personal as a result of this. More practical, but also less nice.
In conclusion, if someone invited me there, I wouldn't decline. On the flip side, if someone wanted to eat sushi, I wouldn't bring them there. The food is fine, it's not bad and certainly not terrible. The service is what you'd expect from an all you can eat restaurant. It's a huge place with many tables. Many people go there daily and the place has been running for more than a decade now. Restaurants change and this one definitely has. Price wise it's fine. Not crazy expensive but also not as cheap as some people would want it to be. That's why I gave it 3 stars instead of 2. read more
