Just opened in the circle. Food was so amazing. The veggies were fresh. The staff was very friendly and the owner took the time to come over and chat. Thank you Tram and Randy. read more

Tabu Shabu - Orange - Hot Pot Near Me - Orange, California

This was the first time my wife and I tried Shabu at any place. The service was excellent and the food was really good. Esther was our waitress/server and she was very helpful explaining everything to us so that we could have the most enjoyable experience possible. I would have taken more pics but we were too busy learning, cooking, and eating. We will definitely come back again. read more

Tabu Shabu - Orange - Spicy miso base. - Hot Pot Near Me - Orange, California

I like this place so much, after my buddy took me there I returned the next day with my wife. They have Amazing food, service, cleanliness and atmosphere. read more

Insanely good! Best shabu I've had ..... I order the sukiyaki and tonkotsu blend! This blend is perfect to get that savory/Unami flavor. I always get the angus ribeye - large portion so I have another meal to take home with me. Not only is the food incredible, but so is the service and laid back atmosphere. My boyfriend and I come here at least once per week and we've never been disappointed. Highly recommend! read more

Loved our dinner at Tabu Shabu! Not only was the food delicious and fresh but the customer service was great too! So glad they came to Orange! read more

Tabu Shabu - Orange - Hot Pot Near Me - Orange, California

Came here on a Friday night it was busy. I can honestly eat hot pot any time of day and in any weather lol but I'm very picky and I'm happy my friend took me here. We had a great experience food was amazing. Everything from the prime rib eye, sukiyaki broth, sashimi and dumplings was tasty I would definitely recommend and ask for the truffle oil for your dipping sauce ohhh and can't forget the mochi for dessert! will be back next time I'm in oc read more

Tabu Shabu - Orange - Hot Pot Near Me - Orange, California

See all

This place is awesome and has jumped right to the top of the list for my favorite Shabu. The servers are super friendly, they always have some pretty good craft beer on tap, and the food is delicious. We will continue to visit even though we live all the way out in Riverside. I'm officially addicted to Shabu! read more

See all

I got the short rib with the normal Kombu dashi. It was a great dish with plenty of veggies. The meat was very tender and flavorful. I loved dipping the meat in the ponzu and Kombu (peanut?) sauces. The only thing that made me sad was they will take the udon at the end of the meal and make it into a noodle soup for you.... But the kombu dashi failed in that regard. Should've gotten the spicy miso or tonkotau. Can't wait to try Tabu again! read more

Tabu Shabu - Orange - Veggies with short rib, rice, and ponzu - Hot Pot Near Me - Orange, California

I'm so excited about this shabu coming to orange! Omg! It's absolutely amazing, food is tasty, service could've been a little better the last time I went but usually is always spot on. Ambiance is cool, definitely not the usually old town orange vibe but I love it. I wish they weren't sooooo expensive, but it's worth a try.. you wont be made about it! read more

First time here with a couple friends. It was pretty good. I'm happy I did not stop in here by myself. I think it is a social dining experience. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the staff was absolutely amazing. read more

Tabu Shabu - Orange - Spicy Miso Hot Pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Orange, California

See all

I'm pretty much a shabu snob. Top three of my favorite foods. This place checked all the boxes except one. The soup base offerings are normally pretty standard fare - water, miso, etc. Tabu is no exception. For me to get to five stars a Shabu restaurant has to hit everything plus have a range of soup bases. SLICE in Huntington Beach offers six or seven soup bases which are awesome by themselves. But lacking this element isn't a deal breaker in the least. Tabu was excellent on all accounts. Just add more flavored soup bases and I will give you five stars! Thanks for a great experience! read more

My husband and I were craving Shabu on a cold day! We ordered the Spicy Miso with Toro and Tonkotsu with Short Rib. When the meat arrives they give you an option if you would like your protein to be marinated! Would highly recommend this - green onion, garlic, chili oil, and sesame oil. For the veggie tray, i didn't like how there was spinach - broth didn't taste so great after you put spinach in the broth. Disappointed that they don't offer an option for refills on veggies - most shabu places does offer that. They do have friendly service! Our waitress would come by often to check up on us. Overall, I feel like it's a bit pricey for amount of food I'm getting. Probably would not recommend this place for big groups unless you come early to beat the crowd. read more

We have been to their Costa Mesa location and finally made our way to this new location at the heart of orange circle. We came off hours, so not busy at all and got seated right away. The menu is very easy to navigate if people are new to shabu (protein, soup base, noodles type, and size) we got the spicy miso and its flavorful and beef are tender and soft! I tried their garlic and green onion way and it's great and make the broth even more flavorful! Love the ponzu sauce (I am very picky of my ponzu sauce bc some places either made it too sweet or too salty; I love it tart with a little hints of saltiness and very small amount of sugar) and the goma (sesame sauce) is decent too (one thing though they didn't have the toasted sesame in the sauce)...if you like spicy, highly recommend you to ask for the hot drop! The most thing I look forward was the udon in the soup or you can make a congee out of it!!! Perfect meal for the fall/winter weather! read more

I love Tabu Shabu. This is my first time to the orange location. I usually go to the one in Costa Mesa. The place is super clean. The staff is super friendly. The quality of me was amazing. I really really enjoyed myself. The only reason I gave a four-star was because I felt like the peanut or sesame sauce that they brought you to begin with didn't taste the same as the second one or maybe it was just me I don't know, but I'm really picky when it comes to my sauces, but all in all amazing will be back for sure and I forgot to mention the parking is horrible read more

I think this is the best shabu spot in OC, the meat is clean, no MSG feeling after you eat, the salmon isn't fishy and old, and the service is awesome! read more

Great service! Very attentive and making sure everything was okay. And they are very helpful in suggesting different flavors to try. They suggested I mix my broths and that was the best! It was so flavorful! Highly recommend! read more

It's a fun place to eat. You get to be your own chef and tailor the experience to what you like. I would have liked more noodles, less leaf vegetables and more broccoli, mushrooms etc. My biggest complaint would be how far away the hotpot is from the elevated seating. All in all a welcome addition to the circle! read more

Food quality was really good , tried the wagyu , portions depend on how hungry you are , the service was excellent as well , went there twice and everyone in the group enjoyed the experience and the service received by the waitresses , will definitely come back again as the ambiance was very nice as well. read more

Came here for dinner . The atmosphere here is very laid back, and welcoming. Customer service was impeccable, our hostess Kanica was wonderful, she went above and beyond. Absolutely amazing. The food was delicious, the meat quality was A grade, high quality, very tender. The meat literally melts in your mouth. The soup was very tasty. I ordered half miso and half tonkotsu. I recommend this shabu place, everyone, and anyone, should come here at least once for the great shabu experience. read more

Tabu Shabu - Orange - Hot Pot Near Me - Orange, California

See all

The best Shabu in the Orange County! Service is on point staff is very attentive and nice. Broth blew my mind, meat quality was immaculate. All the sides were amazing . 10/10 would recommend. A must try when nearby will definitely come back. This is my new favorite Shabu place read more

Tabu Shabu - Orange - Wagyu short rib & shrimp - Hot Pot Near Me - Orange, California

The food was good, not great. Nice portions. But who ever heard of a Japanese restaurant that does NOT have wasabi. they don't. The restaurant itself gets 1 star. 1. The chairs are all steel high chairs around a stand up bar. Torture. I gave up and just stood for the rest of the meal. 2. The only entrance is on the front, but all the parking is in the back with no rear entrance. 200-300yd walk around the building. 3. Their "spicy" add for a soy sauce dip was too hot for me after a single drop of it into 3 oz. of soy sauce. No Wasabi option. I'm out, never going back. read more

The food and atmosphere was excellent. It's located in Old Town Orange. So get there early.

This was the first ever shabu place I've been too and let me say that this wasn't a disappointment. The service was 10/10 and the food was 10/10 as well. Shoutout to Kanica the server for being very nice and taking her time to explain the menu to me since it was my first time. Also she was super sweet when I had order a spicy miso and it was a bit too spicy for my taste and was kindly able to change my soup. Always checked on my table to make sure everything was going well and if we were okay. Best service I ever had! I would definitely recommend this place and I would definitely come back. read more

The food and soup are very good. The service is really nice as well. One interesting point id that the chilly oil is quite spicy. One drop can make a big difference. read more

Food was good. Service was great. Had a glass of wine. I think the service was great and would come back for that. The seating arrangement would be tough if you go with a large party. read more

Tabu Shabu - Orange - Hot Pot Near Me - Orange, California

Service and food are excellent every time. 10/10. They will also make your leftovers into porridge for a small fee which tastes great the next day. Definitely worth checking out if you've never been. read more

I first tried Tabu around the time they first opened & have been in love ever since! It is my favorite shabu restaurant in Orange County. The service is always fantastic! (SHOUT OUT TO LAURA) & the food is amazing! I would recommend the spicy miso base with beef belly toro! I get it every time. I would recommend checking in on Yelp (especially on cold days/nights), it'll save a lot of time! read more

Came here to celebrate my nieces graduation we all had a great time the food was great and so was the service !!! Clean environment loved it . read more

Levi was awesome. We come here quite a, we brought my wife's boss for her birthday. His thoughts in a word, or a few more, "Nice variety of flavors." It's always a great meal choice the dining experience forces you to slow down and enjoy the food. It can get a little noisy and the seating arrangement makes conversation a challenge with more than 3-4 people. Ambience is nice. But we come for the food! read more

10 out 10 Absolutely great customer service and the broth n meats were delicious.

Tabu wins the award for best service! Everyone is so attentive and accommodating. My friends and I love coming here. The vibe is always on point because they play late 90s and early 2000s music. Food is always consistent and their vegetables and meat are fresh. My favorite broth is mixing the tonkasu and spicy miso together. Super flavorful! As for the meats I get half wagyu short rib and half chuck roll. Definitely give Tabu a try! read more

Food was okay but I'm particularly annoyed by the utensils and dining wares: super cheap and flimsy disposable chopsticks which can barely hold its weight against the thick noodle and food. There are other disposable cheap chopsticks that can be useful and can hold up to the food contents. Equally annoying was the cheap plastic bowls that hold the hot food! Hot food in plastic for sit down dine in restaurant!! I'm so irked!! read more

Great place to dine! Food is great, wonderful service and hip atmosphere. They place the best music!

Our first time trying Shabu and it was absolutely delicious! This was a wonderful first experience! Our server, Laura, was incredibly helpful and all the staff was attentive and kind. The meat was delicious and both broths we tried (sukiyaki and tonkatsu) were so flavorful! I think the ponzu was some of the best I've tried, both sauces were great. I highly reccomend this place! read more

The food is delicious & one of the male servers (bummed we didn't get his name) was super helpful & truly seemed to be interested in helping us enjoy the experience. He shared his favorite ways of eating the food and mixing them with the sauces. So why the low rating? We signed up on the Yelp waitlist & received our estimated time for a table. Ok, perfectly normal. We arrive, check in with the Yelp machine, & ask the "hostess" if our new estimate for seating was accurate. I put hostess in quotes because she's just looking at your waitlist entry from Yelp on an iPad. Hostess tells us it's accurate so we think ok, cool, we're starving but 15-20 minutes is no big deal. We decide to go next door to have a cocktail while Yelp tells us our seats are ready. We noticed our time kept getting more and more delayed. An hour and a half goes by from our original check in so we decide to find out what's going on. The hostess tells us that they give preferred seating to people who are physically present so she kept pushing us back. We asked what the point of the Yelp waitlist was and she said "this is what my manager tells me to do". The best part was that she told us she made us aware of the policy. We reminded her that she never did and she just continued to blame her manager. We were standing outside the restaurant when several other would be patrons told us the same thing happened to them. We were commiserating about the absurd policy when the hostess walks out and closes the door on us. I share this long story as a warning to everyone, the Yelp waitlist is a fallacy. If you want to eat here just wait until you get there, add yourself to the Yelp waitlist, make sure the hostess sees you're waiting, & you'll get seated quickly. Otherwise, you'll just be staring at a screen that keeps telling you your wait has been extended. read more

A must try in Orange. Fun and delicious! Great music, great service and love the spicy miso base.

shabu changed my life. i could go on and on about how f*cking good this place is. if you see this comment & are wondering if you should try it, i promise you your mouth with be watering by the thought of the taste read more

Great tasting food great service not super pricey (typical shabu rates) - only thing parking is tough around that area so have to walk a bit but thats ok its a nice area to walk around. read more

Where do I even begin with Tabu Shabu? I begin with the staff. They're incredibly organized and even on a busy night they get you up to the counter as quickly as possible. Once you're there, the service really kicks into high gear. Drinks, appetizers, a bowl of broth, and food start rolling out quickly. And what quality of food? The best. I always get the lamb and beef. The lamb blows me away every time. It's such great flavor and not even a hint of gamey that you tend to find in that cut. I always put enough garlic and onion in to ward of Dracula and other evil spirits at ten paces. Throw some sesame oil on top and it's a party! Don't forget the crunchy garlic chili sauce to dip the meat in after you've cooked it, and maybe some truffle oil or an egg to make it interesting. The bottom line is that if you don't like what you're eating, just go look in the mirror for why. You can make this what you want, and once you're done swishing some meat around, cooking some veggies up, and feel like you're almost full, they make a big bowl of soup out of it for you. I always order the XL meat so I can ensure I have enough to have leftovers the next day. It is always tasty! Some tricks also include that you can ask for more broth. If it starts to get a bit low, just ask for some more! Also, you can customize the veggies just about however you want. All veggies and no noodles? Keto here we go! Only one type of noodles? Extra mushrooms? They're always happy to tailor it to your needs. All-in-all, it's a fun night out. GREAT place to go for a first date. Be warned that if you're with a large group, it's hard to talk across the group unless you're on the curve of the counter. Not impossible, but just more challenging for large-scale conversation. Hardly a showstopper if you're dedicated enough! read more

Most frickin delicious Shabu, I can't wait to come back. Our server was so nice, he chatted with us the whole time and made our night entertaining. I highly recommend the spicy miso broth, it was probably the best one I've had in a long time. read more