The first thing you need to do is tell them you want shabu shabu when you are making your reservation, or else you might not be seated at a table with built-in burners. And the reason why you should come is for their shabu shabu. The Japanese light-wood décor makes this restaurant look authentic even though the dishes have been modified for the Hong Kong palate.

Reserve a private tatami room for you and your guest and don’t forget to wear your best socks as shoes are not allowed inside. You won’t have to sit on your legs the entire meal, as they’ve dug out leg room for diners. Once the sliding screen has closed, service drops to zero. You will need to swing open the doors and shout to get anyone’s attention. Standard Hong Kong service aside, their shabu shabu is just as fantastic as their original outlet in Jordon.

As with other shabu shabu joints, you get chopsticks, a slotted spoon and you cook it yourself. We suggest you drop your root vegetables and udon first in the boiling base stock. Then immediately serve the noodles with a few spoons of the clear broth before the soup gets over flavoured with meats. We would hardly ever drink the soup base at other hot pot establishments because it is usually flavoured by MSG, but here it is clean, sweet and complements the udon vey well. The small bowl of salad that tasted like a big mac was a miss, but the beef negimaki starter made up for it. The thinly sliced beef wrapped in enoki mushrooms then braised in a soy and sweet wine mix really whetted our appetites for the frozen slices of Japanese beef. The thicker cut of beef was perfectly marbled and blood red.

The quality grade meat you get here is worth the $100 per person price tag (if you order the set menu for four). The basket of vegetable (mushrooms, lettuce, cabbage) was standard and fresh. The beef balls, shrimp dumplings and veggie wontons were home-made and you can taste the difference between those and mass produced ones. A plate of assorted golden tempura arrived mid-meal, perfectly timed to give a crisp contrast to the boiled meats and vegetables. 

A small complimentary bowl of red-bean ice cream finished our meal. Good for cooling the tongue, but tasted less like red bean and more like strawberry. A  great addition to Wan Chai’s culinary scene.