Rolling Boil

Customer service great. The guy Alan was very helpful and nice.
Szechuan spicy chicken wings
Tasty, crispy, garlicy, flavorful. 4 out of 5 stars. Solid.

Located upstairs in the Packing District on the opposite end of the front entrance. And right next to a door that leads to a secret bar.
I am a shabu shabu enthusiast. I love drink, sipping, slurping soups. This place has a limited menu selection for the types of broth, meats, and sauces that keep their menu simple yet keeping their quality high. I usually opt for the vegetable broth with rib eye meat and sesame sauce. Just typing that out made me salivate. The rib eye meat comes with a plate of vegetables that include cabbage, carrots, squash, onions, bok choy, and mushrooms as well as udon noodles and rice. The vegetable items are not substitutable but you can request for more. Each seat has its own stove where the customer can adjust the temperature (low, medium, high) of their soup. I tend to be a slower eater so I like to keep my heat on low to slow cook my vegetables and meats. I usually don’t leave here feeling too full but rather content with the portion sizes and ready to have Popbar for dessert

The Szechuan spicy broth was pretty good. That is probably the best part of our experience. Both the citrus & sha cha sauces were not anything to be impressed by. We ordered a regular size pick any 3 proteins. Our server told us if we are sharing, their rule is it has to be at least a large. It doesn’t say that anywhere on the menu or in the restaurant. Then she was going to charge us for 2 rice bowls instead of one? The ingredients tasted fresh although it’s about the whole experience, which was ok.

My favorite shabu spot! for the following reasons:
(1) Atmosphere — Anaheim packing district, while extremely crowded, is fun! On the weekends there is likely to be live music.
(2) Soup Flavors — Not the typical shabu, more Chinese style flavors including a Szechuan soup base and Sha Cha dipping sauce. I love the Thai coconut soup base that they usually have on rotating selection. Miso is good, too.
(3) Customer Service — While super busy, they are always attentive, as it’s a small place with mostly all seating as a circular bar and they’re usually staffed well. The staff is super chill and friendly and casual. They’d be happy to have a shot of sake with you if you offer.
While the Anaheim packing district is extremely crowded on weekend evenings, Rolling Boil is a pretty easy place to go to out of the bunch. It has it’s own seating while some of the other places are more food court style and you have to find a random table, which is almost impossible. You just put your name and number down on the list and they’ll text you. It’s not usually longer than 30 mins, and I normally just go to the bar upstairs or outside and grab a drink while we wait for the text. I usually go with 2 – 3 people, and it’s probably not best to go in a larger group.
Overall, great shabu spot. I’m there about once a month and have always had a fantastic, delicious, and fun experience :)

MY FAVORITE HOT POT/​SHABU PLACE!!!
I admit, it is a little over priced. You pay for the number of slices of meat you get.
BUT! This is the ONLY place that has the best spicy broth. I’ve tried multiple places hoping for a similar taste, but I can’t find anywhere that matches up to this place. Also, their sauces are amazing.
I usually get the 4 or 8 pieces of meat and that is enough because of the sides. The amount of vegetables they give you is perfect. This is the only shabu place that I’ve been to that gives a hefty amount of veggies. I love having a lot of veggies with my hot pot/​shabu.
The quality of food is amazing too. I can’t find any other shabu or hot pot place that will match up to here.
Also, the service here is really great! Every time I’m here, the waiters are extremely nice and welcoming!

The purpose of this review is to debunk many of the other negative reviews out there for Rolling Boil. First, lets acknowledge that most of those negative reviews are from the grand opening days so take it with a grain of salt. As with most hot pot/​shabu places in OC, the food will be pricey. Expect to spend $ 20 – 30 per person. And yes you have to cook your own food.
I have been here over ten times, usually by myself or with one other. The place is pretty small with maximum capacity of no more than 30. Be smart and don’t come during rush hour. It’s the Packing district… it’s going to be packed.
Rude servers? Bad attitude? I have never had that problem. However, I’m very low maintenance when it comes to dining out. If you’re a needy bitch then go to a 5 star restaurant where they’ll wipe your ass for you. There’s usually only two servers working the front of the house so bear with them if they fall behind in service.
Broths to choose from are:
Szechaun spicy — if you are not a spicy food lover, this may test your limits. Ask for a sample
Savory vegetarian — made with cabbage, mushroom, and carrots. It’s legit. Emphasis on the SAVORY
Seasonal — last time I was there it was Thai coconut curry. Also fantastic.
⁵⁰⁄₅₀ — you have the option to mix any two broths. Personally, I enjoy mixing Szechaun and vegetarian.
Sauces:
Citrus — similar to ponzu but more tart. Like grapefruit
Sha cha — I don’t know wtf this is but it’s delicious
Toasted sesame — goma «like» sauce
Normally, I order the 12pc rib eye and add an egg for $ 1. Poach that bad boy. Vegie plate includes: Napa cabbage, kale, shitake mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, tofu, squash/​pumpkin (cant tell which it is), and udon.
Unilocalers complaining about not enough veggies are wrong. This place offers less variety (no enoki, no spinach, etc) but a shit ton more shitake mushrooms and cabbage. The portion is the same as any other shabu/​hot pot in OC. My meat has always had the same consistency with marbling and taste. Wonderful every time.
I noticed some Unilocalers are complaining about how there is no soup base for your noodles. While this is true, do you seriously need it? There’s a giant bowl of broth in front of your face. Just use that for your noodles. If you’re going to add a «soup base» then you might as well go suck down a bottle of MSG.
They don’t have the usual green onions, garlic, and other condiments out. You have to ask for it but seriously you don’t need it unless you chose water as your broth.
It’s really sickening how so many people are power tripping because the Internet gave them a voice. Put your phone down, eat the food you were served, and stop trying to ruin someone’s business with your snooty review.
One final note: if you don’t like the way your food tastes, it’s probably because you suck at cooking. This is a DIY food establishment. The ingredients have always been fresh (for me) so any shortcomings is on you. If you don’t know what you’re doing, then just ask. The ladies up front will be more than happy to teach you, provided they aren’t getting their asses kicked.

After walking around the building, we decided to eat here. The co-​owner was really encouraging us to come in and upon first impression, he was almost kind of pushy. After explaining the menu and getting our drinks, we realized he was really dedicated to his customers and his business. He was running around basically doing everything, from seating customers, getting orders, serving food, and even slicing meat in the kitchen. He was super helpful in explaining the food, and provided great service.
We had a great meal here. Loved the variety of veggies, and there was a good amount of meat as well. We had a miso broth and a spicy szechuan broth, and the latter was too spicy for my tablemates. They had to scoop some miso to dilute, but even then, they seemed to have issues lol. Regardless, it’s always super fun to hot pot/​shabu.

Rolling boil is the best of the best. It’s our at minimum once a week visit and our ritual because nothing is better than the ribeye steak.
It is 100% one of the best locations not just for the quality of food, but the individuals who work there take a passion for their cuisine which in essence becomes your own. The craft beer and hand selected sake will both compliment the high quality flavor you will experience. This place is one of a kind and they treat you like family. So, Go experience it yourself. See you next week Rolling Boil.

4.5 stars
Located in the Packing House on the first floor near the middle staircase.
I got the New York Steak regular 8 piece, and it was enough for me. Meat quality is fine for the price ($ 14), and the veggies that come with your meal are way more than enough… probably one of the most generous I’ve been to. They give a ton of cabbage and mushroom especially.
The difference between shabu shabu and hot pot is that hot pot comes with flavored broth, while shabu shabu is just water with a seaweed or sukiyaki/​spicy miso. I opted for the vegetarian broth, which was delicious and drinkable (for those who like to drink their broth), you can also get the spicy or a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ which is a mixture of the vegetarian soup with the spicy.
For sauces, I’d advise against getting the sesame just cause it didn’t taste right, or at least when I went. Sha cha and citrus sauce (pretty much tastes like ponzu) were amazing, get those sauces. I liked using the sha cha for my meat and citrus for my veggies/​noodles!
First time I came, they tried really hard to have good service, but it was difficult as there were only 2 people working (one of them cutting the meat). An A for effort but they should really hire some more people. Second time still only 2 people working but this time there were only a couple of people so it wasn’t as hard to get someone’s attention.

This is a great Shabu Shabu slash hot pot place in the Anaheim Packing District! Service is always fast and friendly, whether sitting at the bar or a table! Their broths are SO good, our fav sauces are the Citrus (which tastes like ponzu, especially if you add soy sauce and garlic to it) and sesame (one of the best sesame sauces I’ve had), but they also have a satay sauce as well.
We’ve loved this place since the first discovery: veggies are fresh, broth and sauces are great, meat is sooooo good, and they have great beers on tap!

A big thanks to the Rolling Boil for inviting Unilocal Elite’s to come by and try «Uncle Rogers famous Chinese noodle soup with rib eye steak. I was really looking for to this as it sounds awesome.
LOCATION & AMBIANCE (Rating 3.5) It’s located in the Packing House and true to the name, «it’s packed» with small restaurants. It’s feels a little like a food court, but higher end. They’ve got music going in the Atrium and lots going on all around. They have both high and low seating that flows out into the walkway.
SERVICE (Rating 3.5) The gentlemen creating the small ramekin’s filled with the soup was extremely nice and detailed oriented making sure each serving had everything in it.
CHINESE NOODLE SOUP W/​RIB EYE STEAK (Rating 2.5) I really wish the soup was served differently so that I could have given them a proper review. The soup was served in a tiny plastic ramekin that brought me back to the days of jello shots. The problem is that soup is just not meant to be a shooter. I’d love to come back and do a proper review and I hope that if Rolling Boil participates in upcoming Unilocal Elite events that they will serve the soup like they do to regular customers so I have the opportunity to update this review.

Aaaaahhhhhh. This place is delish!!! This place is located at The Packing House in Anaheim. We got here with my buddy Jessie and Hannah and we walked around a bit. While the girls chatted on the swing, Jess and I waltzed over to Rolling Boil and had this awesome meal.
This is like a prep your own meal place. We got the Thai coconut cream broth, shrimp, mixed veggies and 3 different sauces, Udan noodles, onion pancake and dumplings. And, ay caramba! This whole thing is fantastico. There’s this hot plate type of top on counter where they put our broth so it can boil. Then you put your meat and veggies to your liking and eat from there. Including white or brown rice. Whoa! Then I had Japanese whisky, Hibiki. And Japanese beer. Jess had the peach sake. What a feast.
Alyssa our server was great in explaining the process and making suggestions. Get here on an empty stomach. They open at 1100 and are ready to serve. They actually served us around 1030! You’ll definitely come back.

This place was so cool!!! They call it «shabu shabu» which also means «swish swish» if I can recall correctly. It’s very tiny and located inside the Anaheim Packing District, but it is definitely able to fit a lot of people because they even have like a «bar top» seating and cute little benches to the side. The workers were really sweet and informative and always filling up our waters when needed. They helped me and boy out and showed us the works. I really enjoyed the meat, they were very thin but huge slices! I was shocked at how big they actually were. It was delicious. I like the citrus sauce. Definitely a place worth trying if you’re in town!

Not the best hot pot I’ve had, not the worst I’ve had. Something about Szechuan spicy is difficult for me to handle, especially afterwards. It just feels so oily and I feel like I have heartburn afterwards.
Flavors are definitely there. The Szechuan spicy hot pot was bold and spicy, the beef noodles were unique and flavorful. The fried chicken wings were crispy and good too.
If you go down the stairs from Pop bar, the restaurant is on your right side. The décor and ambiance is cute but so is every other restaurant. The prices are not cheap either: you can expect to dish out $ 15 pre-​tax for a bowl of hot pot.

awesome staff… great place to drink…
pickle back + japanese whiskey
japanese sake + calpico

HOT POT SWISH SWISH EAT
CUTE little place with high & low top counters w/​two tables on the side. Looks like an indoor street food stand. There is definitely quite a bit of a wait on weekend so have at least one person come earlier to put your name down on the waitlist.
The staff here is ALWAYS moving around & checking up on you making sure that your soup does not over boil. Cant remember our servers name but she was sweet & recommended some stuff for us.
The hot pot comes w/​veggies & udon noodles along w/​a huge bowl of rice (brown or white). 3 different sauces to choose from citrus, toasted sesame, & sha cha sauce. Choice of water, spicy Szechuan $ 1.50, or miso broth $ 1 for your broth. Meats come in an order of 4, 8, 12, or 16 now.
RIBEYE $ 21 — hubby ordered the 12 piece & you could see the beautiful marbling on the red meat… just swish it 3x in your hit broth & it just melts away in your mouth
NY STEAK $ 16– not as tender as the rib eye but it was good & I got the 8 piece since I had already ate something before.
CITRUS SAUCE — this is my FAVORITE! which I just get both selections as this & I like to add a lot of ground up raddish, ground up garlic, & green onions
TOASTED SESAME — tried this. we were both not a fan… just our own opinion of our taste buds it didn’t go well with the beef.
SPICY SZECHUAN BROTH $ 1.50 — this can be a thin kind of spice & in my opinion could use a lot more flavor so I add my own flavors w/​some soy sauce, LOTS of garlic & green onions. Which I also ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ w/​vegetarian broth when the server saw me cough up a storm after my first sip as I have never tried Szechuan broth before ahhaha
MISO BROTH $ 1 — hubby got this but it was a bit on the sweet side… he didn’t like it so he added his own stuff as well.
ALL IN ALL good but I guess I may be a little more accustomed to the Japanese shabu shabu more for flavor wise.

Never thought I would actually eat here with all of the options available but I don’t regret coming here at all.
It is eerily similar to CA Shabu and judging from other reviews, they come from the same line of restaurants. The service here is great too!
There are choices of broth here, a noticeable difference from other shabu places. I think I got the savory vegetarian and it was delicious. I ordered one level grade of meat above their standard. What ended up happening was they got my size wrong (I got way more meat than I ordered) but I did not complain or bring it up since I just devoured it anyways. The food just all worked out for me.
They ran out of an appetizer I wanted to try that day but it is probably for the best.
Will be returning!

Surprisingly, I’ve never had hot pot. This spot is Chinese/​Szechuan (spicy Chinese) hot pot. Side note: I just tried Szechuan food for the first time a few weeks ago, so I thought it was coincidental. For my first time, I really enjoyed it. It’s basically like an Asian «The Melting Pot» for those of you who don’t really know what hot pot is.
This place is inside the Anaheim Packing House/​District and has a good amount of different food options. (If you’d like to know more about what I have to say about this place overall, I wrote a separate review for it under «The Packing House.») For that reason, it’s not a big restaurant. It’s in a small section with a bar sitting area and a few tables. The tables have electronic stoves (I guess you would call it) to heat the broth in order to cook the meat/​vegetables/​side orders. If you’re at the bar, I believe they bring you the broth already hot.
So you order your broth (that everything will be cooked it), meat, and all that good stuff. There’s different ways to order meat. You can do a combo where you choose two kinds of meats/​how many of each, or you can order just one type of meat and price depends on how many pieces you get. The first plate of veggies is free, but everything you order after the initial order is basically going to be charged. Rice even costs extra!
The food itself was extremely appetizing. My sister, her boyfriend, and I managed to share one broth. People tend to order one broth per person, but I think sharing is quite practical (and $ 1.50 cheaper!) The thinly sliced meat looks like brisket from KBBQ, but it tastes different. Of course. Everything tasted good. Our servers were nice, as well. Rather than being attentive, we had to ask for things more so, but I was patient and the food was satisfying so I had no issues.

In the Anaheim Packing District with tons of other food selections. Allan was our server and he was very enthusiastic. The place is small but with an abundant of bar seats and two tables for bigger groups.
You can choose to share a hotpot bowl for a $ 4 split charge or get your own! When you get here, you get a whole plate of veggies and udon. Then to order, choose a broth ($ 1.50), 2 sauces (2 more if you’re sharing), and add a protein (comes in 4, 8, 12, or 16pcs). They offer appetizers too. And drinks, including beer on tap.
As a party of 2, we came in, shared a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ hotpot of the Szechuan and Miso (rotating special). You get an option of 3 sauces: IMHO, Toasted Sesame is my favorite then Sha Cha and then the Citrus sauce. So we of course got an extra sesame sauce for our 4^th and final sauce. You also get a choice of either white or brown rice with your hotpot. And, if you enjoy spicy food like I do, they have concentrated chili oil drops. And best thing yet, the broth and rice are unlimited! Our total bill was less than $ 29 for two, that’s a great price for the amount of food we had! Definitely a great place for some hotpot!!!

The Roiling Boil is a Taiwanese Hot Pot spot at the Packing House. It’s located downstairs next to the entrance of The Blind Rabbit and consists of a u-​shaped bar to sit around and 2 other tables for parties of four. We had to wait around half an hour to get seated and the line was pretty backed up mostly because a party of 9 took up the majority of the bar. I’m a bit confused as to why anyone would come to this tiny place with such a huge party. There are plenty of other hot pot places around OC and The Packing House could’ve been a follow up dessert location after… just saying.
Despite the line, the wait staff was polite and apologetic and seated us as soon as possible. The ordering process is extremely simple and the menu is designed to be really easy to understand. I started by picking a broth. I went for the $ 1 Szechuan spicy broth — spoiler alert: not at all spicy — and then picked two sauces. I ordered the sha cha and toasted sesame sauces. For my protein I got the 8-​pc $ 16 rib eye steak. My friend got all the vegetarian options for her hot pot and also ordered the $ 4 onion pancake. Our meals were delivered shortly after ordering and the process for cooking our food was explained thereafter.
My favorite part of the meal was definitely dunking everything in the sesame sauce. It provided the best flavor of the entire meal. The rib eye was decent and the selection of vegetables was great. I liked the carrots, butternut squash, kale and the udon noodles. The variety made the soup much more interesting. The meal is served with a small bowl of white or brown rice as well. If I could suggest one change it would be to add more depth to the flavor of the broth. It wasn’t nearly tasty and spicy enough and I had to rely heavily on the sesame sauce to provide the flavor.
As for the onion pancake, they provide a generous portion of it for $ 4 and was paired with a tangy orange sauce. I felt that both were lacking in flavor and relied yet again on the sesame sauce to give it a kick.
The service here is great. Everyone is fast, friendly and helpful but the food is just decent. The quality is on point but the flavor needs some adjustment. This place has lots of potential and the concept fits well with the Packing House.