Shabu Extreme

Came here with my parents and my best friend and her parents for a fun Sunday night dinner.
The service was great! The waiter was very patient with us and talked us through the menu as none of us have ever had Shabu Shabu before. I got the Almond Milk Tea 50% sweet and the drink itself was very good although the boba was a bit too chewy for my taste but I’ve been spoiled with 626 boba so every boba seems meh after that. Definitely one of the better boba drinks I have tasted in the Davis area. I might consider coming here for boba now on.
Onto the food. I got the miso broth with angus beef and udon. The broth had a good flavor. I tried my best friend’s hot and spicy broth because she was complaining it was too spicy — it definitely had a kick so it’s not for someone who prefers mild but the server can make it more or less spicy. They also have nice variety of meat sauces and if you want to add more flavor to your soup, you can add as much green onions, cilantro, and garlic as you want. We all had a great time eating here!
That being said, I’m down rating this because somehow my best friend, mother, and I all felt sick the next day after eating this. It just doesn’t seem like a coincidence. I’m not sure what could have happened but it’s something to keep in mind. Maybe don’t eat this if you have something important to do the next day. But it’s a great place to socialize with a big group of people! And good boba!

My friends and I really enjoyed our visit. The food, broth, sides, and sauces were prepared very authentically. Our group pretty much sampled everything — all the broths were delicious, and they served very generous portions for the popcorn chicken and shaved ice!
Would definitely come here again!

This is one of the best shabu places I have ever been to, with a great service and high quality meat.

Stopped by on the way back to San Francisco. The food here really hits the spot! As a Taiwanese American who is always craving good Taiwanese food but isn’t able to get any in the city, I really got lucky finding this gem. The popcorn chicken is perfectly spiced, the Taiwanese minced pork is so flavorful, and the shaved ice is such a delicious end to the meal. This was my boyfriend’s first introduction to Taiwanese cuisine, and even though he’s pretty picky and not generally a fan of asian food, he loved the boba! Highly recommend!

I used to come here occasionally to get drinks and snacks, but after this experience, never again. Honestly, the food here is fine. The drinks are great, snacks are okay. But if you want to sit in for shabu shabu, I don’t think it’s worth the price or effort at all.
I’m currently sitting in the restaurant staring at this sad little bunch of vermicelli. I asked if I can exchange it for rice (because you get to choose between rice, udon, and vermicelli), but the guy with glasses told me that once it’s on the table they can’t do anything about it. Really? They set this down not even a minute ago.
So, here’s a list of things they can work on for a better dine-​in experience:
1) Check up on your customers once in a while, they may or may not have questions/​concerns
2) If the sauces or water is self-​serve, please tell that to the customers (if you did no.1 then you may not have to do no. 2!)
3) Please refill the shabu soup. Even once would be nice (again, that’s why no.1 is important)
4) Try not to use a condescending tone when a customer is questioning something. — this is more for the guy with glasses. Customer service is tough, a little more empathy or at least fake empathy could help you in the long run.
Oh and beware, they charge 18% automatic gratuity for 5 people. But apparently their menu says this only applies to parties of more than 5?
–just go in for milk tea or a yakult slush TO GO. Try to remind them of your order too, since they also forgot about the drinks we ordered.
Edit:
Let me reiterate– when gratuity is added to parties MORE than 5 (meaning 6 or more) then it could be added as stated in your menu (captured by your menu).
My friend did overreact but no one likes being ripped off. Yes, please make it clear on your menu that it actually meant 5 OR MORE, not MORE THAN 5. You will have fewer problems with this, I assure you.
Also, we made sure to call in to see if it was okay to share one basic meal between two people. Why did we call before? To make sure this situation would not happen. (Phone call captured by my phone log). Trust me, we already know about the prices before coming and if it was not allowed, we would not have went.
Oh, and no, self-​serve sauce/​water was not mentioned at all to us.
All in all, thank you for your reply. Good luck with your future endeavors.

For the price point I would’ve expected better quality from this place but the food was a little disappointing. I came here to celebrate an early birthday with my girlfriend. I ordered the $ 16 basic hot and spicy broth with beef. Came with veggies and rice, but the portions were pretty small. All the additional items you can order like fish balls and more veggies will mark up your tab fast. The broth was okay, not too spicy, but they should provide a spice ball or something to keep the anise and coriander from floating around because they really overwhelm your tastebuds if you accidentally bite into one of them. Service was decent and the only reason why I didn’t give this place a one star. If you’re craving some type of hot pot /​shabu you’d be better off driving to Sacramento and finding a place there. Not coming back anytime soon.

I went here a couple weeks ago with a co worker. The waiter was attentive and made sure we were comfortable and answered all of our questions. The food was good too!

Visited here in a week day; I had the hot an sour set with beef.
The soup is pretty good, not spicy but has a good kick and flavor. I was surprised, it’s one of the better broths I’ve had in the area. The sauces provided are also what I’m used to in Taiwan, and are pretty good! I was pleased.
However, the price is way too much – $ 16 for a set, with maybe 8 – 10 paper thin slices of meat (so thin you can see the color of the plate it comes on). The meat tasted good, though, not low-​quality or old. AYCE is $ 32; but at that cost I might as well go to OZ kbbq.
The girl who served us was friendly, but service is slow; I think the setup of the store makes it hard to see when customers need something. Maybe they provide a bell or call service in the future for when you need something.
The milk tea was good, but the boba a bit flavorless. I look forward to trying the 滷肉飯 in the future

Giving this place five stars because the service is so great! The food tastes pretty good too, although for me personally, there’s something really appealing about having homemade hot pot that maybe makes it taste better? I don’t know. Anyway, the food here is quite tasty too, although a little pricey, but the service is AMAZING. My boyfriend and I went for a really late dinner and we didn’t realize that we stayed there past the closing time because the waiters didn’t rush us whatsoever. They’re so good at making the customers enjoy their meal and have a great experience. Definitely going there again soon!

Great place if you just want to try something out of the ordinary. Kids would have a great time custom making their own food. The employees were very helpful when it came to ordering and the options we could choose. I must say it is pricey, but worth going every once in awhile.

Overpriced. Small Portions. Slow Service. Understaffed.
Even though it is the only Shabu place in Davis, I don’t thinkI would ever come back because of their portions and pricing. The meat is cut VERY THIN. You only get 8 pieces as well. I honestly did not even get full from the portion and it was a whipping $ 20!
Their miso soup and rib soup broth is the best in my opinion. The hot and spicy is alright too, not that spicy as others claim it to be. It is filled with chili oil though, so that was a big turn off. But miso and rib broth was very flavorful!!! It was very rich in flavor and not too salty or sweet.
Service here is incredibly SLOW. They’re understaffed. I went on a Wednesday with my group for my birthday and there was only two girls working. They’re both very nice, but they were always in the back. Even when we flag them down, they sometimes ignored us and just went to the back again. My group and I were very frustrated because we wanted refilled on our broth, forks, more napkins, etc. The place wasn’t even crowded!!!
Their popcorn chicken is also not that great. I thought it was okay, but I’d rather go to old tea house or quickly. Portions are small and it was around $ 6.
If you’re looking for hotpot and dont mind paying a bunch of money for small portions, then be my guest. Other than that, I would go somewhere else in Sacramento or Bay Area because this place is just decent, but very expensive!

This review is only for the boba. Maybe it was just what I got, but their taro ice blend with egg pudding was disgusting. It was overly sweet, not blended fully, and chalky. Gave it to my girlfriend… she hated it. Gave it to my housemate (he eats everything)… the look of disgust on his face was priceless. Ended up pouring most of it down the drain. In addition, their customer service was pretty bad. I get the whole having a chill environment, but seriously, at least get off your cell phone while I’m at the register.
I will give them this though… Their food looks hella good and makes me want to try them one more time. Will definitely update once I try it for myself.

When it’s cold, it’s shabu shabu time. Went on a Thursday night and no one was there, which mean more service attention for us!
I ordered the basic shabu shabu for $ 15. You get to pick one soup, one protein, and one carb. I got the rib soup, Angus beef and udon. They all come with vegetables. The food came out quickly.
I was skeptical if I would be full from the basic shabu because it didn’t look like much, but I was surprised that it made me decently full. Not exploding full like I would have been if I had the all you can eat (which is $ 30).
Overall, not bad quality… Just pretty expensive for what you get, but it’s fun to get it once in a while.

Great place for a shabu dinner. and the only shabu place in town.
If it’s your first time I recommend not getting the ayce option and just supplement your meal with additional orders of whatever veggies or meats you want. For myself and many friends that turned out to be cheaper than the ayce option.
Their boba isn’t too great but I don’t come here for the boba — I go for the experience of paying a lot of money to cook my own food.

I was super excited when I first heard this place was going to open up. The dream of even a decent shabu place was completely shattered. Now I have to gather up the shards and drag them elsewhere for this delectable treat.
I’ve been here a few times now, and every single time has been a bust in some way, shape or form. Every time I have been here, my vegetables haven’t been fresh. They literally give me old vegetables that are browning… I was literally like O. o
The service isn’t too bad. I’ve had instances where my waitress/​waiter never comes back. It made asking for things they forgot (bowls, strainers, and spoons) really difficult. Sometimes he/​she was pretty great. Besides that I think the prices aren’t bad considering you get quite a lot (carb + protein+ veggies), but that doesn’t mean much when you can’t eat ¹⁄₃ of what you paid for :/​Although, if you do try this place out I’d recommend the sukiyaki broth, and remember that there’s always free refills on broths.
I don’t know if I’d come here again. After the instances I’ve had I would say no. But who knows, I might get desperate enough for a hot meal in the dead of winter that is to come.

A hip shabu bar that serves good hot pot meat options, Taiwanese drinks (milk tea and boba) as well as snacks, and alcoholic boba!
You have the choice of a solo shabu portion for $ 15 (which with a drink is filling) and AYCE for $ 30 with a free drink. I opted for an upgrade to wagyu for ($ 17 total) and chose sukiyaki and udon for my carb. The vegetable portions and meat were good quality and the broth was tasty. I tried both sesame and Taiwanese BBQ sauce, and the BBQ was just ok.
Besides solid shabu, there are a variety of drinks as well! The green tea Heineken was okay, and I also tried the soju milk tea which was smoother than expected. The boba itself is good, nice fresh and chewy.
With solid food in a cool hip ambience, this place is sure to become popping in Davis!

They finally had their grand opening week! Although there were some discounts throughout the week, it definitely wasn’t as much as I was expecting. However, I’m pleased to say that their service has definitely improved!
The shabu (soup, meats, etc.) is still the same quality and taste as it was when I wrote my first review so there’s not much of an update for me there.
The only update I have about the food is the popcorn chicken and minced pork over rice. I finally had the chance to try both of these and I love them! The popcorn chicken is Taiwanese style so it’s a little different from the popcorn chicken you’ll find at other places in Davis (Teabo, Old Teahouse, Quickly’s) but it’s so good!!! I might be a little biased because I’m Taiwanese… But I always crave Taiwanese style fried chicken so this definitely hits the spot and satisfies my craving. The minced pork over rice is good too! Again, it is another Taiwanese dish so of course I love it but I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes minced meat and doesn’t mind a little saltiness. It also comes with a soy sauce braised egg (lu dan in Mandarin) that pairs perfectly with the minced pork and rice.
Next time you come here (or if your friends always want to eat here like mine… I come here way too much.) and you’re not really in the mood for shabu or want to try something different, definitely order the popcorn chicken and minced pork over rice. Keep in mind that the portions aren’t that big so if you just order one, it most likely won’t fill you up!

THE ONLY SHABU IN DAVIS!
I still remember a waiter there once told me to not read the Unilocal reviews, because they are so mean! :(He shared that the restaurant is STILL in the process of training college students to provide the best food and services possible. That’s why there have been so much inconsistency and changes in the menu. Taking his comments into considerations, I decided to review this place after coming here a few times.
Location (⁴⁄₅): Shabu Extreme locates on E Street, which is the center street of downtown Davis. E street is also the closest to the free way entrance = the most traffic flowing in and out = more exposure to people! One minus is the difficulty to find parking around this street. There is a public parking space across from Shabu Extreme, but these spots get filled up quickly at night or during the weekend. If you don’t mind a little walking, the almost guaranteed parking spot is behind Whole Foods Market.
Services (⁴⁄₅): I like how they welcome their guests by shouting «Welcome to Extreme». A little too much but they make you feel special huh? I came here three times and I always have the same waitor. He’s friendly, quick and efficient. The reason why services don’t get full score is because the drink station and cashier usually make mistakes with my order.
Food (⁴⁄₅): You have two options: Order As You Go (OAYG) or All You Can Eat. I tried OAYG because I’m more of «the tasting eater». There are two OAYG prices — basic ($ 14) and upgrades ($ 17) depending on the meat. Each order comes with meat and carbs of your choice along with assorted dishes of vegetables. If you want to order more, there are additional prices for different side dishes. When I first came, I ordered one shabu per person! I thought that was too much. If you come here for the first time, I recommend ordering one shabu per couple and slowing adding more sides if you’re still hungry. Besides the hot pot, I like their honey green tea — refreshing and cold. It’s a perfect compliment to the hot pot! There is one down side for me is that they never offer full menu (including all appetizers) when I came.
In short, I think this is a great alternative for Sacramento shabu places. Not many people who live near Dixon and Woodland area have time to drive 30+ minutes away for Sacramento shabu; and not many students who go to UC Davis have cars to go. Especially when it comes to rainy or cold seasons, I believe Shabu Extreme will become THE eat out place!

I wish this place was open when I went to school in Davis! It was a fun experience and the food was pretty good. For the broth, we ordered the rib soup and the sukiyaki (SOOOO good and salty). For the protein, we picked the wagyu beef, lamb, and scallops, and ordered udon noodles for the carb. It was pretty cool to be able to pick 2 of each (broth, protein, carb) so we could try more things. The food was good and it was fun to cook your own meat. The broth was very salty and my boyfriend was dying of thirst. He made eye contact about 5x with a waiter who never came by to ask how we were doing. When we were almost done with our meal, we got our water AND a refill without having to stare a waiter down.
The service is pretty slow, but it is pretty new so I think they are still working out everything. We had to sit at the bar instead of a table because the waiter said the tables were for bigger groups and we were only a party of 2. Even after I said I would prefer a table, he repeated that we would HAVE to sit at the bar. It wasn’t that busy to have to put us at the bar so I was annoyed. There were many more couples who came in after us and were seated at the tables.

Meh. That is all I have to say. My friend and I decided to try this new cool kid in the cow town, just in time for soft opening (10% off food and free or 50% off drinks). Don’t know how long that will last, b dubs. Also, cash only, if all the other reviews haven’t said that enough yet. Let’s hope this place last seeing as though it’s the third (or fourth) business to take a chance at that god awful-​unlucky location, during my all four years of undergrad at UCD.
The broths were bland. Hot n spicy was a bit better but still lacked the aroma that the spices should have gave it. The house special broth tasted watered down. Both broths got better as most of the liquid evaporated.
We got the chicken karikage aka popcorn chicken aka old teahouse popcorn chicken. Don’t recommend that one. It’s nothing special. You can get a lot more for the same price at other boba places (hint: definitely the one I mentioned above).
Meat was perfection. I wish they gave the choice to choose between more meat/​less veggies and less eat/​more veggies. I definitely would have chosen the first choice because there were only 8 pieces of meat.
Service was lacking. I mean they tried to give us their attention in the beginning but I think we took too long eating that they forgot about us. Great job on hiring a really good looking staff of waiters though. Although, it seems maybe almost sexist that all the waiters were men. Or it could be a business strategy to keep them women/​men customers coming back to not just the food but also the delicious eye candy serving you the said food.
tl;dr: overall was okay. Broth were bland. Don’t get popcorn chicken. Meat was really good quality but little portion. Servers are good looking.