O’seyo Shabu Shabu

BEST PEANUT/​SESAME and PONZU DIPPING SAUCES EVER!!!
and this is coming from someone who is a self-​proclaimed «sauce boss»…a «condiment whore»…at first i had walked in and was disappointed to see they didn’t have a make-​your-​own-​sauce area that some shabu shabu places offer, but DO NOT FEAR! Their two sauce offerings are ENOUGH!
This spot’s offerings are much more traditional and focuses on QUALITY over QUANTITY… unlike my all-​time favorite place Ichi Ichi in Rowland Heights, this place only offers a weenie amount of broth options…
ONLY 3 :
Kombu
Spicy Miso (+$ 1.50)
Sukiyaki (+$ 1.50)
Kinda silly how they charge extra if you want your broth to actually have flavor…(-0.5 stars).
SPICY MISO w/​SPICY PORK — ⁵⁄₅ — (because how can you resist something called Silky Pork? I was picturing slices of pork with the texture of 1000 thread count egyptian cotton sheets) and ya know what??? SILKY PORK TRULY IS SILKY. Felt like even if you overcooked this piece of meat with the heat of the sun’s core it would STILL be tender. Huge portion too. Spicy miso broth actually wasn’t that spicy… I was shakin’ extra chili oil/​powder into my broth like a polaroid picture. Healthy amount of the typical vegetables you’d get with shabu shabu but I wish it came with corn (i like me some corn on the cob, slob on my knob).
SUKIYAKI BASE — i only tried a sip of my sister’s and it is tooooooo sweet for me. i think this is just how all sukiyaki broths are though… guess it just ain’t my cup of tea. My sister said she wouldn’t get this again cuz as the pot boiled away, the broth seemed to get sweeter and sweeter.
My only complaint about this place was the customer service. I would describe the servers as «scrambled eggs». Within a span of ~5 minutes after I was seated:
— they gave me the WRONG drink
— they gave me the WRONG broth
— my sister requested for a fork and they gave it to me instead of her.
(-0.5 stars for all of this)
OVERALL — come here for the good quality ingredients they use. Prices are also very reasonable — it was about $ 36 total (with tip included) between us two during dinner. Be warned that there could be a wait. GO FOR LUNCH!
LOCATION/​PARKING — near a motel in a small shopping plaza. Parking lot is way too small, but street parking is available.

1. Man makes fire
2. Man learns to boil water
3. Man takes food and puts in boiling water
Take a basic practice from early man and class it up a bit and you got your basic hot pot. This is what you get at oseyo, a good standard, personalized hot pot filled with veggies and your choice of meat for a competitive and affordable price.
I’m not familiar with the areas selection of hot pot establishment’s, but with my experiences in the hopot-​villes of Rowland Heights and Arcadia, this place is up there with the rest. What I like most is that they offer a traditional soup base free of charge and other bases as a fee. Other places just pass on the price of a specialized soup base on to you, regardless if you want the cost or not. You will rarely find a non-​ayce hot pot joint with low quality meats and veggies and this place fits that bill.
Worth checking out if you’re in the area, but nothing to write home about, especially if you have other hot pot establishments in your area already

We came here for the first time the other night and loved this place alot! The servers are super friendly and attentive. The restaurant itself has the tables set up in various different ways, with seating up to 10 people per table/​bar area, in addition to TVs around the restaurant too. We ordered the seafood combo with spicy miso and also the beef with spicy miso. The broth was spicy but a good spicy, and all the seafood, meat and veg were super fresh. We also had complimentary icecream at the end too — perfect! We will definitely head back if we are ever in the area again!

ONe of my fav parts of shabu is getting slurpy w the broth once i’m done cooking but, sadly, i found the spicy miso broth more salty than spicy — drinking salty brine is as exciting as it sounds. However, great for cooking up the goodies. Their protein options seem much more limited than places outside of pas but they seem to be of decent quality so whatevs. The cow was listed in order of leanest to most fat from top to bottom. Small portion was more than enough for me and gave the rest to my bud that was still slightly hungry after eating his. love it when potion splitting works out! They also have brown rice for a small fee ~1−2 $?
Small but clean, modern spot. Tiny lot in front as well as street parking. I lucked out n nabbed the last spot and we got seated, without wait, at 615 on a Saturday — I will note tho that ten minutes later the line was out the door. Yowza. We were seated at this funky shabu bar that exists like an island in the middle of the restaurant so it’d prob be hard to hold a convo here w ur ppl if it’s any more than two. They did have a few normal tables but most seemed to be bar style.
Reasonably priced at about $ 40 for two people which included a large sake and a beer, pre-​tip, for dinner. Def good enough for when ur too lazy to drag the booootay all the way out to Arcadia!

I don’t ever remember getting shabu shabu in Pasadena until my person wanted it and he suggested this place. I’ve driven by plenty of times but just never went in until the week of New Years.
Now leaving from work in Alhambra, the drive to get to Pasadena wasn’t too bad at all. Side streets all the way. Parking lot I will say is kind of tiny but I was lucky to have found a spot immediately. We arrived around or before 5:30pm and no wait whatsoever.
Our servers gave us a choice of where to sit and I chose the long table in the middle of the room. Looking at the menu, I chose the Konbu soup while my person chose the spicy miso. My protein was the Angus beef and he chose the pork.
Everything arrived in a timely fashion, and I will say the Konbu soup was sort of bland for me even after throwing in my veggies and beef in there. The sauces were pretty good and I think the miso had more flavor to it. For being in the Pasadena area, it’s not too expensive and the place itself is quite spacious. Oh, and by the time we left, a whole crowd of people were waiting outside for a table! Even on a Tuesday!
Tips-​side street parking available as well as lot. No need to pay for parking. Side or in the lot.

This place was a pleasant surprise. From the outside, it looks rather dead, especially given the random, terrible location. Yet, we stepped inside to find a full house — and a 20 minute wait! In fact, the place was full for pretty much the entire duration of our meal.
The food was pretty good. I’m not the biggest fan of shabu shabu in general, but it was among the better places I’ve been. Price was a bit expensive for what you get, but I seem to always think that about shabu (maybe that’s another reason I don’t like it so much?).
What really was awesome was the service. Everybody was really friendly (and we were helped by many people, as is common at many Asian restaurants). Sadly, I didn’t get our main server’s name — he was a little dude with a thick-​but-​cute-​in-​a-​no-​homo-​way accent. I’d go back just to have him walk me through my meal again.

Clean, sleek, and BUSY. This Shabu Shabu establishment is located in a little strip mall in East Pasadena. Parking is limited to the small lot but there is ample street parking.
The windows are steamy from the flavorful broths bubbling away on individual burners. The broths are super tasty, my favorite being Spicy Miso. The meats to choose from are sliced thin, and beautifully marbled. Small or large portions can be ordered. The vegetables that accompany each order are ample in size and super fresh. Rice comes with each order.
For newbies to shabu shabu, the staff is super helpful in directing you towards having an amazing experience. It was the first time for two of my family members, and both enjoyed it to the max. No need to shy away from this experience, you’ll be a pro by the time you leave… wondering when you can come back for your next visit.
Staff is wonderful, very attentive and friendly. The owner checks in frequently, making sure that your experience is top notch.
You can’t go wrong eating here. It’s 100% delicious.

I must say, O’seyo hit the spot for me tonight. Located in the Eastside of Pasadena, you can find O’seyo across from KFC surrounded by no tell motels.
The waitresses and waiters are very welcoming when you first walk in.
Although, only three choices in soup base, miso, spicy miso and sukiyaki, I had some difficulty choosing one because I was not a huge fan of any. I was, however, a huge fan of spicy, so I went for spicy miso and was trilled with my choice.
Party of 3, we ordered the angus, rib eye and vegetable in regular portion. The meat was soft and tender and only had to dip for no more than five seconds to get the perfectly cooked meat. The vegetables were flawless and crisp. Wasn’t a huge fan of the regular button mushroom. I prefer enoki or baby shitake like the other photos had.
Parking is on the outside lot or street on Colorado. Look out for the signs. Pasadena is very strict on parking enforcement. No mercy.
I like this place, I really do! It’s quaint, quiet and away from all the Passdena traffic. I’ll come back here again and again especially since it’s starting to get cold! Enjoy!

Lunch on Saturday, 10÷24÷15 (first time visiting)
There’s a small parking lot in the plaza where Oseyo is located. The staff members greeted and seated us immediately. It was a bit crowded but we didn’t have to wait. They took our order as soon as we were ready.
We ordered the large Prime Rib Eye with two flavors so it was $ 22.50 for one order. Since there wasn’t enough meat, we added an extra order for $ 10.50 too. The portion of food was good enough to fill you up as one person but since we shared one order for two people, we had to add more. The meat was decent. I don’t usually have shabu shabu so I’m not sure how great the meat quality should taste like compared to other grades of meat. As a casual diner, it was alright and it looked fresh. The vegetables were the common napa lettuce, pumpkin, carrots, seaweed, and tofu along with udon noodles. There’s two dipping sauces and a bowl of rice.
I like shabu shabu but I rarely crave it. It’s fun to cook your meal. I’d come back again to enjoy it with friends since it’s a nice, clean environment with friendly service. Although it won’t be as often as I would like with the prices.

This is my fave shabu place at the moment.
There are 3 broths to choose from: sukiyaki, konbu, and spicy miso, the spicy miso is so good and flavorful, yet I don’t feel like I need to drink a gallon of water right after. If you want more of a kick, add a few drops of the «hot drops.» You have to ask them for it, the one on the table is just regular chili oil. This thing is potent, my first time, i added a shit load and my mouth was on fire. They were nice enough to dilute it with more soup for me, so that was nice.
Now on to your protein of choice (they have a garden/​veggie option as well), there’s chicken, different cuts of beef, seafood trio, and my all time go to: surf and turf! The surf and turf comes with perfectly shaved, lean beef, 3 slices of salmon, 2 huge scallops, and 3 shrimps.
Their sesame and ponzo sauce are both delicious, I recommend adding some green onions and garlic into your ponzu, and some green onion in your sesame.
Last, but not least, their service is always on point. Plus, they have a good selection of beers.
Winning all around.
Oh, how can I forget? You can replace udon and/​or rice with shirataki noodles for no charge!
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! dieter’s dream.