Top Shabu-Shabu & Lounge

My friends and I had such a fun experience here last weekend! We did the all you can eat option because it allows you to try anything you want.
Some of the items we picked from the menu included: Lamb, Fatty Beef, Shrimp (head on), Shrimp Balls, Fish Tofu, Napa cabbage, A-​Choy, Daikon, Sweet Corn, Broccoli, Udon Noodles, Glass Noodles, Soft Tofu, Frozen Tofu, Oyster Mushrooms, with the white soup base.
I really liked the Lamb and Daikon with my sauce creation! Our waitress was really good about asking us if we wanted «refills» on our dishes and even recommended us to try the fatty beef which was really good! Some of these things I probably would have never of tried if my friend Theresa did not come along. It was nice to experience new foods! Next time I would like to do the Korean bbq. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking to branch out and try new things.

Jesus Christ. I don’t recommend these type of places to anyone who likes real food and service. Cooking your own water based stew and boiling meat is just so gross. Really nice people, but this concept is beyond me.

First time here and they just started a AYCE Shabu which is what I did.
You fill out everything on a piece of paper with how many portions you’d like. There is no limit, but they could charge you if you leave left overs.
There’s also a sauce bar with plenty of options to choose from and you create your own! Everything was good, but just sad that the sauces were not spicy.
I like the idea how you can eat hot pot and BBQ! The small openings on the table to accommodate the hot pot is a genius idea.

I’ve had really good meals here consistently the hot pot is the best value especially during lunch. The service is pretty good and they are accommodating.

Hot pot. Yum right?
You figure you would be able to switch from a 9.99 set to the all you can eat but for some reason, it’s not allowed. That’d be ok if the 9.99 set wasn’t a tiny plate. This, plus the extremely dirty utensils means a bad experience. I mean hot pot itself should be a 4 star by default but given the dumb policies here, it’s safe to say we won’t be back.

Love the AYCE hot pot here for $ 20. The menu is pared down for the AYCE option, but all of the essentials are there (weird though that they don’t offer the ubiquitous baby bok choy). They lost my reservation for a party of 5 on a Saturday night (perhaps due to their very sophisticated handwritten spiral notebook system) but were able to seat us in the very busy space in a reasonable amount of time.
The white soup base was very flavorful, but the spicy version was just the same base with a layer of chili oil and dried chilis tossed on top. The sauce bar had the basics, but I wished they had more options for adding spice besides just chili oil – perhaps some dried chili flakes or or chili garlic sauce or even Sriracha. Besides that and the short staffing, I have no further complaints.
I’m addicted to the AYCE hot pot option at Hunan Bar, but this place is a great alternative – $ 3 cheaper and a very different «loungey» rather than divey-​Chinese vibe and an ordering system that creates far less waste. I’m sure I’ll be back, wth my own private hot sauce options smuggled in my purse next time.

Can’t see why so many guests favor this place. Both the food and the service are terrible. The broth is tasteless as the beef and lamb are far away from being fresh. No waitress offers any water or napkins until I stop one of them and ask.

Went on a date with my hubs and for the longest time I’ve wanted to come here. However, at the time I had no idea how to eat hotpot so I promised myself I should just give it a go!
I don’t think I need to to explain the process because my fellow Unilocalers did a wonderful job at that. So I’ll talk about my experience and what I ordered.
What was exceptional is the service. EVERYONE is so nice! The host even gave us a laminated card explaining how long each food item will cook for. He even took the time to explain to us how he and other customers prefer to cook their food. Over time he said you’ll learn what style of hotpot eater you are.
For me, I am a dumper. I don’t cook and eat as I go. I dump. And then when it’s done I eat. My husband puts what add-​ins he wants at the time cooks and eats. He is very neat whereas I like to get into it. Overall the experience is fun and a great way to enjoy conversation and company with friends and family.
My favorite items (in random order): white base soup, lamb, fried tofu skin, sponge tofu, shrimp and fish balls, all the mushrooms, fatty beef, daikon radish, ramen noodles.
Items I want to try: bean curd sticks, lunch meat (I’m guess it’s spam), chrysanthemum greens, potato, winter melon, fried fish cake, fried tofu, hot pot dumplings, and scallion pancake
Lastly, the sauces. If u have the right sauce your experience will be that much better. I like to add sesame paste, shacha, minced garlic, cilantro, soy sauce, and vinegar.
I saw other condiments like MSG but passed. I know that’s the secret ingredient in most Asian cooking. My grandma swore by it and used to put it in everything.
Anyways, I definitely recommend trying out their hot pot. For $ 19.99 AYCE, it’s a steal!

I’m a fan of lunch special here. For only $ 10, you get pretty much the full hot pot experience. Two types of meat (one of which is a meatball), a fair amount of noodles, and a lot of vegetables. It’s not AYCE, but I was plenty full after eating this meal. In terms of the meat, the lamb was super flavorful and very thinly sliced. The broth was very rich and tasty, and it was great how they brought it out at a good temperature for drinking while simultaneously waiting for it to boil.
Having the option of making your own dipping sauce is a huge plus as well, and it’s best to go light on each thing you want and gradually increase the flavor as you taste test it. Service was probably above average in this place compared to the typical Chinese restaurant, so that was a plus as well.

I won’t give you all the run down of how the place works because other reviewers have already covered that. I won’t tell you about the sauce bar because my fellow Unilocalers have covered that extensively. We’re serious about sauces in these parts.
I’m here to tell you all about the exotic meat selection they had going on. I’ve never felt so adventurous in my life as my friend and I poured over the menu looking for things we weren’t familiar with and during to consume them. We ended up with beef tendon balls, seafood balls, fatty beef, lamb, ~baby corn~, various veggies I’ve never heard of before, an overflowing basket of cabbage, noodles for days, and utterly delicious fish tofu.
After getting over the initial shock of burning my tongue everytime I attempted to pull something from the boiling hot soup and put it in my mouth, I fell in love. The spicy soup base is delicious in and of itself, but with all of the yummy things added (favorites being the lamb and seafood wonton sort of things) the depth of flavor in the broth kept getting better and better.
I soooooooooo wish there was a way to be able to get the hotpot to go, so I can sit around in my undies and nosh on great soup while binge watching something on Netflix, but trust when I say this place is worth putting on a pair of pants for.

All you can eat, $ 19.99, for a maximum of two hours. Yeah, the value’s there and an adequate selection of items of meat and veggies. What’s nice, each person gets their own soup pot powered by an induction station they can control via the knobs right under the table. A central sauce station allows for mixing your very own custom dipping sauce. I prefer the old fashioned soy sauce, little vinegar and hot chili oil mix.
Not only do they serve hot pot, they have noodle soups, appetizers and tabletop BBQ options. Appetizers are average, haven’t yet ordered any noodle soups and the tabletop BBQ didn’t quite match up to Nak Won Garden. On the second visit, I noticed the next table over eating barbequed chicken wings and asked about those. The server explained that it’s not on the menu and is special order only for his family member. He whipped up a small order for us and it was quite a tasty dish.
Service stands out here. Every server possessed a warm, cheerful smile and dropped by often to ensure satisfaction.
Recommendation: try their Hot Pot, table BBQ not so much.

So happy this place opened up in Pittsburgh! Perfect stop on a winter’s day! They have an all you can eat hot pot buffet for $ 20 or a lunch special for $ 10. I got the lunch special with a friend and we both got the spicy broth. It was well flavored and there was definitely more than enough food for both of us. The sauce bar also has a decent selection. I only wish they had peanut sauce and spicy sesame sauce, but it didn’t hinder my experience.
The staff was sooo nice and had a very friendly demeanor. The food came out fast and the area isn’t too large or crowded so it gives a more home-​y atmosphere. There are always servers available to assist you.
Overall, I can’t say anything really bad about it and will definitely be coming back!

I was so excited for a shabu shabu place in Pittsburgh. As others have mentioned this place is not shabu shabu, but it’s close enough.
Yes, the sauce bar is confusing, but I asked the guy in front of me for suggestions. He recommended a light sauce and a heavy sauce. Light sauce: soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, cilantro and hot sauce. Heavy sauce: shacha with or without hot peppers, garlic and cilantro. You’re welcome.
We did the «buffet» for $ 19.99pp. All you can eat as long as you order it within two hours. Order your soup base, and choose from like, 100 ingredients. All delicious, especially the pumpkin, shrimp balls and dumplings (which cost extra).
Also, they have a full bar.
If I have any nitpicks it’s that the bar stools are too short and the liquor selection is not good enough. Also, they should really offer a mixed drinks menu.
But I am super excited to have a real restaurant in Oakland, and very pleased that it’s hot pot. We are already talking about coming back tomorrow.

My coworkers and I went here because we accidentally mixed up when Oakland $ 6 restaurant week is. We had all intended to get one of the $ 6 specials, but when we learned we were wrong about the date, we all went for the lunch hot pot special. It’s $ 9.99 and you get to pick soup base, meat, meatballs, and noodles. It comes with enoki mushrooms and napa cabbage.
None of us had ever been to a hot pot place before, so it was interesting. I was not used to the long chop sticks and had trouble with them when having to reach for things across my pot. It seemed a little messy, but a lot of fun. I loved the sauce bar and that you could mix up different flavors for your bowl. Everything tasted great and it was a fun, longer than normal lunch break.
I definitely want to go back so I can try more of the ingredients and am really excited because they have an all you can eat special, so definitely want to go back with my boyfriend.

I have dined here three times now and it keeps getting better and better as I figure out my own strategy for eating hot pot. My first time here, I wasn’t sure what to expect because I wasn’t all too familiar with hot pot. We had an extremely helpful waiter who patiently described his favorite ingredients and his own technique for eating hot pot. I ordered the hot and spicy broth while my husband ordered the white soup base. The hot and spicy broth is essentially the white broth with chili oil and chili peppers. The soup bases consist of many aromatics such as ginger, goji berries, dates, whole garlic cloves and things of that nature, making the broth very well-​rounded in flavor. I’m nearly positive these aromatics aren’t meant to be consumed but don’t quote me. After three visits, I prefer ordering the white soup base and adding my own chili from the sauce bar so that I can control the spice level. The sauce bar has a lot of additions you can add to your soup, such as duck sauce, soy sauce, cilantro, scallions, sugar vinegar… the sauce bar is quite extensive.
So the concept is you order a soup base and there’s a table side burner that boils or keeps your soup warm. And the ingredients you order come out raw and you cook them as your soup is burning away over the burner, similarly to fondue. What I like to do is order at least one item from each category of ingredients (protein, greens, noodles, etc). My favorites to order are chrysanthemum greens, fatty beef, beef balls (meatballs), luncheon meat (basically spam), enoki mushrooms, fish tofu, dumplings and I either like glass noodles or udon noodles. The trick is to place in the items that take the longest to cook first, but if you’re impatient like me, piling everything into the broth all at once and bringing it back up to a boil seems to work just fine for me! You’ll find that at the end of the meal, your broth will be delicious as ever from all the different flavors that you cooked in it.
I love this place because the staff is very friendly, the food is amazing, there isn’t anything like it in Pittsburgh, it’s clean and inviting, and did I say the food is great? The only thing is it can get expensive when you’re ordering a la carte ingredients, but I highly recommend going for their lunch special if you’re looking to score a deal on Chinese hot pot!

No idea why this place is called Top Shabu-​Shabu because its not shabu shabu. Its Mongolian hot pot, but I guess since shabu shabu is pretty trendy right now, cash out on the name right?
Anyways, this place reminds me a lot of the popular Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot restaurants. You get a sheet of paper where you mark down yourself what type of meats and veggies you want along with the soup base. The plates are pretty small so the dishes add up pretty quickly. But everything was pretty good and honestly, its damn near impossible to mess up on hot pot.
One thing that is sorta cool here is that there’s a sauce bar where you can customize it to your taste. My biggest gripe with the sauce bar though is that there’s no instructions on how to make the sauce so if you’ve never had it, there’s a lot of testing and going back and forth to do.
Having some beer with the hot pot is pretty crucial because of the balancing of the hot and cold Chinese old wive’s tale stuff and the price for a pitcher of beer is pretty reasonable. They even have yogurt soju here which is a plus.

I’ve been meaning to review this place for a while now, but I’ve been putting it off because of laziness.
This has quickly become my favorite restaurant in Oakland. It’s one of the few places I actually go back for, now that I’ve graduated and moved out of the Oakland area.
This is one of the best asian places in Pittsburgh. The hotpot they offer is super traditional, super authentic, and super yummy. Basically, how it works is you sit down, and order a personal soup pot of broth. It’s almost like foundue, for people that have never had hot pot before. You order a bunch of raw foods, and you flash cook it in the broth! It’s asian comfort food for the soul at it’s finest.
I personally always get the white soup base, but my friends love the spicy soup base. The soup base contains asian herbs, and ginger. It’s supposed to be really good for your health – I definitely remember my mom making herbal soup similar to this in the winter. Eat the little floaty jogi berries at your own risk! They can be very bitter.
Some definite winners on the menu: fish egg fish balls, chrysanthemum greens, quail eggs, pig’s blood (for the more adventurous, it’s almost like very firm tofu), glass noodles, and lamb meat.
I always eat family style with my friends, and I would definitely recommend doing that here. That way, everyone can sample everything, and you get to try way more dishes and eat way more food. There’s also less confusion with ordering.
The restaurant also has a sauce bar, where you can mix your own to your liking. The place is really clean, and the employees are super nice. They never fail to make you feel like family.

CM and I visited Top Shabu-​Shabu with a couple of other friends tonight for dinner before heading to Phipps for a double date. They had originally suggested the Porch, but since I’ve been there about a million times, I suggested that we try somewhere new and different. Neither I nor our friends had ever had the chance to try hot pot before, so we were excited to check it out.
Upon our arrival, our waiter asked if we were familiar with hot pot, and we told him we weren’t, so he gave us a quick briefing on how it works. He also gave us some helpful recommendations concerning ingredients under each category. If you’re unfamiliar, the way hot pot works is that you choose a broth base to start, and then you choose from ingredients in several categories, including meat, seafood, veggies, and other add ins to add to your soup base. You then add any condiments you wish to add, and then cook your ingredients in the soup base and eat it.
For our broth base, CM and I chose the white broth. For our add ins, we chose chicken gizzards, cuttlefish, napa cabbage, seaweed knots, hot pot dumplings, glass noodles, and thick noodles. Our friends chose the fatty beef, fish cakes, sausage, sweet corn, and two orders of glass noodles. Because we had such a wide selection of add ins, we were able to mix and match and share quite easily. Additionally, we raided the condiment bar and tried several of the condiments, including shacha, sesame oil, vinegar, hot sauce, soy sauce, cilantro, and scallions. (There was even powdered MSG – we passed on that, though!)
Despite being newbies to hot pot, we were very pleased with the outcome of our creations, in general. The broth had a nice flavor in and of itself, but the add ins made it great, and the condiments enhanced the flavor even more. I enjoyed most of the add ins, with the notable exception of the chicken gizzard, which I found too chewy (though I suspect I may have undercooked it). My friends also generally enjoyed theirs, and particularly liked the fish cakes, but weren’t as keen on the sausage. The meal was surprisingly filling, such that all of us felt stuffed by the time we left. CM, the only one of us who’d had hot pot before, said that it seemed pretty authentic, and I agree. The rest of the clientele certainly indicated that this was the case, given that we were the only table with no East Asians!
In addition to the hot pot, I tried the Oasis drink, which consisted of blue curacao liquor and lychee. Though I definitely could taste the lychee well, the drink was quite sweet and not as complex as I’d like, but for $ 5, I can’t complain!
In terms of ambiance, this place leans towards in the trendy/​clubbish direction. At the time of our visit (6pm on Fri.), the restaurant was only half full (if that), but I’m guessing this is due to most of the undergraduate students being gone for the summer. (I suggest taking advantage while you can!) The check for CM and I came to $ 43, which was slightly less than I expected. Overall, we were all very pleased with our experience here, and would definitely return for another hot pot or to try the Korean BBQ. If you visit, I strongly suggest coming with a group so that you can share add ins, as we did, and try a variety of different combinations for your hot pot.

I saw this place on Facebook after they did their soft opening and wanted to give them a try. Decided to go there on a Friday night for dinner with a few friends, party of 3. For a new place and dinner time rush i expected a wait, but waited for about 45 minutes before a table opened up. This is the sort of place that people take their time eating and after their meal is done sit around to shoot-​the-​shit with one another. It is nice that they take your name and your number so that you can do whatever business you might have and they’ll call you to come back for your table.
The atmosphere was actually pretty nice. It was nicer than I expected, but definitely louder as it’s more of a social event/​gathering type meal. Lots of conversations buzzing about. I did like the interior design it was more modern with wood accents. The tables are large and spacious so theres enough room for all that you order and you’re not on top of one another while eating.
Their menu was very easy to read, broken down by categories like appetizers, meats, veggies, etc… and surprisingly more variety than I expected. Each item is individual yet they do offer combination platters for meats and veggies. I would recommend/​suggest to the restaurant on giving the option of what items customers want in the combination plates rather than having a set dish.
I’ve had shabu shabu in places like Philadelphia and New York, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen individual hot pots rather than one large family-​style meal. Although not very traditional, I think it’s pretty clever especially in a city like Pittsburgh where ‘family style’ meals might not be the ‘norm’. Everyone can customize to their own tastes and preferences. I would agree with other Unilocalers and say that individual dishes does make it more expensive to dine here, even if you share the meats & veggies.
Everything came out at once rather than waves which was nice. Each seat had it’s own burner to keep the pot warms and you could control the temperature on a 1 – 5 scale. The broth of the hot pot was definitely on the bland side in my opinion, but it was made with real ingredients that you could still see in your individual dishes (garlic, onion, ginger, etc). There is a condiment table towards the center of the restaurant that has a variety of sauces for extra flavoring. I personally did not partake, but imagine the additional sauces would improve the flavor.
We wanted to try the KBBQ, but ended up only getting the pork belly — which was pretty darn good in my opinion. In addition to the individual place burners, there is a larger one in the middle that houses a hot plate grill. When you order the BBQ they’ll bring a platter of your meat of choice with onions, garlic, and peppers. The pork also came w/​a sauce and basting brush for grilling. I like that this is a actual grill your own foods rather than kitchen prepped. Fresher and hotter — better to taste. I would definitely come back to try their other meats for BBQ if the pork belly was any indication of their other meats.
The waiters, waitresses, and bus boys were very attentive and gave great customer service. Since it was our first time there we asked a lot of questions and our waitress answered them all and gave us her recommendations. She was very helpful — don’t forget to tip the wait staff!
Overall was a decent experience. I didn’t expect to get something I would get in other cities with larger Asian populations, but it was pretty decent. I would come back and try a second time so I can get a better feel of their menu. Since they’re still pretty new I’m sure they’re working out the kinks. We were told that next week they would have their liquor license as well, which I think would improve the experience. Nothing like a nice beer/​drink with your bbq or hot pot.

The place was filled with Asians – which is a VERY good sign.
There aren’t many hot pot places in Pittsburgh, so Top Shabu-​Shabu is VERY welcome to Pitt! The soft opening drew in a huge crowd, and it may have been overwhelming for the restaurant. It was a hectic day.
DECOR
The interior is very nicely decorated with pretty lighting. I can appreciate when a place doesn’t have cheap Asian decorations. It’s not that large inside, so it feels pretty intimate. Although it looked like they could’ve used a bigger place because of all the people who showed up the first day. The chairs are comfortable for the 2 hours you might be there enjoying/​cooking your food/​company. The way the tables work with the inlaid stoves/​hot plates means that they’re fixed, so the largest party they can accommodate at one table is 8. It’s best to come as a party of 2; it has the least wait-​time during the peak hours.
FOOD
The menu looks like a dim sum menu; I can’t describe it any other way. The organization was easy to follow (broth, meats, seafood, veggies, etc.). I ordered the hot and spicy broth with fresh fish and lotus root add-​ins. My whole party’s broth and add-​ins came out quickly after ordering. Each broth comes with a sampler plate of napa cabbage, glass noodles, and an egg. (I LOVE EGGS). They had a sauce counter near the middle of the restaurant, so we gathered about 10 or so sauce bowls at our table to share and try. Overall I really liked the food. The broth was authentic (i.e. not powder-​based) with spices and full of flavor.
P.S.
Also I’d want to note that I liked the chopsticks– too often restaurants have low quality chopsticks, and if I can’t pick up my food easily because the chopsticks are flimsy or too square, that would negatively affect my experience.
I’d definitely come back again, with friends.