Mums Home of Shabu Shabu

I love this place. It’s directly across the little Japanese plaza, which is so much fun to look around! We came early and were probably one of the first customers of the day. The server was adorably polite and helpful. We ordered AYCE Shabu for the 3 of us and ate plenty. Getting AYCE was definitely worth it — comes with unlimited sides and broth. Will definitely come back when in SF!

Love this place!
I have tried many shabu shabu restaurants in the Bay Area and this one always ends up being my favorite. The staff is very friendly and quick with service every time, I have always gotten a table when it’s crowded and only waited maybe 10 minutes for it, and the meat has always been fresh with the exception of one time when they were really slow.
Yum, yum, yum! Wish I could eat shabu everyday…

Came here on a Thursday at around 11:30am for lunch. The place was empty. We got the AYCE shabu which was like $ 27/​pp. It came with beef and a veggie plate with spinach, napa cabbage, different kinds of mushrooms, vermicelli, and udon. They don’t really have different types of broths, they just poured hot water in some salt and seaweed. Not really too sure what that was about but it didn’t bother me because I could flavor my food with the sauce! They had ponzu and sesame and then they had garlic, green onion, jalapenos, and some others. The service was really nice, they were on point topping off our water and asking if we want more meat or veggies. We also ordered a sumo drink which has Calpico, sake, and lemon or something like that. It was pretty good and didn’t taste like alcohol at all (which I love)! Overall, I had a super awesome time here and would definitely come back :)

I really like this place. The meat is always super fresh and high quality. They bring you a variety of vegetables and tofu thats also always fresh and top notch. Can’t really say anything bad about this place. It’s generally not very packed but has enough people in there to make a good ambience. I think I prefer that not many people know about it because we can just walk in with no reservations.

First time eating shabu shabu and loved it! The beef was so thin and melts in your mouth. Cant wait to do this again!

Great deal for AYCE shabu in the city ($ 26pp). The quality of the meat is good (they make it SOOOO thin!), the platter of sides has a lot of my favorites, and everything cooks so quickly. Nice touch of ice cream at the end too, though the quality of the ice cream is nothing to write home about. I’d definitely come back here again. While I still think KBBQ is more flavorful, shabu has its own place in my life.

Great experience overall. After my best friend’s graduation, everyone in attendance looked to me and asked where I recommend we all go out to eat lunch. I loved Shabu with groups and none of them have every experienced it before so I found this restaurant and we all set off.
I recommend calling in and checking for availability or to set a reservation if it’s in the prime hours of the day or if you have a larger than normal group because the establishment isn’t very big.
They were very fast paced when it came to replacing our raw meat and veggies and where very helpful for those not taking part in the Shabu.
IGN ¹⁰⁄₁₀. Would take group here again.

I personally prefer Shabu House because of the high quality beef but I wanted to try some place new and we were in Japantown. When we got there, it was pretty packed which we expected because it was a Friday but we chose to stay and sit at the bar. The bartender was nice so that was great and the food came out super fast. The food was alright though; I wish they had flavored broth of some sort. I’m guessing that’s just how traditional Shabu is served.
The reason why I’m rating this as 3 stars is because there were only all you can eat options and to add all you can drink, it was double the price which seemed kind of pricey. Also, assuming we’re in a crowded place, loud noise is expected but there was a frat or some crap screaming at the top of their lungs every 5 minutes and slamming their drinks on the table before taking shots.

Have been here many times and still love this. Thank god it’s all you can eat because I seam to never get enough.

totally worth the price! $ 26.95 per person to Eat All You Want! Choices included: beef, pork, lamb, chicken, vegi plate, 3 kinds of mushrooms, yam noodle, udon, tofu, green tea/​vanilla ice cream
…etc. with extra 18% service fee, still totally worth the price!

good quality beef
all you can eat for a good price
yummy sauces
pretty good service
not stingy when it comes to condiments
by far my favorite shabu joint in the bay area

If only I didn’t need to give this place 1 star, because it doesn’t deserve one at all! I’m a foodie, and usually I give places a chance, but overall this experience wasn’t a good one. And I know for sure I wouldn’t come back, or recommend this for anyone unless you like plain broth, horrible service and would like to pay an extra 20% service charge that they automatically add to your bill.
They do not have any broth selections, just a pot of boiling water and some sauces. The servers are lost, forgetting our orders, even to serve us water. They aren’t organized at all. We had to wait for almost everything and the place was only half full. During the meal, we made the most of it with what we can, but nothing could make it great. In the end, we had to pay an extra 20% on our bill, and I guess that’s what topped it all off for me. I’m sorry I’m bitter. But believe me, if you had shitty service and bland food and STILL had to pay MORE for their «service charge», you’d be bitter too.
DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME HERE. RUN. AWAY. FAR AWAY.

NOPE. Wanted to leave as soon as I saw the broth.
Seriously, what’s so great about this place? I only found out about Mums through a blog of best San Francisco hotpots. Whoever wrote that needs Jesus. I came in for dinner with two friends on a Saturday night because we were craving hot pot. It’s a restaurant right off the edge of Japantown, and street/​meter parking can be difficult to find during peak hours. I would say the service was seriously lacking. I had to ask for bowls/​plates. I mean how do you expect me to eat as I grab food from the pot as it drips? Also we were given a plate of meat before we even decided which meat to start with. You can either view it as considerate or impolite, but I’d rather be given the option first. The workers tend to hover in a group making conversation with each other rather than checking up on each table, which irritated me as well. The food didn’t make it any better either. $ 24.95/person for AYCE hotpot is not worth.
My friends and I opted for All You Can Eat.
Hold up, what kind of broth is being served? It was literally a pot of water with 1 square kelp leaf and a few pieces of seaweed. It’s AYCE, and my only option for soup base is water? Unacceptable. Maybe it’s a different style from Chinese hotpot, but I’ve had shabu before, and this was literally tasteless. The meat wasn’t any better. Slices of beef fell apart as you tried to pick it up. There was still raw juices in the slices of chicken. The lamb slices were too fatty for my taste. The slices of pork stayed consistent and was acceptable though. They offered us complimentary ice cream at the end, but we passed on that.
Yeah, not coming back.

Worst experience of shabu I’ve ever had. I saw pre-​cut meat and veggie plates on a cart stacked on other pre-​cut plates. I don’t know about others, but to me, that is insanitary. I should’ve left at that moment, but my husband made a reservation already and they were setting up our table so we wanted to give it a try. Broth was plain with no flavor (maybe because it’s the traditional broth or maybe I’m use to spicy miso — so I find any other broth plain). Meat did not taste fresh (as other shabu restaurants I’ve been to, they would cut the meat as customers order) it was very thin and soggy. Their peanut sauce was watered down and I could barely taste the flavor. Customer service was alright, better than their food. They told us that they only have all you can eat shabu. I think that was pressuring. Eh, I’ve had way better shabu experience than this. Quality over quantity!

Came here a while ago. Everything was delicious and I loved how we put our own items inside the pot. Honestly my boyfriend and I didn’t really know what Shabu was. So it was completely not what we expected and it was a lot of food. Prices are okay, not an everyday thing.
Service was pretty bad. The workers seemed to just stand around and if we asked for help to explain the menu, our server (a girl, didn’t catch her name) was really rude. Her attitude and expression was like she didn’t care to explain anything to us and just wanted us to order and get out. She was even walking away as I asked something. When we ordered, she wrote it down, didn’t even acknowledge any of our questions (what vegetables came with it and big of a portion was it) just took our menu and walked away.

They would probably need more than two servers to make service flow smoothly. We tried steak, lamb and pork. All are very good and vegetable is very fresh. Broth is not too salty. Price is little bit on the expensive side but well worth it.
Lack of man power making the restaurant in chaos. So if you need anything, all you have to do is trying a little bit harder to get attention from one of their very busy server. 18% service charge is included and clearly stated. I would recommend to give a little bit extra on top for their really hard working.
Overall an enjoyable meal if you prepare to accept their below par service standard.

I used to think this place was decent but on my most recent visit realized how bad it is.
Overall taste and quality is lacking. I did not enjoy eating this meal. I was still hungry towards the end of the meal and found myself not wanting to finish because of the bland taste, which never happens to me. We got the non ayce option at 16 a head and added a plate of meat for $ 8 and extra plate of veggies for $ 6. The entire meal cost 60 dollars (after tax and forced gratuity) for non ayce. Which is pretty ridiculous. This is the most i’ve paid at a restaurant to leave hungry.
This place is fine for people who don’t know what shabu shabu should taste like and want to eat a ton of meat or drink sake bombs but for real food shabu shabu make it out to Richmond and go to shabu house.

I wanted to do something different this Friendsgiving and brought friends together over a boiling hot pot of shabu! It was a good thing I made a reservation, as they were packed for Thanksgiving dinner. At Mums they do Shabu differently — they have the pot of water with seaweed (traditional style), flavoring condiments for the broth, a plate of beef, veggies, and all the sides already set up for you on the table when you arrive. You can order different types of meat once you sit and start eating. The flavorings for the pot of water are jalapenos, chili sauce, and raw garlic. We threw all the condiments in the pot and let it simmer. At firs the broth is bland, but once you start getting meat flavor in there, it tastes much better. The service was fast and accommodating. My party’s experience overall was great.
I would come back here for AYCE and drink (beer and sake), but if I was looking for just shabu, I would go to Shabu Club instead. Overall, it was a solid meal and perfect way to celebrate an A-​typical Thanksgiving.

Came with a large group of 12, which evolved into 13 and 14 through the course of the evening and the experience was FANTASTIC! Not only was the staff incredibly accommodating of our growing number of unexpected guests, but they were super efficient and very friendly the entire time!
My group had the all-​you-​can-​eat shabu shabu and our 2 servers kept the constant stream of meat and veggies coming at a great pace. We never had an empty platter on our table for longer than a few minutes before a server would come by offering us a different type of meat to dip into our pots. Our servers also helped recommend some sakes and were very helpful in suggesting which ones were best chilled or not.
Food wise, it’s delicious! I love the availability of dipping sauces in big bottles on the table as well as a mountain of minced garlic, spicy miso and daikon to customize your dipping sauce. The veggies were very fresh and the cuts of meat also very good — spotted some beautiful marbling on my beef slices: D
Come for the all-​you-​can-​eat gorge fest, stay for the wonderful service!

Came here last night with a friend. We walked all the way from the financial district and we got a bit hungry and I’ve been craving hot pot for a while.
Quality of meat was okay. Still your thin slices, but something was missing. And the broth was really salty, side note, my friends make fun of me for really taking care of my teeth and brushing my teeth for a long time. Now that it’s the morning of, I still have the after taste in my mouth.
It’s $ 18 per person one meat + platter of vegetables or $ 28 ayce. I like how they give a huge container of sauces. I love the huge variety of vegetables they give. It included the variety of mushrooms, tofu, udon (little random), Napa cabbage, glass noodles.
I’m also a huge sauce fan, they had the regular two sauces. The peanut and the sweeter looking soy sauce. It also comes with the Korean hot sauce paste, minced garlic, and jalapeños.
We also ordered a side of takoyaki, it came out like warm and not melt in your mouth goodness. Nothing spectacular.
And at the very end, they gave us free ice cream. You get to choose either green tea or vanilla. We both got green tea… And in a green tea fanatic. But. We both did not finish it. It didn’t taste that great.

Not a bad shabu shabu place. Its convenience is the biggest thing if you’re staying at The Kimpton Buchanan (or what was Hotel Tomo).
Service good — everyone is nice. There’s a fully stocked bar.
Rather small space but that never was an issue.

Food was good. Service was also good. However, when I compare this shabu shabu restaurant with others, I don’t find anything that really sticks out other than the very expensive price tag of around $ 35. There are places other places in SF and the Bay Area where you can do the same quality at a less expensive price.
I have to admit, the quality of the beef was really good (great marbling, great taste). I also really like the simplicity of the sauces. However I would have liked an option to customize the soup a bit. I would probably come here again if I’m in the area and craving shabu shabu!
Pros:
— Very high quality beef
— Good service even on a busy day
Potential Improvements:
— Ability to customize soup
— I was surprised that this restaurant still used portable hotpots instead of ones built into the table