Average hot pot place with good toppings in small portions. My friends and I initially came in looking for a Japanese shabu shabu, but it seemed like the hot pots here were closer to Chinese ones. The default dipping sauces on the table were also for Chinese hot pots, so we ended up ordering a mix of the tonkatsu broth and the Mongolian spicy broth. Even the tonkatsu broth was slightly different from the ones I’ve had in Tokyo, but both were good nonetheless. For the toppings, we got the prime meat combo, seafood platter, and the vegetable delight. The quality of the meats was superb as advertised, but the portion was too small to share between the three of us. The seafood platter was slightly better, but without the vegetables, we would’ve left the restaurant with an empty stomach. Given the price, we were hoping for better portions but ended up trying to fill our stomachs with extra vegetables that came out with the seafood and the meat combo. Since Chinatown has several hot pot places with better deals, I would recommend going to those places if you’re not specifically looking for the tonkatsu broth. Shabu zen may offer better alternative to Japanese shabu, but overall it won’t be worth the extra cost.

First time doing hot pot. The staff was very friendly and explained how to order and how we would prepare our food at the table in the hot pot. Ingredients are fresh and delicious. This visit opened our eyes to a new way of eating asian food and we loved it. Thank you for the delicious lunch and opening our eyes to something new.

Great experience and delicious hot pot every time! The restaurant isn’t anything fancy but service is good and food is always consistent and great. Highly recommend - overall a great value.

Had Shabu here with a friend and it was delicious! We ordered the mushroom broth, highly recommend. Loved the flavor!

Shabu evidently means "swish" or "sway" like a dress. Here you swish your beautiful meat cuts through a broth of your choice with veggies you dump in the pot. Like Japanese fondue! Very fun and everything was tasty. Hot Sake for the win. Red bean for dessert.

This was our first hot pot experience, and it was awesome. Definitely recommend Shabu Zen as they walked us through the process and made suggestions. If you haven’t gone to a hot pot, do it! Food was delicious! Experience was awesome. Can’t wait to go back!

This was our first time at a do-it-yourself hot pot restaurant and the staff was very kind and helpful in explaining the process and recommending popular options. The food was all fresh and delicious. The chocolate truffle we ordered for dessert was amazing and they even gave us free mochi ice cream! I'd rate higher than 5 stars if I could.

Great experience. We love hot pot. This is Japanese hot pot, great tasting meat. Broth is incredibly bland. No flavor to it at all. It's $7-9 extra to add tum yum flavor or the other flavors. They bring bean paste, hot oil, chives and garlic you can add to the broth, but it's still not the best. Portion size was good. Decently priced.

Decent spot for hot pot in Chinatown, they offer various combo options including surf and turf. The kimchi broth was a bit of a letdown but their Tonkotsu broth is great!

This place is in china town. It was really good. I ordered beef. My husband ordered seafood for his shabu shabu. But I personally prefer beef. After I was done eating beef , I boiled the noddle 😋it was delicious. I highly recommend it. 💚🫶🏻

Probably one of the best hotpot’s we have ever had in the U.S. All of the raw food was good quality and fresh. They had the surf and turf set that contained salmon, flounder, sliced beef, and a variety of vegetables. They have individual small pots and big group pots. The place was also very clean even though it was in Chinatown.

0 star for the manager! The portion is so small. And service is so terrible!!!! The manager at the front desk was so RUDE and missed up my check. He charged me $118 as someone's bill. I'm telling him the number is not correct and this is not my bill. He kept saying “ just paid it” and blaming me that he needs to tap again because I didn’t pay on time. Then I was right, and it was not my bill. But he kept blaming me for my language. The worst service that I have been experiencing in my life. Never come to this store again!!! There are many hop pot stores better than this one. At least they have a better service!

Broth and food are extremely fresh and high quality! Kind and friendly staff. Can’t wait to come back! Only thing I’d say is I wish there was a sauce bar. You’re provided soy sauce with a side of garlic and scallions. It is a very good base but I like how other places let you customize your sauce. Thanks for the great food! Edit: I want to correct my mistake. I said that you aren’t able to customize your sauce. All I had to do was ask… duh! I asked for more garlic and cilantro and within 15 seconds I had it. What a great place!

Shabu Zen: Quick and Tasty Hotpot Shabu Zen is my choice for a quick hotpot fix. The standout feature here is the fast service, which ensures you won't be waiting long for your bubbling pot of goodness. The menu offers a wide selection of meats, veggies, and other hotpot delights, providing a variety of choices to customize your meal. What sets Shabu Zen apart is the extensive range of broth options, allowing you to tailor your hotpot experience to your taste. However, as a self-proclaimed sauce enthusiast, I was slightly disappointed that they only offer one sauce. Hotpot, for me, is all about the dipping and experimenting with different flavors, so the limited sauce selection left me wanting more. While I do stop by Shabu Zen from time to time, there's still a special place in my heart for other hotpot spots in Chinatown. Despite the quick service and variety, the overall experience can sometimes feel a bit rushed. 🍲🥢🏮

The Japanese hot pot experience here was super fun and quality of food was excellent. We took the seafood platter with miso hot pot, everything was delicious!

This was my first hot pot experience. Overall it was very good and just enough space on the table for everything, and they kept coming by and clearing off the empty platters. It was a hot plate built into the table and a short wide pot the servers brought over. We got the basic stuff because it was our first time. It was lunch time on a weekday so it was quiet which we were glad about, it meant the servers weren't spread too thin and were nice/patient with us. The food was presented nicely and the broth tasted good. The food all cooked very fast, in seconds actually. I enjoyed it. But I think it would be a better idea to have your first hot pot experience be the all you can eat somewhere instead so you're not killing your wallet doing an experiment and making costly mistakes. But if you're a hot pot pro, then this is a good spot for you.

It was my first time for my wife and me trying hot pot, i can tell it was a funny yummy experience. The food is delicious and service is amazing, overall it was a good experience and will do again for sure.

Taste: 4/5 it is very good, pretty hard to get any better unless the dipping is expanded. Setting: 4/5 inside looks very nice and clean. The middle section is somewhat crowded but manageable when they separate you from other by a seat which isn't always possible. Service: 5/5 everything as expected, can't complain. Price: $15-$20 Overall: 5/5. I mostly visit this place for lunch so it is somewhat quiet. It's somewhat crowded at night so the experience isn't all that great when there are more customers around. It is a personal thing, to be able to eat in quiet, calm place during lunch sure reduce stress for the PM work hours. LoL.

This is the true meaning of hot pot. Incredibly fresh. Amazing ambiance. Great staff and the food will keep you coming back over and over again. Great way to introduce culture to each other and our families. Better way to fill up the belly. 🫕🥣🫕

Such a great experience! The staff is incredibly friendly, attentive and helpful and the food is delicious and fresh! I can't wait to go back!

Serving and food is great. But people at front desk never allow two people to have a table at any time. Do you think it is likely to be full of people at noon or even afternoon??? Never.RIDICULOUS

This is my first time in Boston, so first time in Chinatown here. This place is sooo great. I’ve never had hot pot before and the staff explained everything to me, sometimes twice because I was confused. They were very cordial, polite and nice. I 100% recommended this place to anyone. Especially newbies. I’m sad this was my first time having hot pot, so the bar is set very high. Everything was super clean, fresh and delicious.

We been to ,"shanu zen" twice and the food is awesome. Service is great and will continue to return. Love it. However, I give it four stars because the seating at the bar is very uncomfortable. The wall goes to the floor and no place to slide in your feet. Feels like I'm leaning forward too much. Please fix this for a more comfortable dinning experience. Thanks.

Hits all the spots in your palate. After cold evening walks, hotpots are the best. Amazing melt in your mouth beef, chicken, tofu and fresh crisp vegetables. Their mushroom soup base is my favorite!

First time doing hot pot, it was great. Atmosphere was fun, servers were outgoing, food was on the table fast, food was fresh and very tasty.