Shabu Sai has been satisfying hot pot cravings in Singapore for a long time. Even before many other brands jumped onto the hot pot trend, Shabu Sai has been a reliable restaurant to indulge your shabu shabu dreams.
Shabu Sai is based on a shabu shabu concept. Shabu shabu is a popular hot pot dish from Japan that features thinly sliced meats and bite-sized vegetables cooked at the table in steaming hot broth.
We made our way to Shabu Sai in the basement of Westgate shopping mall to enjoy a meal.
The Shabu Sai Buffet Concept
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It was already past the peak lunch time when we arrived at Shabu Sai but there was still a queue to get in. We dutifully joined the queue and waited for our turn.
It is useful to take note that Shabu Sai, like many other restaurants, only seats the party when everyone has arrived. This makes sense since there is a time limit for dining at Shabu Sai. For weekday lunches, the time limit is 70 minutes. The time limit for dinner is 90 minutes.
We did not have to wait too long as the first lunch seating was finishing up and leaving. We were soon ushered to our table.
Choice of Broth
We got to choose two types of soup. There are total of seven soup bases and available flavours include Sukiyaki, Tonkatsu, Spicy, Yuzu Collagen and others. Periodically, there are also special flavours available. To choose the flavours, we simply scanned the QR code at the table to access the ordering menu.
We chose the Nourishing Gobo Soup, a pork-based special soup, and the Spicy Soup. This pair of broths soon arrived in a pot that had a divider.
Ordering and Buffet Line at Shabu Sai
Meats can be ordered through the QR code menu as well. There are unlimited servings of beef, pork and chicken that can be ordered. These meats are all sliced very thinly and arrive on black lacquer serving trays that can be stacked up to save space at the table.
The rest of the ingredients such as vegetables can be collected self-service style at the buffet line.
You can get your greens like lettuce, sweet oak, leeks, seaweed and more from the chilled buffet line. Mushrooms are also available at the buffet line and can be added in to the broth.
There are starches such as noodles and cooked rice available as well.
There are also a selection of meat balls as well as seasoned minced meat in bamboo containers.
All these provide variety to the hot pot experience at Shabu Sai.
Meats, Meats and Meats
Of course, the star of the hot pot meal at Shabu Sai are the meats – or should we say the endless flow of meats. Even though the dining time limit for our lunch when we were there was 70 minutes, that was more than sufficient for us to get our fill of chicken, beef and pork.
Since this is a shabu shabu style buffet, the meats are the thinly sliced variety and there are just the three variations. Nonetheless, it felt like a meat fest at our table.
To dress the meats, there is also a sauce bar where you can make your own sauce concoction. We particularly liked the peanut sauce which had a hint of heat to it.
Free flow soft drinks and ice cream are available at Shabu Sai for an additional fee of $2.50++. Free flow plain water is 50 cents++.
Special Prices for Kids based on Height
Interestingly, Shabu Sai has a different prices for kids based on their height rather than by their age. Children between 100 cm and 140 cm pay a lower price. Children between 100 cm dine for free! Therefore, you will find a height measuring scale at the entrance of Shabu Sai!
Where to find Shabu Sai
There are a total of eight Shabu Sai outlets. These are located at:
- Causeway Point
- Orchard Central
- Westgate
- Tampines 1
- NEX
- Compass One
- Northpoint City
- Changi City Point
There used to be an outlet at Suntec City but that has closed.
You can refer to Shabu Sai’s Facebook page for more details. The detailed opening hours and numbers to call for each outlet can be found on this eight Shabu Sai outlets.
Take note that there is a fake Shabu Sai that Google wrongly ranks when you search “Shabu Sai”. Don’t fall for it.
If you enjoyed this story, you may also be interested to read about Paradise Hotpot – an individual-style hotpot restaurant.
