Shabusen Yakiniku House

Ate here last Wednesday when my daughters and their significant others and kids got together with us including my niece — there were thirteen of us. The food was great with good cookers at each table and the service was fantastic with a great range of Japanese items and Korean barbecue. We all enjoyed it a lot and plan to return.

Still my favourite all you can eat restaurant in Vancouver after all these years. Their sushi is great, especially their rice tastes very good! Love their BBQ meat. Their BBQ sauce is delicious, too! You probably want to avoid their soft drinks. We had Sprite. It came in a cup and tasted like carbonated tap water with sugar.

They turned out our fire and only gave us half our order of sashimi

For the price we paid $ 28/​person, I would say quality was actually below average. The only reason for the 3 star rating was the variety of dishes and clear indication of quantity per order.
I would probably never return… only maybe to try the shabu sabu…

The meat is not fresh… and always short on what we ordered. sushi not very fresh too. also the waiters there is not friendly at all… very rude. very expensive and no parking. i think i am not going again.

My favorite restaurant in the world. So delicious and cannot beat the price. If you like sashimi you can’t miss this place.

This place was pretty pretty pretty good! My 19 year old and I came for AYCE lunch, and we killed it! Huge plates of nigiri, sashimi, cut and hand rolls. Plus, you order some grill your own korean bbq including pork, spicy pork, chicken, etc. STUFFED! It was the bomb. Only wish I would have snapped a photo or two of the indulgence of the whole thing. Btw, loved the salmon nigiri, the spicy tuna hand rolls, and the chicken bbq. Also, don’t forget to order some kimchi.

Sushi and sashimi were great, as well as the hot dishes. The barbecue was good, but the first round of beef came with a lot of fat. The second round was much better.
In general the staff isn’t very talkative but they work well and things come fast to the table with almost no mistakes.
Overall it’s an excellent all you can eat place with quality food for a Nice price. The only limitation they have is the sashimi (8 pieces per person).
They also charge a service fee instead of letting you tip, but it’s fair enough (around 15%).
Defintely recommended!

I’ve been going to Shabusen quite frequently this holiday season.
Food is okay and the servers are generally polite. One of the managers, short and bald, is very nice and attentive. However, I do want to talk about Elisa (Elisia?), the bug-​eyed short Asian lady (usually has her hair half-​tied) who is in charge of taking payments and reservations, and hangs out in the cash register area.
First time I went this season, it was me and three other people. She automatically slapped more than 12% grat on us, and forced us to do pay it even though our party was halfway through the door. Gave this place another chance yesterday night, she was at the cash register again. She automatically added the tip to our bill, and when I asked why, she said it’s because the party was 5 or more. Hmmm… so why did you do it when we were a party of four last time?
I gave her 50 bucks, expecting 17 back. She gave me 7 dollars. Took me a few seconds too late to realize that $ 10 were missing… but when I did, I looked at her, expecting a reaction from her or a movement to pay me back. She simply looked at me, as if saying «why are you still here? get out». I told her I gave her 50, but we were back at the staring contest. Finally she relented and shoved the $ 10 on my face, without a word or even a glance.
Not too sure where all this money is going, but I would be careful if Elisa is processing your bill. She is rude and a cheat.

Loved the food here!!! Meat was delicious and sushi choices we great and fresh! Service staff were fun and always on top of things. Came with just my husband next time we bring a party I throughly enjoyed the food atmosphere and staff! Totally work checking out!

There have been better days, and those days are far behind what they are now. It has been a long time since I have come back to eat here, and if it wasn’t for someone’s Christmas party I probably would not have come in. I use to love coming to Shabusen, a great place to just stuff your face with a multitude of food, afterall this was the ‘go-​to’ AYCE place to hit up for the Korean BBQ, Chinese Hot Pot, and Japanese Sushi all put into one, just either book the table, or line up and get your group here with hungry bottomless stomachs and go to town on the food, yes, those were my youthful days, back when there were two locations, now there is just this one, and from coming in here, I can tell you nothing has changed, where there has been no facelift, the small seated boats at the far end are still intact, the washroom handles still look like something an amateur woodworker made, the lighting, the floor, everything is how I remembered it… except the food that you are eating
Not coming a long time, I did not know they removed the hot-​pot option, so you are just left with the BBQ and sushi option, and a sheet is given to you just to mark off what you want, and the feast begins. Be warned, if you are looking for ‘green’ options, you can really forget about it, there are none, from the sparse servings of overly sour kimchi, to the overcooked edamame, that’s practically all you are really getting. Where do I even begin with this dinner, with the sushi portion, so you put in an order, and they bring stuff like nigiri, sushi, and limited sashimi, and even cones. I can say that anything that has rice attached to it… have fun, as this is the most foolish thing to order lots of. The trick here is to give you so much rice, to the point every bite is like eating a bowl of rice, to let it sit in your stomach so you do not want to eat anymore, and you really cannot do anything about it, cause the restaurant can call food-​wastage on you, and they can impose something like no longer serving you. The sashimi portions were pretty pathetic, as we ordered this spicy mixed sashimi dish that looked like the ends of fish, all diced up in small bits, over-​sauced and mixed, then tossed on a platter like prison food for all to enjoy. The cones, these were massive. on the rice ends as well… you keep eating these, I guarantee you aren’t going to last too long into this dinner.
The BBQ meats ordered were a poor shame as well, from the pork to the beef ribs that we started to order, the first piece of meat had a ratio of 70 – 30 fat to meat. The beef ribs, if you were lucky, weren’t overly chewy, we even eventually ordered lamb and chicken, and because of the sauce marinated on the meats, everything tasted the same, didn’t matter which animal you were eating, just that you had to cook it. and cook it right before you were eating charcoal style meat from the burning that would happen. The cooked food initially ok was also a letdown, from the order of smelt, they would have been better off giving this to us raw, for us to cook, instead of heavy battering this to the point you couldn’t even recognize that it was fish, as every bite was pure batter. The fried tofu wasn’t all that bad, but anything that was deep fried was also in a similiar batter, and as I said, it gets tired real fast.
Some may think it cheap, but when you total it all up it comes to about $ 30’ish a head, and if I was going to do AYCE I would rather run over to the River Rock and eat their buffet, at least there is more variety if not some greens to balance. Even ice cream, we had to add money, as it was not included in the meal, they had some coffee jello, and we were treated to some pretty fresh slices of oranges as a saving grace, and luckily the mood of the crowd I was with was festive, but beyond that I would not think of coming here again, it’s not worth it even if you are not paying.
It’s sad that this place use to me my ‘go-​to’ but now… I steer clear, way clear. Probably lucky they are in downtown, as it was a pretty packed night but even if you are one for quantity over quality, be warned… this meal is not worth stomaching.

This is my favorite restaurant in Vancouver. We visit Vancouver once or twice a year (from seattle) and always make it a point to stop in. The food is delicious and a great value. The service can be slow, though. Sometimes you would think they missed part of your order and you’ll ask again… then soon you get both. Whoops!

When going to an all you can eat sushi restaurant you should never have incredibly high hopes on the quality or/​and service.
Shabusen is as good as it gets for a downtown, «up-​scale» all you can eat restaurant. Its my go-​to if im incredibly hungry and ready to eat as much sushi as I can.
The quality is decent, the service is good and the price is fair.

I had a craving for Korean BBQ last night so I gathered up a group of friends and headed to Shabusen. I thought that since you’d be spending probably about $ 30 at a Korean BBQ place anyway, might as well get all you can eat along with other food items.
We arrived at 9pm thinking there wouldn’t be a line up but there was still a bit of a wait, about 15 minutes or so. The food was decent, about as good as you can really expect from an ayce place, so I’m not complaining. The meats were good and I satisfied my craving. All the other Japanese food items were pretty standard, nothing that was inedible. Surprisingly we were all unanimous in that the best items were actually the vegetable dishes. The pickled radish was a hit and acted as a fantastic palate cleanser, and I devoured a plate of kimchi all to myself. The gomae was pretty good too. Service was a little lacking, but honestly, I expected as much so not a big disappointment or shock there.
This is obviously not your A+ sushi/​Japanese place, but for an ayce place, it’s still on the top of my list.

We used to love this place, AYCE Korean BBQ and Sushi. The BBQ is ok there are only 4 types of meat to choose from. I don’t know what has happened with the sashimi and sushi but doesn’t seem as fresh or flavorful as I remember. The side items I like best are the agedashi tofu, gyoza and chicken karrage. The service is slow and sometimes it takes a while to flag them down. Parking can be a challenge too. I think there used to be three locations and now they’re down to just this one.

This is not the art of sushi, this is invite a big group and have fun stuffing your face sushi.
All you can eat sushi is not really a thing back in Austin, so we came here for the novelty. Choice is somewhat limited, but its still a fun experience. The sashimi was my favorite, rolls were mediocre, and Korean BBQ was good. The wait can get long and I would say the overall theme is efficiency. I would definitely come back next time I’m in Vancouver.

Being completely honest, I think this place is good for the price; specially during the lunch specials. However, don’t expect the most amazing food in the universe. It’s good, but not amazing.
* The Service *
This restaurant moves fast. The servers are prompt, yet, they are focused on the task of bring stuff to your table… period. Want some water? The server won’t even say anything. He’ll bring it and walk away. It’s not a bad thing, just want to make sure you have the right expectations before coming here.
* The Food *
I’ll be honest, the food here is not the most amazing I’ve ever had. Nonetheless, I keep coming back over and over again, which tells me that the price and the taste of the food are at least good enough to make that happen. My favorite here is the sashimi and the meats to BBQ on the grill while we wait for everything else.
If you’re thinking about trying this place, go ahead. Have the expectation that it will be good and that you’ll enjoy it, but not amazing.

Some of my colleagues wanted to ayce Korean bbq. Coming from Los Angeles. It’s really not that great here.
Ten people… Stuffed into a small table. Yes you can order as much as you want but anything extra left over you are charged for.
The meat quality is very mediocre… I guess you should expect that for ayce. We got the pork, chicken, and galbi. It’s one piece per order so it’s ridiculous that we had to list 20 on the order form.
Sushi was okay… A lot of rice.
Also got the corn cake and salad.
It’s not terrible but it’s run by Chinese so it’s not that authentic.
Slow slow service…

All you can eat Sushi + KBBQ! (All you think you can eat…)
PROS:
Quantity: They offer a different variety of dishes: appetizers, fried rice, soup, bbq, sushi, tempura, fried chicken, tofu, salad, etc. My friends and I pretty much ordered a little bit of everything.
Food: Since this is not a typical KBBQ joint, there are less variety of meat on the lunch menu (not too sure about the dinner menu). There were BBQ chicken, beef, pork chops and spicy pork. Kim chi was good. All the meat were marinated and seasoned very nicely. The fried tofu was very light and not too oily. The fried chicken is very crispy. The salmon and tuna sashimi were pretty fresh.
Ambiance: Cute but a little tacky. We were seated in a boat-​shaped table towards the back of the restaurant. I thought that was cute but we all had to take off our shoes to get in.
Price: $ 20 for all you can eat. If you like meat and sushi then it’s worth it. Since it is an all you can eat establishment, it’s more focused on quantity than quality. I can chow down so i got my moneys worth.
CONS:
Service: Since we arrived an hour before lunch was over, we were told that we can only order once. That was difficult because it was our first time there and we didn’t know how big the portion sizes were. The service was seemed a little rushed and they missed a few items we ordered. They eventually brought out everything after having to remind them.
TIPS: Street parking. Come early if you have a big group.
I would come back!

Came here for $ 16 AYCE lunch and food were mediocre at best. It’s good how they offer Korean BBQ for AYCE but their chicken, beef and pork loin all tasted the same. Plus they tasted salty.
Fast service, but server never brought any gingers while we asked for some. Sushi was alright but spring rolls and gyozas tasted meh. At least chicken wings were good. Anyways their food was mediocre at best so better go elsewhere.

Das Shabusen soll, nach Angaben des Kanadiers mit dem ich hier war, eines der angesagtesten Restaurans in Vancouver sein und befindet sich im 1. Stock (2. floor) eines Gebäudes in der Burrard Street, einer der Hauptstrassen in Downtown. Die Küche ist eine Mischung aus japanisch und koreanisch. Ich war gespannt.
Wir hatten einen Tisch für 3 Personen bestellt und erreichten das Restaurant mit ein paar Minuten Verspätung. Im Vorraum des Restaurants warteten schon mehrere Personen auf Bänken, dass sie zu ihren Tischen geleitet werden. Wir gingen zu dem Empfangstisch und ein netter Herr erklärte uns, dass es noch einen Moment dauert. Wir warteten also ein paar Minuten und wurden dann an einen Vierertisch gebracht. Der Großteil des Restaurants bestandt aus Plätzen mit Bänken bzw. Stühlen an Tischen mit integrierten Gasgrills. Ausserdem gab es eine Sushibar mit Sitzgelegenheiten und ein große Ecke mit mehreren traditonellen japanischen Tischen, wo man zum Essen auf dem Boden sitzt. Die Inneneinrichtung war ein Mix aus typisch japanischen/​koreanischen Holz–
Wandverkleidungen, ein paar Pflanzen und grünen, roten, gelben, was weiß ich für Neon-​Röhren unter den Decken. Ich muss gestehen, dass Restaurant erweckte bei mir nicht unbedingt den Eindruck, dass es sich hier um ein gutes Restaurant handeln soll. Aber egal, der Laden ist voll und das muss ja einen Grund haben. Wir wurden an einen Vierertisch mit Grill platziert. Die Kellnerin brachte uns gleich die Karten, auf denen man praktischerweise gleich ankreuzen konnte was und wie viel man haben möchte. Bei einigen Gerichten ließen wir uns beraten und wir bekammen gute Auskünfte. Also bestellten wir erstmal: verschieden Suhi, Meeresfrüchte, Tintenfisch, Scweinefleisch, Rinderfilet, überbackene Muscheln Kurze Zeit später kam der erste Teil des Essens, der Grill wurde angemacht und los gings. Das Rindfleisch war Hauchdünn geschnitten und leicht mariniert, schnell auf den Grill damit. Ein bißchen Sushi probieren, einiges hat mir geschmeckt anderes nicht, bin nicht so der Sushi-​Fan Mit Käse überbackene Austern, lecker. Das Schweinefleisch war in Ordnung. Das Rindfleisch oh, my god! Verdammt hat das gut geschmeckt! Extrem Zart, extrem lecker. In der Zwischenzeit wurde der Tisch immer voller. Ein Teller kam weg, dafür standen kurze Zeit später 2 neue da. Irgendwann war unser Tisch so voll, dass man nicht mal mehr die Tischplatte sah. Was hatten wir bloß alles bestellt? Insgesamt betrachtet war das Essen ganz gut. Einiges war nicht so mein Ding (roher Tintenfisch) anderes war schlicht und einfach umwerfend (das Rindfleisch). Ich denke man kann besser und nobler japanisch essen in Vancouver, aber es bringt schon Spass am Tisch zu sitzen und sich sein Essen zu grillen. War der Anfang von einem netten Abend.