Ichikawa Shabu Fondue & Sushi

First time, it was great with no wait on a Tuesday night. Wish they had more meat options, as there are only one type of regular meat for shabu. Cool menu as there are sushi and shabu in one restaurant.

We moved for work and are now in AZ. The only shabu fondue in the valley doesn’t compare to Ichikawa where the service, broth options, protein/​veggie selection and price are fast, flavorful especially the spicy pork bone, abundance and reasonable. I give 4 stars instead of 5 because they need to hire a better hostess.

Ramen taste wasn’t that bad, but the meat is super thin and only 2pcs, the price you pay is mostly the noddle itself… So disappointing.
Not to mention the service was bad as well. I know I ate by myself but don’t just wait for me to tell that I need help. That’s why I end up getting a box for my food. Only stayed just 5 mins after I got my food.

I keep coming here for the happy hour. The 3 item combo is the best deal. Sushi and sashimi is fresh and decent. Tempura is good. Sake served just the right temperature. A little too warm to linger on the tongue but cool enough to drink down. Ramen is pretty good too. Id say

I’ve been here multiple times, great every time.
They put a great experience together and the service is excellent. I like the long round bar setup they have because it makes the restaurant feel open.

Rating is 3.5 stars. Food here is decent. Service is above par. Prices are reasonable, especially during happy hour. Nothing amazing but also nothing that will disappoint you. Except maybe for the storage area. Crates of liquor, beer can be seen from the counter. Hopefully they are able to fix this issue. Does not give the restaurant a good vibe.

Glad they opened up the sister restaurant of Ichi Ichi (Rowland Heights) here. It’s not as good (and I’d just drive the extra 10 – 15 min to go to Ichi Ichi), but props to Chino Hills business owners for trying to bring the Rowland spots over here and improving the Asian food selection.
In terms of menu, they have pretty much everything offered at Ichi Ichi, except the shabu shabu costs about $ 2 more per person.
I guess Chino Hills prices are just a little inflated, because I remember the Kingswood here was like that too. One thing they serve here that Ichi Ichi doesn’t have is sushi rolls, but I personally would never order it.
In terms of quality, I’d rate this place as the B team version of Ichi. They have all the same stuff, but the quality is a step lower (still enjoyable though). The beef quality was really good still and the spicy pork bone soup is just slightly inferior (because of a more generic chili pepper taste). The main drawback was that the veggies were a tad on the sour side, but it ended up making the entire way too sour for my liking.

The shabu wasn’t bad, but slightly underwhelming. I went today for lunch and got the Kombu broth since I usually prefer traditional shabu broths, and this gives me the ability to flavor the broth myself with soy sauce, garlic, etc. I wasn’t a fan of the ponzu sauce which was really sweet and not what you’d expect from ponzu — that was kind of the make or break for my meal. With shabu, the dipping sauces have to be just right.
Someone who enjoys all types of hot pot would really like this place — but for those who prefer strictly shabu places like Yojie, California shabu etc, this place doesn’t quite match up.
Pros:
–large variety of food options (sushi, shabu, entrees etc)
–large variety of soup bases for shabu
–large vegetable plates/​portions
–fast service
Cons:
–no hot drops
–ponzu is super sweet
–quality of veggies and meats weren’t bad, but could be fresher

This is my favorite shabu place in my area, here are the pros and cons:
Pros:
–Beef, the restaurant is located in Chino so of course, it is next to the farms and cows. The meat is always fresh and tender!
–Sauce– the sauce bar is awesome! Get as much garlic, peanut/​sesame sauce, and ponzu as you wish! My favorite is the peanut/​sesame sauce (I really don’t remember the correct term for this one.) The peanut sauce is nice and thick, it coats your meat and veggies very well.
Veggies– Always fresh, never wilted!
Broth– There are many many many different ones you can choose from, my favorite is the spicy pork bone broth.
Cons:
Service– the service is always up and down here, during my last visit I felt the service was lacking in customer service. Perhaps, they were short staff. The wait was longer than usual.

I was sadly disappointed by this place and probably won’t be back. I ordered the pork bone soup bc of the reviews, my Unilocal friends led me astray! It just didn’t hit the spot. I normally would’ve gotten sukiyaki, which my friend ordered. It had more flavor and was pretty sweet, I liked it but she was not about it. She also ordered brown rice which smelled funny, but tasted normal at least.
The free edamame with check in was good though. But be careful, somehow while I was eating, I spit one on my friend. Don’t think she’ll take me out in public ever again. I should’ve tried more appetizers since people seem to love those, but I knew I’d be full. So even though I left unsatisfied, it still filled me up.

Lunch special is awesome ! Good service ! Spicy hot pot is my favor. Will come back soon.

Ichikawa is our local spot for Shabu Shabu because it is the only one in town. Thankfully, the Shabu Shabu is excellent, and they also have several appetizers that top all of the Shabu Shabu places down the 60 Freeway.
In regards to the Shabu Shabu, they have several flavor options including, but not limited to, pork bone (regular and spicy), Tom Yum, Kombu, and Sukiyaki. The pork bone is our favorite. Besides the pork bone we make at home, it doesn’t get much better than Ichikawa. The soup base makes all of the difference here. You don’t get as much meat for the price as some of the other places, but they do have a $ 46 dollar or so special for two, which makes it more affordable.
The appetizers really kick the whole experience into gear at Ichikawa. For example, the Jalapeño Bombs are truly the bomb. They are deep fried with cream cheese and crab mix. You must try the Jalapeño Bombs! The coconut shrimp and chicken gyoza are also very good.
Another advantage of going to Ichi is the sushi and roll selection. You cannot go wrong with the Rock Shrimp Roll and the Ichi Roll. If you must pick one, go with the Ichi Roll; the spicy tuna is excellent.
In regards to the service, the Ichikawa staff has never let us down!

Good but not great hot pot. the quality of the meat just isn’t the best around town (AND why settle when there are so many other hot pot places to choose from these days!!) I didn’t get to try the sushi so this is a hot pot only review
the OTHER downside about Ichikawa is it’s pricier than some of the other places i’ve been
—spicy pork bone broth with beef: there’s only one beef quality option and it was just alright, although i did really enjoy the flavor & spiciness of the broth!
—creamy corn miso broth with lamb: the broth wasn’t as flavorful and the lamb was alright if you’re into gamey meat!
they quoted us a 45 minute wait on a saturday night but we were seated in 10 minutes so don’t be discouraged!
NOTE: they have a sauce station with everything you need from sauces to herbs

I went to this place for dinner today. We were seated quickly since the business was slow but who greeting. Not a big deal. We were seated, order taken, the veggies had holes in it. No biggie. Then half way through my plate of meat, I discovered something moving on my meat, a small worm (I think it’s a larva). Wish I took a video to show that it was live but .See the picture. So I called the waitress, showed her the worm. Without even apologizing she just told me she will get me another plate of meat as if this kind of situation is normal for them. Still no apology after delivering the other plate of meat. The servers were hard to locate despite the fact that the business was slow. Then at the end of the meal we asked for a check and there was 10% vip discount, still no apology. I’ve been to enough restaurant to understand that in this kind of situation the manager would come out to apologize, and ask if there’s anything they can do to make this right. But giving 10% discount which was $ 5 without an apology or an explanation… I take it as an insult. Interesting management style. I guess they gave me the discount and was hoping that I would shut up. Well that’s unfortunate. I don’t think the place deserves an A considering I found a live worm on my plate of meat plus when I was getting cilantro there were some dried grayish rice mixed in it.
— service: servers are hard to locate even on a slow night.
— food: considering a Japanese place, their takoyaki was the worst takoyaki I’ve ever had, mine had tiny piece of squid (one) in it plus the flour was wet and tasted like it wasn’t cooked. Seaweed salad was ok (how do you mess this up) Soup broth are not bad. Meat quality was ok until I discovered a worm so I’m not sure about that anymore. Ny cheese cake tasted pretty cheap.
— price: high considering what I described above. I could get a very satisfying clean meal somewhere else for $ 50.
I hope I don’t get diarrhea.

Lunch Specials are awesome!
Been here a couple times already and always love some shabu shabu. We arrived a little later than lunch hour and was seated right away at the counter.
The condiments was a small buffet of goodies that you can help yourself with. Thankfully, this place kept the station clean and fresh.
Meat came out with a decent portion for lunch. Though the veggie platter came out fresh-​looking, there wasn’t a lot of extra goodies that came with it. Nevertheless, it was still filling and price is very decent.
Would definitely recommend checking out this place for lunch if you have the time. It does take a little bit longer to eat and 30 mins would not be enough for those work lunch breaks.

Came here on a week night with a girlfriend since we were both craving beef! We were seating immediately and took a look at the menu options. My friend had been here before and recommended the pork bone both. I like my broth a little more spicy, so ordered the Spicy pork broth.
Each entrée (average $ 18) comes with a side of veggie and if you order beef, around 10 pieces of meat. I think it’s a bit small in terms of portion and you end up ordering an extra side of veggies or meat if you’re hungry.
They did have a combo meal for 2 people that looked like a good deal if you want to alcohol to your meal.
The place is clean but during this visit, service was lackluster. We rarely had someone come and check on us, even when smoke continued to flow up from our shabu pot. More than once had to flag someone to get water or turn down the heat on our stove top. However, I do love that individual pot style here so you don’t have to worry about sharing.
There’s also a sauce station where you can make your own. But my go-​to is Ponzu with a squirt of Sriracha.
A little pricey for what you get, but that won’t deter me from coming back again.

Ichikawa was overall a pretty great place to satisfy your shabu craving. They had bar seating in the center once you walk in, each with individual pots. They also have a create your own sauce bar which was convenient and great. Sauces ranging from Taiwanese Sa-​Cha to Ponzu.
The broths that me and my friends got were flavorful. We got Spicy Miso, Sukiyaki, and Spicy Pork Bone. I personally liked the Spicy Pork Bone the best because the ratio of spicy and savory was pretty 1:1.
The meat had also a great ratio of lean and fat. Pretty great quality and the veggies portions were fairly generous (although more bok choy would’ve been better)
Only downside was the service, they forgot one of the rolls that we ordered and gave it to us when we were finished with the meal): But it’s okay, we were all full anyway!

This place is gold. I came twice on lunch break. They have a great lunch menu where you can pick from different combination platters to hot pot .
I gotten the 2 combination with variety of sushi and pork katsu come with soup and a salad. If you check in on Unilocal your hey free edemame.

We came here with my husband’s sister and her two teenage daughters for dinner. We didn’t realize that we could make a reservation and had quite a wait. But the wait was well worth it.
We ended up doing the Shabu Shabu for two with a kimchee broth and pork bone broth. It was out of this world. It reminded me of fondue and was really neat because we all got to interact with each other.
Our server was attentive even though the restaurant was packed. We just wish we had one of these restaurants in our hometown.

We ordered a couples menu set for $ 45, which includes 2 drinks, 2 appetizers, 2 meat choices ($ 4 extra for large), and 2 desserts.
Apparently this used to be about $ 35 for a set and now it’s much more expensive. We gave it a try anyway since I’ve never been to this shabu place. The appetizers were specified as to which one your first and second could be with obvious additional charges for rolls such as Spicy Tuna Roll. We ended up getting a seaweed salad that was pretty good but more shredded cabbage than seaweed and takoyaki, which was just ok. I also checked for a free edamame, which was nothing to complain about since it’s edamame.
Our soups came out fairly quickly and service the whole night was actually quite attentive. My boyfriend got the Tom Yum broth, which was quite herbal than spicy. I got the regular Pork Bone broth, which was not too impressive as other shabu places, but did remind me of the beginning steps of my mom’s homemade soups.
The portions were quite large and I didn’t even get to finish my rice– the Angus beef we got was good and the regular portion was already enough for me, so the large was quite a lot. It went well with your choice of sauce at the sauce bar!
For dessert, we opted for ice cream and were mistakenly given the red bean instead of green tea, but the former turned out to be better than our other choices in my opinion. The red bean actually had red bean in it and though I am not a red bean fan myself, the taste was quite appealing and trumped the artificial green tea and weird tasting black sesame ice cream.
It was ok but definitely geared more towards a date place. The food itself was just ok and I didn’t particularly feel the price was justified for the quality, but it wasn’t terrible since we were full!