Jazz Cat Fusion Shabu

Love this place! Best hotpot ever… Their soup base is very delicious. Pretty big portion as well.
Good luck with long lines if you go on the weekend!

This place is an experience, for those who have never been to hot pot be ready to sit down for dinner for quite a while because by the time you get out you feel like another person. A great place to go and have dinner with friends and chat.
I got the vegetable combo, miso soup base, and the peanut sauce. The vegetable combo comes with lettuce, baby bok choy, three types of mushrooms, carrots, baby carrots, broccoli, squash, tofu, noodles, and probably more that I forgot.
I’d recommend putting the baby corn in first since it takes probably the longest to cook. The tofu is so good, it has a good spongy texture but don’t burn yourself on it because it gets really hot.
The service is really good, friendly and attentive staff. I can’t wait to go back again!

This place is honestly lit as fuck. The food is cheap and bomb, you honestly can’t go wrong eating here. I came here on a Saturday morning a couple minutes after opening and it was already starting to get packed. However, I was seated very quickly and the waiter was very attentive and helpful in helping me choose what to order. I got the spicy pork broth with the rib eye meat, t rex (the T-​rex option gives you 50% more meat but with less vegetables) and my friend got the sukiyaki broth option with the t-​rex rib eye as well.
After about five minutes, our waiter brought out our food, which came with the meat, a variety of vegetables, rice, and of course, the broth. As someone who is relatively new the shabu, this place blew my mind. The quality of the meat was really good, and for I believe it was 13.99??, there was plenty of food.
I drove an hour to come eat here and I would say that it was pretty worth it. I only wished that there was a location near Los Angeles because this is the go-​to place for shabu.

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE SPOT FOR POPCORN CHICKEN AND RICE. I know right that’s weird. Who goes to a shabu shabu place for popcorn chicken and freakin rice. Don’t worry i’ve had there soup too. I gotchu! Can’t say much about it because I’m not really a soup person. But it was pretty good. I like to order the side of Udon and they have many choices. You’re bound to like something there.

This is absolutely fantastic!!! I would come here all the time if it was not so far away from me.
I got the taiwanese satay spicy and boy it was delicious. I got the beef cut with ponzu dipping sauce which was really good! The meat was nice and large which just made it al the better. We came here late night before it was almost closing so service did kind of sucked. Other than that though, I would strongly recommend this no matter where you live, if you are within the area or close to it at least this is where you will get your money’s worth for shabu.

Unilocal challenge 2016 (²⁵⁄₁₀₀)
This was my first time trying hot pot! I love Shabu Shabu, especially when we make it at home. It was different trying Shabu Shabu with flavored broth instead of just hot water.
I got the Angus Beef Ribeye with Sukiyaki broth and Japanese Sesame sauce. The broth was good! It wasn’t too strong but it was just the right amount of flavor for my meat and veggies. I ended up getting the sesame dipping sauce, which was really good in my opinion. It’s not quite like the goma sauce like I usually eat with homemade shabu. It was definitely a different experience and I loved it! I don’t think I would travel this far just hot pot as I would just make Shabu Shabu at home and it’s much cheaper. But if I were to recommend a place for hot pot I would recommend this one so far!

Jazz Cat — the place to chill out to some jazz music while eating shabu-​shabu.
Let’s get to the point. Lunch deals are always thebestoption. About 10 bucks will offer you a satisfying meal. That menu is slightly different than the dinner choice. I came in at dinner time and ordered their shabu shabu. If you get the regular option as the combo, you’ll get a healthy portion of your choice of meat and their seasonal vegetables. Here’s the option for the big boned t-​rex eaters, GET t-​rex not regular or else you’ll feel like you’re a petite girl just trying out shabu for the first time and perhaps might order sides to satisfy your hunger lol.
Next time I’ll give their risotto a try !
They have so many soup options that range from anything spicy and anything creamy. I ordered the Regular with Thai spicy soup base which was very spicy to me and sour ! But it’s tasty. My meat option was Angus beef and I was set. All I had to choose next was the sauce the server recommended me Thai spicy. Until I didn’t really like it so I got the other sauce I wanted to try which was Satay sesame. And that’s the perfect sauce for dipping to me !
All in all, I love this place. Last time I came here at late night they had Techno music. Not all into that but their food was still delicious. The service was par. It was not so bad for a weekday and I’m sure if this place gets busy their service could be slow. But only my opinion !
~

Reason why it is now a 1 star, they misinformed us about the items in the seafood combination and one of our party members ended up having a severe allergic reaction to the fish.
Please educate your staff members so this does not happen again to another customer.
On a side note, we came as a group of five and they forgot all of our eggs for our soup. The rotten cherry on top.

Jazz Cat is kinda like Boiling Point. Both serve cheap hot pot type meals. Both have ridiculously long wait times. Both are packed with loud fobby Asians. Both have ignore me service and both have terrible parking lots.
Jazz Cat does offer a wide variety of soup bases, which Boiling Point doesn’t. Now let’s kill their only positive with a big negative… seating space. It’s limited seating here. If it’s just the two of you then prepare to be squished into a larger parties table. Yes, with complete strangers. But wait! There’s a small divider placed on the table to separate the two groups. FYI, the divider doesn’t do shit! It’s impossible to ignore the other people when you can clearly still see them and hear their entire conversation. It makes for a very awkward meal. I absolutely hate this about Jazz Cat. The food is good. It’s very affordable and tastes great. I just can’t deal with the weird seating though.
Would I come back here? Yeah but only if I have a party of 4 or more.

Waited over an hour to get in for dinner on a Sunday night.
It’s very similar to Boiling Point where you get your own individual pot, but it’s shabu style so you cook your own food. Electric stoves are built into the tables so you can’t adjust the seating at all — which is also why the wait is so long. However, the stoves are laid our right next to each other which makes it difficult when you’re seated because you’re all very squished trying to cook your food. There was very little space to put anything on the table without blocking my friends sitting next to me.
I ordered the fusion shabu shabu where you just pick your meat, soup, and sauce. It didn’t seem like a lot when it came out but towards the end, I could barely finish my food. I wanted more vegetables rather than meat (they only have an option to have more meat than vegetables — T-​Rex). They also had random vegetables, like a lot of onions that no one ate. My bok choy also looked like it was starting to go bad.
Overall, I didn’t like the long wait and squished space.

SPICY MISO!!!
they are open late, located right off the freeway and usually has great service.
It’s a no brainier for me; spicy miso is always on point. As you all know, shabu is a «make it how you want it» so I’ll give you my recipe lol:
Spicy Miso
— Add Ponzu Sauce (all of it)
— Circle soy sauce for five seconds
— Add half the garlic they provide
— All the cilantro and onions
— Ask for more cilantro and onion!!!
I than add the chili paste … it honestly comes out consistent every freaken time!
Other Shabu places are great — that’s no lie. BUT this one is open later than all the others, is consistent with their food and for the most part always has good service and is clean!
Pitcher of Sapporo or a bottle of their Fat Cat Moscato ain’t hurt nobody either!
The male manager at night is super cool, the tiny’sr asian chick knows her stuff and is good … thanks Jazz Cat!

I. LOVE. SOUP.
It’s my favorite comfort food. The vast selection of soup they have in stock is simply, amazing. I’ve tried the Japanese Miso and it’s definitely richer than the one offered at Boiling Point. My friend and I split the Premium Beef Rib-​Eye and Premium Pork T-​Rex style (50% more meat and less vegetables) with a Seafood Combo. The meat was delicious and tender which paired well with the Japanese Sesame sauce. I LOVE how they provide cilantro, green onions, and garlic on the side. It adds so much more flavor to the soup.
We also got the Japanese Spicy Wings and they were definitely a lot spicier than I imagined. They weren’t bad but I wouldn’t get them again. I only wish they were crunchier instead of tasting as though they were heated up in a microwave and served.
I definitely want to try the Pork Bone Soup next time!
TIPS:
–Add the green onion, garlic, and cilantro first before anything else!
–Ask for more soup as yours boils away. It gradually gets saltier as the soup evaporates! So make sure you ask for MORE soup!

I have a serious addiction to the Thai Spicy soup broth. It’s rich, acidic, and I start salivating just thinking about it.
I like coming here in large groups or with picky eaters. There are tons of soup, meat, and topping selections. The meat is of good quality and prices are competitive for what’s offered. The tea selection here is extensive and the pineapple ice cream float is delicious.
The veggies can be fresher. They’re decent quality, but I’ve had better quality stuff at nicer (more expensive) hotpot places.
Service here is «bare.» You order, get food, and get out. They’re busy cause of the huge wait for tables. I get it. Otherwise, servers are friendly and give good recommendations for what to order.
My biggest gripe is that the seats are disgusting. The ones with rips are sloppily patched up with duct tape. You sit and risk getting sticky residue on your pants. Gross.

Met up here with a few Unilocalers for a last minute dinner.
Shout out to Andy and Howie!
The wait wasn’t too bad. It was nice smelling all the aromas quite we waited. It did take us about thirty minutes to get seated.
The menu is well laid out and there are so many good looking broths to choose from.
I ordered the spicy miso broth with the premium beef (sounds fancy but it’s just the regular thin sliced ribeye). For side sauces I got spicy pozu and a peanut sauce. And to wash it down and asahi black.
Andy and Howie ordered meals slightly different. Howie and so ordered us some raw eggs to put in the soup.
The food came out pretty quickly and all the veggies and beef were very fresh and presented quite nicely. The spicy miso broth was amazing.
The décor inside slightly reminded me of a brothel haha. But it was clean.
I was pleasantly surprised by this last minute find. I’ll definitely be back.
Until next time…

Comparing this place to BP, Hai Di Lao, Little Sheep, and Mokojji, I’ve gotta say that this is my new favorite hotpot place.
It’s a perfect marriage of affordability, taste and quality. Don’t get me wrong, all of the above places are good in their own way, but Jazz Cat combines the best of each into one. It’s cheap. I think I paid $ 11 for my dinner that had one pot, one tray of meat and one bowl of rice + sauce. It had me feeling full after, so obviously it had enough food. I decided to go healthy and try to Chinese herbal broth and it wasn’t bad at all. Definitely not as good as their miso, or their other broths, but it was surprising to taste something other than herbs in the soup. I also ordered the regular lamb (not TRex). There were around 9 slices of premium cut lamb alongside a bright green tray of veggies. The meat seemed fresh and looked of good quality. The veggies were fresh as well and not yellow/​dirty.
Everything is not without faults though. One thing I’d like to see here is a sauce bar. Limiting my sauce choice to one is just so hard :(.

Jazz Cat was everything I wanted in a shabu place!
How it works:
1. Pick meat (I had the ribeye, T-​Rex style which consisted of more meat and less vegetables. It’s more bang for your buck and totally worth it, as other Unilocalers have mentioned)
2. Pick broth (I had the Japanese Spicy Miso and it was delicious!)
If you’re not sure what to try, I read through a ton of reviews and found that the most popular ones were Thai Spicy, Seafood Essence, and Sukiyaki. If you’re adventurous, the Milk Cream and Corn also seems to be popular! Those will be the next ones I try during my next few visits!
3. Pick sauce (I love ponzu and also had the Japanese Sesame, you can ask for more than one at no extra charge! :D)
Also, I forgot to order them this time, but it seems the Golden Fish Balls are a must. Definitely ordering that next time.
Service was quick and they were very attentive. From the moment we ordered to the arrival of our food, it felt incredibly quick. Seems like they have it all prepped they just have to ladle the right broth. Genius! It’s such quick service, I was very impressed.
Atmosphere was unique, and interesting. Parking is not too difficult. Food was delicious and there was a ton of variety — PLENTY of reasons for a return trip! Not to mention it’s very affordable $ 14!
I know this review is mostly a summary of other reviews since I’ve only been once, but I figured it’d be easy to keep it all in one place since there seem to be no review highlights on mobile other than variations of T-​Rex.

I love coming to Jazzcat to eat. The food here is definitely five stars but I only gave it four stars because the hostesses out front are usually really rude and definitely don’t know how to seat people accordingly. I hate starting my dinners off in a bad mood.
Other than that everything else here is great. My favorite is the thai spicy! And the golden fish balls for the soup are a must!

Jazz cat is one of my favorite hot pot restaurants, but not gonna lie, it’s cause of the sauce, which is pretty easy to make at home hah. The wait can vary. I had been given an estimate wait of 25 – 30 minutes but ended up waiting an hour and at other times, I get seated after 15 minutes
FOOD l 4
— popcorn chicken l 5: pretty crispy, juicy, and mildly spicy
— Japanese sukiyaki (soup base): I actually didn’t like
— satay sesame (soup base): I didn’t like
— Taiwanese spicy (soup base): plain and not spicy
— spicy seafood essence (soup base): yessss get this one! Very flavorful!
— (sauce) SATAY
— (meats) I’ve gotten pork, rib-​eye, and lamb T-​Rex style and you can’t go wrong with any of them
SERVICE l 4
Service is just as expected – not sub par and not extremely well. Out of the times I’ve been here, I’ve only had stellar service with Howard.
AMBIENCE l 4:
It could get loud, but it’s not a bad spot for a date ;)
PRO:
— sauce is bombbb mixed with the cilantro, egg yolk, and the other stuff
— t-​Rex option
CON:
— long waits
— can sometimes can salty and the portions of noodles and veggies are small (I know, I got T-​Rex, so it’s expected to be a smaller portion, but it’s really a teeny amount)
TIPS:
— get T-​Rex! For the same price, you get more meat and less veggies, but let’s be real here, it’s all about the protein! (unless you’re a vegetarian, then I’m sorry, vegetarians, don’t get the T-​Rex)
VERDICT:
You bet I’ll be back!

I forgot there are 3 steps to ordering since I haven’t been here in a while 1) choose your meat 2) choose your soup base 3) choose your sauce
We came for lunch and both went with the medium sized meat plates which was the perfect amount of food along with the tray of veggies, bowl of rice, and raw egg you get
—premium rib eye with spicy seafood essence soup and spicy Thai dipping sauce: I liked this soup flavor more than the spicy miso I’ve had in the past! The spicy Thai sauce was nothing special though. Also love the quality of the thinly sliced beef
—spicy Japanese curry was just okay, wasn’t really feeling the ponzu sauce either
—fish balls and deep fried fish balls are the way to go if you need to order extra!
NOTE: there are lunch specials!

Came here on a very early Friday night dinner. For some reason there was a lot of traffic around the area and since I haven’t been to this location before I wanted to check it out. The interior of this place looks pretty fancy but don’t worry there isn’t a dress code or anything.
Got seated right away from the friendly staff and we ordered shabu shabu. The soup broth was wine infusion broth and that was pretty tasty. I have never ordered this at any of the locations before so I wanted to try something new. Portion size is just right and the dinner went off with having a great time here.
After we were finished the line for eating here was out the door with people inside and out. So if you are going to come to this Jazz Cat during the weekend or Friday night I would suggest getting here a little bit early to beat the crowds! :)