Shin-Sen-Gumi Shabu-Shabu-Gardena

Great food, great customer service. We love coming here :) it’s such a fun and energetic environment. Best shabu shabu nearby.

Very happy that I tried this place, we came in around 5:30 — 6 pm. I guess we were the first customer for the dinner service.
The place is small but that’s typical so that didn’t bother me. The tables and utensils are very clean. We brought our 13 month old baby with us and one of the wait staff wiped down the high chair for my baby. The wait staff was excellent, they were very helpful and checked in on us often and refilled our drinks and our broth.
There are a wide selection of food from hot and cold appetizer to different kinds of meat for your hotpot or hibachi grille. They also offer pork hotpot. The broth comes in regular, spicy and sukiyaki.
They carry Japanese brand beer and sake.
I think there is dessert in the menu but I didn’t check.
We ordered the hotpot just the regular broth which has seaweed in it. For our meat we ordered the large sirloin for $ 24.00 comes with side of veggies such as Chinese cabbage, some carrots, mushroom, green onions, tofu and noodles.

We had the ayce shabu for dinner and paid around $ 52 (without tip) for 2 people (with 1 beer).
It is ridiculous that you have to pay for sauces. It is $ 0.50 for each sauce. The food was good but I think it’s VERY over priced. If you’re not going to eat that much, it’s definitely not worth the price. You would have to order at least 5 plates of meat in order to get your money’s worth. I would rather go to a nice shabu place and pay the same price for better quality/​more food.
They give you very very little vegetables. I love having veggies on the side, especially the cabbage. But the portions of the vegetables were way too small. Other ayce places give WAY more veggies for this price. For the price you’re paying, I would have expected a lot more vegetables.
However, the service is really good here. Everyone was friendly and patient because it was my first time there. They even let me sample the soup even though they don’t allow that!

I’ve never had Shabu Shabu before, but this place was amazing! The $ 15 lunch special is the way to go — my friend and I each ate 3 trays of beef. Delicious! I ordered the regular broth and he ordered spicy — we weren’t allowed to try each other’s broth because there are very strict rules for the $ 15 lunch special (no sharing, time limits and monetary penalties for not finishing the meat your order).
Will definitely come back to this spot! Already want it again…

Went here for Thanksgiving dinner and unsurprisingly, it was packed! This was my first time having shabu shabu and it was a fun experience!
We made it a family style event — had the rib eye and prime chuck hot pot with both regular and spicy broth (spicy was very mild). The meat was so tender and delicious! We also shared many sides including chicken kara (my fave from the table), yaki udon, agedashi, gyoza, etc.
It was quite an experience here and was the perfect setting for dinner with family in town. Above all, service was phenomenal!

Meat quality is good and the waiters are all friendly. Definitely recommend this place.

This is my second visit here. The first time was over 5 years ago.
I have to admit the service is top notch. It is high energy and very loud. Similar to other Shin-​Sen-​Gumi joints (yakatori and ramen). Alll the waiters and waitresses are literally screaming at the top of their lungs to welcome you, when you get the bill and when you leave, lol. It can get pretty uncomfortable if you’re trying to have an intimate conversation with your friends or family.
The prices are a bit high and the portions are small. You’re better off coming here for their happy hour with all you can eat meat. For our visit, my boyfriend ordered the Beef and Chicken BBQ for $ 15 and my chicken breast hotpot for $ 18. We also ordered 2 appetizers: Dynamite Scallops and Cream Crab Croquette. The scallops were a bit on the chewy and fishy side while the Crab Croquettes were amazing. I ordered my hotpot with the spicy broth. It was probably the most tastiest out of all the ingredients from my hotpot. Everything else was tasteless unfortunately.
Up to that point we were not impressed but hoped the dessert would make up for it. However the baked cheesecake was dry and the green tea pudding was tasteless (it could definitely be a little sweeter).
Our bill came to about $ 80 with tip included and we ended up going home hungry.

Shin Sen Gumi is a Japanese restaurant chain, located throughout Southern California. They are known more for their ramen, but they have various restaurants which specializes in different Japanese cuisines:
Yakitori — skewered meats that’s grilled over char-​coaled wood
Hakata Ramen — specialized ramen noodles hailing from Hakata city
Chanko — a hot pot style meal
Shabu Shabu /​Sukiyaki — thin slices of meats and vegetables cooked in a pot
Robata — similar to yakitori, grilled seafood and other meats
On Christmas Eve, my friend Roger invited us to the Shabu shabu location in Gardena. Fortunately, we picked a very good day to have lunch, as they were offering a Christmas lunch special of Kobe Round beef for $ 9.50. We couldn’t pass up on this great deal and decided to get the Christmas special.
Our lunch special was larger than I thought, with 14 slices of meat. The vegetables were adequate, but it was just napa cabbage, 2 quartered mushrooms, 2 cubes of tofu, sprigs of green onions, 2 thin carrots and an ounce of udon noodles. Perhaps the portion at lunch is substantially smaller?
The food was good, and the lunch price was fair. I was shocked to learn that if you ask for extra sauce, they charge you 50 cents! If I had known, I would not have ordered the extra sauce. I didn’t see this on the menu, but had to learn about this on Unilocal!You would think that you can get 1 refill and then they’ll charge you extra. That was disappointing.
Overall a good experience, but its pricey compared to other places I’ve been to. For the Shin-​Sen-​Gumi franchise, I prefer their ramen noodles restaurant more than their Shabu shabu. I’d return if I was hankering for a Shabu fix, and didn’t want to go to Orange County.

This place was amazing! I called ahead of time to book a reservation for 8 adults and 3 babies lol… and we got seated right away when we got there! Of course, the shabu shabu was DELICIOUS as it always is… YUM to great meat and veggies!
Buut what I really loved was the amazingly friendly and quick service here! Everyone was just super accommodating with everything. Plus, we had a lil’ cake for our friend’s bday, and they lit it up and sang to her hehe: P Good times!

This place is pretty good! I came in on a wednesday night I believe and they had AYCE shabu shabu that started at 8pm. The workers were very friendly, parking was easy because they have a lot.
They only give you brisket for the ayce shabu shabu but its still worth it. The first serving of meat they give you is a lot, and you also have vegetables and mushrooms oh and also a little bit of udon noodles. I ordered the spicy broth which costs extra and it wasnt too spicy. The sauces are good to dip the meat and vegetables in. The workers were so kind and was also showing me how to eat the shabu shabu haha. I will definitely come back here again!

Good Shabu Shabu better service! I thought their Shabu Shabu was just good. It really came down to Shin Sen’s Goma sauce that really broke it. The beef, sides and Takoyaki were good.
I like me some good Goma sauce. I thought the sauce here was like hummus! The consistency was hummus-​like as well.
Other than that, I liked Shin Sen Gumi Shabu Shabu! The wait staff were all attentive, happy and friendly. The prices are even cheaper and super affordable!

AYCE shabu shabu weeknights after 8pm for $ 18. Extra $ 2 to get the spicy broth, totally worth it. My friends raved about this place and I can see why. I was expecting lower quality, fatty meat, but I was wrong. The beef was lean and delicious. Swish swish a few seconds in the broth and it’s ready to eat!
Service at the bar was frequent and attentive. When we had to re-​order more beef, it came fast. Never had a time where we sat there with nothing to eat while waiting for the servers. Heads up — your clothes have a slight smell afterwards from the bbqs and open kitchen.

A tale of two visits. My first visit was definite a fail, but I’ll take the blame for that. I ordered a beef dish on a sizzling plate at a shabu shabu joint (definitely a no no). The second time around I ordered a steam pot dish and that was very good.
This location is on the small side, but they utilize all their space efficiently. The bar area is long and stretches the width of the restaurant. Each customer on the bar area is provided an induction stove top to cook your shabu shabu or steam pot, very neat!
On my first visit, i got the Teppan Kalbee. Eight small slices of kalbee on a bed of bean sprouts served on a sizzling plate. When I saw it, I knew it was over cooked. The dish came with two dipping sauce, neither was going to help that meat. For a thin slice of meat, you don’t need to put it on a sizzling plate, which just cooks it even more. Nice presentation, but the execution was flawed. This dish also came with a salad. Again, the presentation was beautiful, but it had little to no salad dressing to speak off. Not a good dish. Pass on this one.
On my second visit, I got the Berkshire Pork Steamed Pot. DELICIOUS! It took 7 minutes of steaming all the ingredients to produce an excellent dish. Thin slices of pork was steaming away on a bed of bean sprouts & cabbages w/​enoki mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli & fish cakes. The pork was fatty and super tasty, Yum! But the cabbage stole some of the pork’s thunder. That was just so good. The dipping sauce for this dish was on point. The chef recommend that I use some of the Japanese citrus condiment of the table with this dish and that advice was spot on. Yum!
Service was fast and helpful
Price was okay. Specially for lunch.
Rating: If I didn’t come back, the rating was going to be 2 star. My second visit was a solid 4 star. Combined, my rating is 3 stars
I would have no problem coming back, just not for the Teppan dish, lol
2015 Review #159

I don’t think I have ever been to a Japanese restaurant that is so much fun! The way they greet and say good bye to costumers are just fantastic! Made a last minute reservation on the phone, I’d rather not but had no choice but to «yell» at the gentleman over the phone cause he couldn’t hear me. He apologized when we arrived and I said I really didn’t mean to yell at him too!
A Shabu and BBQ place, with many small plates choices, everything looked so appetizing. We decided to get shabu and some side dishes, glad to see they have flavored shabu, not just plain water base. We chose soy based broth with 2 kinds of beef, add on shrimps and scallops, two orders each. Very good quality of meat, good sized shrimps and scallops were so fresh, the portions were much bigger than we expected! The ponzu dipping sauce was so good, the complimentary hot sauces on the table were bomb, they were great with meat and seafood, or even rice!
Other than Shabu, we had mushroom salad, fried garlic and cold tofu, they all tasted very good, so flavorful and delicious. Side veggie and rice noodle plate was large portioned too. So it was a lot of food for the two of us again! I had 2 draft Asahi, had to cheer with hubby when the server brought me my first glass, even though hubby was drinking coke only, it’s a tradition of this restaurant? It was interesting and fun indeed!
Food was so good, service was extremely friendly and attentive, we absolutely loved everything! Would love to come back soon!

Man, I apologize but for some reason this place wasn’t my thang. I was really looking forward to trying this place out as I have heard raving reviews; even my boyfriend is slightly obsessed with it.
I didn’t think the food quality was good. There was lots of fat in the meats and some of them were chewy. I only did the BBQ Charcoal grill btw! I had tried most of the meats except the prime rib one. Perhaps next time I will come back and give this a whirl.
Customer service is outstanding here. They really pay attention to details and that is something I hardly see at restaurants these days!

I am not experienced with JBBQ or Shabu Shabu. My wife and I drove down to Los Angeles to see my brother in law at a beard competition, and figured why not give it a shot. We were running about half an hour late, and called ahead to let the restaurant know. Uncle Go was the nicest person that you will ever meet. The entire staff of the restaurant was just great, and very helpful.
My wife and I, and our two friends sat down at a table of four, and were a little surprised by the atmosphere in the restaurant. It is quite loud, as the staff all have different phrases they like to say yell as different events happen. You raise your glass, and the restaurant erupts into cheering. You stand up to leave, the staff cheers. It’s a very welcoming, upbeat, and loud environment that honestly makes you feel very special.
The food was great, very fresh, and fun to prepare. I loved swishing my meat (heh) through boiling water filled with spice and vegetables. Cooking on the grill was also tons of fun. Followed up with the green tea pudding, the chocolate fondant thing, and the baked dough thing. I call them things, because I forget the names. Everything was super tasty, and we all really enjoyed the dining portion of the experience.
Service was arguably some of the best I have had, and not just our waiter. As mentioned previously, Unkle Go was one of the most interactive, caring hosts I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. The guy was awesome to talk to, and was in general just a very interesting person. Our waiter, Yusuke, was very playful and funny. He recommended a bunch of different foods, but was never really pushy. He had a great sense of humor, as well as being a very good dude.
This was overall a really great experience, that made me wish the restaurant was located up in the Bay Area. We will have to stop back in the next time we are in town!

I’ve been wanting to try here after I learned my favorite shin sen gumi has hot pot (shabu shabu) restaurant.
As I walked in, I was greeted by very typical shin-​send-​gumi style, loud but fun. I knew what to expect but always taken back a bit every time.
I thought I came here to eat shabu shabu but after smelling yakiniku BBQ, I couldn’t decided which one to order. I debated, I just had yakiniku at Tokyo a few weeks ago, but it was hot the day I visited and thought of eating hot pot wasn’t that appealing. That’s when I saw $ 80 for both! Enough to feed 2 – 3 people!
$ 80 meal consists of salad, some appetizers including kimuchi, then BBQ (several kinds of meat), and shabu shabu. I got full after my he first batch of meat!
Shabu shabu was good too. We had so much food to take home. They said it is good for 2 –3 people, but I think it was more than enough for 3 people!
Service was great! I felt like I was at an izakaya in Japan. Fun, cheerful and attentive servers took care of our table and it was fun watching him (I think his name was Yosuke) entertain other tables too.
Food was good, but I had better some other place. Not really fair to say so as we went for quantity, not quality. They do offer better meat and I wouldn’t mind trying those next time.
Overall I enjoyed fun ambiance with good food.

I finally came here for a non-​biz lunch. SSG started as a ramen house, but also has separate robata & yakitori and shabu shabu locations in Gardena. Shabu shabu is on Artesia in the Gardena Marketplace, just west of Normandie. BTW, they have some izakaya stuff here, but no ramen.
We both ordered the angus beef lunch ($ 7.98) w/​spicy soup ($ 2 upcharge). SSG tries to be an authentic shabu shabu house, and only offers beef, pork, and veggie shabu shabu (no chicken or seafood). First of all, the meat didn’t look like much, but I was full afterwards. The sides were a decent size portion (greens, mushrooms, carrots, tofu and noodles, and helped fill you up in addition to the rice: 3 Stars.
Regarding the ambiance, its very nice. There are a couple of tables for larger parties w/​shared pots that is unique to most shabu shabu houses. Obviously, there are seats at the counter where you have your own pot: 4 Stars. The service was OK, and our person explained the program because my biz associate was a shabu shabu first timer. But I deducted one star because our food came out after another party (fukn hate when that happens). In addition, there weren’t many options (no price point between $ 7.98 for angus and $ 15 for kobe, et al). Nonetheless, they were not rude.
Conclusion: This is a solid place for an inexpensive lunch, but the lack of seafood and other options is a turn off.

50 percent off on the 29^th!!! Every month, on the 29^th, my coworker and I have a standing lunch date to enjoy the 50 percent off deal rain or sunshine. (Unless it’s a weekend, I try very hard not to come into work in the weekend). On that day, the line starts at about 11:00 AM, so I would suggest coming here a little earlier than 11:30 (opening time) and waiting. Usually, if you are not the first wave of people to be seated, then you need to wait about 30 minutes. The workers try to be as efficient as possible. While you are waiting, there is a mini clipboard to fill out your order. There is only 2 options, beef or pork. I have never tried the pork before as I always get the beef.
Once we are seated, they provide you with a plate of veggies (including Napa cabbage, carrot, tofu, noodles), sauce (peanut and ponzu), rice, and the beef. The beef plate seems a little smaller, but we usually eat about one plate each and order one more plate to share with the rest of the table. With all the veggies, rice, etc. you are really full. The beef is also really tender and delicious. When the bill comes out, I am always surprised by how cheap it is (and feel good about it, too).
I have been here a bunch of times for lunch for the 50 percent off deal. I also have been here once for dinner (not 50 percent off) and it was good also. But you cannot beat this deal for lunch.

I know Shinsengumi is known for their ramen which I am not a fan of but this restaurant specializes shabu shabu and yakiniku.
I dont eat shabu shabu too often but I had a chance to try it here. Without knowing their prices and selections, I walked in and I was pretty shocked to see such a high price shabu shabu.
It wasnt even much food for the price I paid. for 2 people, I think I paid nearly $ 80 without tip. I dont know if I picked the expensive one on the menu but it was a little too expensive than I expected.
So was it good? No. It was just mediocre at best. It was just shabu shabu. The meat looked good and the quality was really good but still it didnt do any justice.
Service is pretty good and attentive like most of other Japanese restaurants are. I would probably make shabu shabu at home and enjoy much more than here.