Shabu-Shabu 70

Having Shabu Shabu 70 literally down the block from me is an amazing winter retreat. The premium beef shabu is spot on and super authentic with fresh veggies and all the fixings you would expect.
I’ve also had sushi here before (both rolls and even the Omakase) and found it to be fresh and excellent.
Best part is the amazing service. It’s clear that they care about their customers with shows in how hospitable their staff is!

It’s a so-​so spot on the UES with an extremely friendly wait staff. I can’t speak about the shabu shabu or sushi, which may well be better. I instead had the udon, which came with chicken teriyaki. I’d characterize both as «serviceable,» but definitely nothing special. Some may argue that udon has limited upside. Truth enough, but you can do wonders with broth and the mix of condiments you put inside. Not so here.
On the plus side, P2P here (my advanced metric for price-​to-​portions ratio) is superb. It’s definitely not a bad place to stop for an economical lunch. You face a decision: do I wanna spend $ 15 for a 3-​star lunch or $ 35 for a 4-​star lunch. In an era of protracted not-​quite-​formal recession, the answer is obvious to many of us.

The sukiyaki here is excellent. Delicious, good portion sizes and reasonable prices. Can’t wait to come back to try everything else on the menu.

My family and I have *literally* been going to Shabu Shabu for 24 YEARS! It’s the BEST.
–Food is amazing. Best Japanese food (sushi and hot meals, especially the negimaki… yum) I’ve had in all of NYC. And I’ve tried a lot of places. In fact, I live in Brooklyn now, but go to the Upper East Side to eat at Shabu when I want the most delicious Japanese food!
–Customer service is lovely. The owners are the sweetest people. The sushi chefs have been there for 20+ years. The waiters and waitresses are usually young people who are incredibly polite and quick with service.
–The restaurant itself makes a group dinner feel intimate. Cute space and well decorated.
–Delivery is quick.
I can’t think of a single negative thing to say… I wish they delivered to Brooklyn.

Worst Shabu place ever been to. They pack them in and there is literally no room to eat on the table. Also, I was crammed up against the wall with no space to bend my elbows. The temperature was like a steam bath, extremely uncomfortable and we had to ask the server to constantly turn on the air for circulation. Several members of my party had to leave the table and step outside to get fresh air. The food was nothing special and ingredients sparse, sauces worse. There is a time limit of 2 hours for each table. Once your time is up the manager asks you to leave. Very unpleasant. Now I know why they heat up the restaurant, they want you to feel so uncomfortable that you can’t wait to pay to leave. No wonder the Japanese don’t frequent this restaurant, just ignorant accepting unsuspecting gaijin… so sad, since it wouldn’t take much to turn this place around. Better to call this place «Car Wash 70», line them up and get them out!

Not a lot of Shabu places in town, so we were psyched to find this one. Overall a positive experience, nice food and down-​to-​earth price.

We were lucky to get a table near the bar, at around 8 PM, in an area that had no customers but us, so we could hear ourselves. Had shabu-​shabu, new to me, which was good. I especially liked the veggies in it.
Good service.

Authentic Japanese with super friendly and courteous service. The sauces are excellent. This is by far the best shabu-​shabu in NYC.

This is a really good restaurant — so good that my daughter said I should give it 5 stars! We have been here a few times, and I am surprised I haven’t reviewed it yet.
For those who don’t know, Shabu Shabu is Japanese Hot Pot. Which is basically boiling water in which you cook beef, fish, chicken and assorted vegetables. They also give you udon noodles. Then after you have cooked the meats/​fish you eat the hot water as it is now soup.
This restaurant does a great job with it. We get the premium beef which is delicious. The girls get the chicken skewers which they love. The sushi is also top notch. They have a large assortment of Sake too.
The service is very friendly and very tolerant of children. I would definitely recommend.

I am hovering between 3 stars and 4 stars. I made a reservation for a Saturday night for my friend’s birthday dinner. The staff is all Japanese and may have some trouble speaking English. As a result, there was some miscommunication and they thought I wanted a reservation for 7 people at 10pm, instead of 10 people at 7pm. I was confused why she sounded so horrified on the phone, but it was all cleared up when we got to the restaurant. There is actually no need for reservation even for a large group. The restaurant was fairly empty.
The shabu shabu was $ 30/​person for the premium beef (min. 2 people need to order this) and not all you can eat. The plate of beef looks enormous, given they put 3 orders worth on each plate, but after being cooked down, for $ 30/​person it was actually very little. They didn’t give much in terms of vegetables, just some napa cabbage, udon, tofu, and shiitake. We shared 3 plates among the 7 of us who got the shabu shabu. Even with the ponzu dipping sauce, it was somewhat flavorless, but it did let the quality of the beef shine through. The broth, similarly, was pretty bland. It was just boiled water with 2 pieces of kombu in it, but in the end the taste was cleaner. Overall, I prefer regular Chinese hot pot.
The staff was very accommodating. At first, they suggested we use only 2 pots among the 7 of us who ordered, but brought another one at our request. We also brought two cakes to surprise our friends with. The first one was to be a surprise brought out during dessert, and the second one was to be a second surprise brought out as we were paying for the bill. They executed the surprise perfectly and even decorated the cakes with candles and strawberries.
The service was great, but I was disappointed in the shabu shabu, especially with the high price. That is what makes it 3 stars for me. Although, sneaking a peek at the other tables, their sushi looks quite good. Next time, I think I’d forego the shabu shabu and go for the sushi instead.

One of the best shabu shabu restaurants in NYC. Easy choice, just go with the shabu shabu with beef and a sashimi don in addition. Portion is perfect and the price is reasonable. I would recommend the stylish don, fresh, tasty, and got different fish.
The décor is simple and service is perfect. I will be back and find other surprises!

As a lover of sushi and experienced taster of fine omakase at many of the city’s great haunts, I can vouch for the sushi at Shabu-​Shabu. I recommend paying a little more for the ‘fatty’ cuts of each fish (their under-​$ 40 omakase has them all) but the regular cuts are good too. I’ve been here over a dozen times and even saw a celebrity in the corner once.
They also have a phenomenal uni tempura that’s a must-​try. This is an authentic Japanese restaurant with great sushi at a reasonable price. (I can’t speak for the shabu shabu, have never ordered it despite the restaurant’s name.)

Shabu-​Shabu 70 deserves 5 stars ALONE for the bunny costume the sushi chef wears for birthday celebrations. Also, the shabu-​shabu is amazing – better than I had in Kyoto or Tokyo. Don’t get me started on their ponzu sauce…
It’s a real shame that this doesn’t have 5 stars. Great service, great people, and most importantly, GREAT FOOD.

The restaurant décor is a bit old fashioned. So not so much for a date night…
But oh my ! Their Shabu Shabu was really good! I enjoyed a wonderful customer service:-) I will definitely go back to have a relaxing family Shabu

Still love this place. Go frequently. Most other Shabu-​Shabu joints in NYC have shuttered in recent years, which is too bad. But this place keeps going. Not much to look at, but good food and service.
When going to Shabu-​Shabu 70, I recommend you try the Shabu-​Shabu :)

For Shabu, we tried both the Regular Beef and Premium Beef. It is difficult to tell the difference between the two once they are cooked. Premium beef appears more fatty when raw. Would probably opt for the less expensive regular version next time instead of half/​half. The Shabu comes with a nice assortment of vegetables and noodles on the side and great sauce options. However I was a bit surprised that they did not provide soup ladles and strainers for the Shabu so we were basically picking things out of the pot with chopsticks the entire time.
For appetizers, tried the Agedofu — 4.5 stars — (
) very flavorful and highly recommended, and the Fried Gyoza — 3 stars — (
) these were pretty typical.
Very friendly service, good ambiance, and a great meal overall. The restaurant definitely tries to be more high end so the price is slightly high for having to cook food yourself, but definitely a solid choice.

Wow, this place is a sham and an imposter shabu restaurant. I’ve been going to shabu shabu restaurants for years and have never experienced anything this abysmal. Their name has the word «shabu-​shabu» in it, and yet the shabu shabu part of the menu feels like an afterthought.
First off, In a legit shabu restaurant each person gets their own hot pot, but this being NYC I completely understand why a group of two or three has to share. Fine. But what I don’t understand is how they have no hot pot dividers to separate my shabu from my boyfriends — he doesn’t eat beef and I don’t eat pork, but we had to cook them in the same pot. They didn’t even know what I was talking about, yet I’ve seen them at ALL other shabu restaurants I’ve been to.
Secondly, they are stingy on the veggies (my boyfriend and i had ONE mushroom between the both of us), they premium beef was old and drying up around the edges AND our udon noodles had 2 bugs in it (I think fruit flies?). Once I pointed it out they didn’t apologize or try and comp a portion of the bill or even offer us free dessert. They just took it away and brought us another plate.
Thirdly, since it’s not a real shabu restaurant they don’t allow you to put spices in the hot pot because the smell might bother the table next to you. I like adding a bit of garlic and chili oil for better flavor.
Their sauces also tasted like they were out of a can and not made in-​house.
They didn’t even have a strainer to scoop out the scum in the hot hot pot (a builds up from the fats, etc). They just gave us an over sized spoon which defeats the whole purpose. You end up scooping out the broth rather than the scum.
My god there is so much more to write but I think I got my point across.
Stay away.

un bon ptit japonais de quartier …
ambiance rien d’incroyable mais patron japonais Tres gentil
Roll soft shell crab delicieux
par contre le poulet teriaki n’étais pas incroyable!
4 Gros roll + poulet teriaki + riz + biere = 40 $ pas excessif pour NY

Overall, just ok
Came here with a friend on a cold winter night for some hot pot
We got this tuna thing for appetizer (see pic), it was just ok, not too fresh in my opinion. And the thinly slice cucumber around it, tasted kind of fishy
We got the beef and chicken shabu shabu
it took forever to come out and when they brought it out, it was a pot of plain water with two slices of seaweed in there
Everything was just ok, the sauce they give u to dip the thing in was really just ok, one was a peanut based sauce, and the other one was soy sauce with vinegar in it.
The soup was very bland. really nothing spacial, I can cook the same thing at home
Don’t think I will come here again…

Lunch review:
The value for what you get just isn’t there: $ 12.50 for numerous bento options and rolls that didn’t look too appealing, so I went with my gut and ordered off the normal dinner menu: soft shell crab roll and shrimp tempura roll for $ 8 each. Yeah, it was a long week so I splurged a little! No complaints though.
I saw a couple tables get a big wok type bowl filled with noodles, veggies and meat (I think) and it looked really good, so maybe that’s the dish to get. They bring it to the table on a large apparatus with flame on bottom.
Will be back, probably for dinner, to try more of the menu. It’s a charming little place for sure, and actually has more space than it appears from the street.

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