Shaba-Shabu Thai Japanese

11/07/09

Don't judge a book by it's cover...

by anonymous88 at Citysearch

I have been to Shaba-Shabu twice since moving to NC in 2006. I had excellent previous experiences, and convinced my boyfriend to take us here for our date night. We called in a reservation, and a table was ready for us upon our arrival. We had a friendly waiter who took our drink order and made us feel at home.

We ordered our appitizer (sushi roll) and entree's and up to this point, I was very impressed with this restaurant. Then my opinion went down hill. I was not pleased with the Taste of the Sushi roll, the presentation was great, but the taste - NOT so great. Then our entree's arrived. The ratio of noodles:shrimp (meat) was Ridiculous! There was enough Pad Thai noodles to feed four people, and 5 shrimp. Tiny shrimp that were not very flavorful at that! My boyfriend was making a funny little comment, when the waiter overheard him and grabbed the Manager. He came over and told me that there were supposed to be 5 shrimp, but that he would buy us dessert to "make up" for it. I told him that was unneccessary.. but he kept mouthing (er.. talking) until I finally said ok.

Now - I understand that the economy is not as it once was .. but FIVE shrimp was UNacceptable! I work Part time in a VERY nice restaurant in downtown Raleigh, and can understand "cutting back a little bit" but this was ridiculous! The waiter was VERY nice, and tried very hard to make up for the manager's attitude. The ambiance and warmth of the restaurant made up for the taste of the appitizer, but I will not be going back to Shaba-Shabu again! It was not worth the money or aggrevation...

• Pros: Ambiance, Attentive waitstaff
• Cons: Manager, Portion size

10/11/09

Wonderful place... disregard the nasty review below.

by kaleidoskope at Citysearch

Judging by the tone of the review below, I think the attitude problem lay with the diners. We order takeout from ShabaShabu almost weekly, and dine in about once a month. The staff are always courteous and the sushi is fresh, well-presented and (most importantly) delicious!

Last time we were there we ordered a bottle of wine that turned out to be unavailable that day. Our waiter, who was very personable and enthusiastic, recommended a similar offering... it was more expensive, but they charged us the price of the bottle we originally wanted, saving us around $10. Overall, the prices are very reasonable; I'm not sure why, but sushi in Raleigh tends to be WAY overpriced in general. I've been to pretty much every sushi place in town, and the quality you usually get at a comparable price is terrible (I'm looking at you, Sushi Blues).

I don't really like Thai, so I can't speak for that half of the menu, but the Japanese offerings are stellar. The seaweed salad is the best I've had anywhere. Try the Hurricane roll, Yummy roll, or good old-fashioned Futomaki. For dessert, try the green tea ice cream. You won't be disappointed : )

• Pros: Best sushi place in Raleigh, with courteous service!
• Cons: none!

08/29/09

Verbally attacked at Shaba Shabu

by JohanMichael at Citysearch

My partner and I were given a $150 gift Certificate to this "restaurant", we went to dinner there and met some very nice people at the bar that were also having dinner. We ended up going over the limit of the gift and spent a good bit extra. We paid the extra and left a normal tip for the service we received. On the way out the waiter that we found out later was the owner's nephew had the nerve to ask why we didnt leave more of a tip. We did speak to the manager Peter, if he is even that, about what happen. He pleaded with me not to tell our friend what had happend and ask us to come back as his guests. Which we did two days later. When we got to the restaurant, we did eat and have drinks.

In the process of our dinner we observed other parties having some difficulties with both the service staff and Peter the manager. I actually heard this man raise his voice and demeanor to a woman who was half his size. My partner and I ask to speak with him to say thank you for dinner and wanted to leave. We waited over 30 minutes to speak with him and he never came back to our table. We saw him at the front and was about to go and thank him for the meal, when a very sarcastic waitress ( I wouldnt even call her a young lady) said something that was completely uncalled to the effect of "they couldnt have done it without us. When we spoke to Peter, he stood there like I was speaking with my feet. Then we were verbally attacked by two other members of the staff. After all of this the so called "manager" stood there like the useless piece of furniture that he was and said nothing.

While we were in the parking lot speaking to one of the other FOUR parties about their horrible experiences, another member of the staff came out and again verbally attacked my partner and I.

The food is overall not bad, the restaurant is really pretty on the inside, but the staff and the management are more than just lacking. I will NEVER go back and will do every thing I can to make sure that my friends, business partners, and family do the same thing. I have never been so insulted by a company in my entire life. Please save yourself , friends and family the hassle of having to deal with being insulted and offened, just order your local Chinese food from home.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Abusive Staff and Ignorate Management