All time favorite hot pot spot! Parking can be tricky. Love the watermelon smoothie!!

It's been 5 months since I had hotpot... Shabu Zen definitely satisfied my cravings! As much as we complain about their pricing, we're confident that it will never disappoint us. Please bring back $2-$3 broths! LOL

Amazing hotpot- the Mongolian is my favorite. Try the vegan fish and the fish paste and the quail eggs! Parking lot behind though it fills up pretty quick Be prepared to wait on weekends but worth it!

This place is one of the more popular hot pot restaurants in the Boston area. There is a small parking lot off the side street if you are lucky. The restaurant is huge with bar seating having individual pots and tables with shared pots. Service was attentive and quick. The house broth is included and any flavor is an extra charge. I got the A5 beef regular combo and it came with a choice of noodles and assorted vegetables. The udon noodles and beef were fresh and not frozen. It did give an impression of higher quality than other places. The flavor broth is really good and the portion for the regular meat combo was a good size for one person. You should get a regular combo for each person.

Shabu-Zen is a well known Japanese hotpot restaurant in Allston with another location in Chinatown. I have only been once before and typically go to other places because I usually prefer Sichuan/Chongqing hotpot, and the last time I went it was pricey. I decided to get some lighter hotpot and chose Shabu-zen. We got miso and mongolian broth which were both very good, and the mongolian broth is very very mildly spicy. I don't love how they don't have a sauce bar but that is something that is expected when coming here (just the few ingredients given). We got prime beef combo with ramen, tofu puff, udon, pork dumplings, and fried tofu. The ramen is not worth the extra money as it is already pretty overcooked so putting it in the broth makes it too mushy. I will say the meat here is the best quality meat I have ever had at hotpot but it is extremely pricey for a small amount. Vegetables were fresh as well as the other ingredients. I really like it here as a way to switch it up from Chinese hotpot and because of the quality of the ingredients, but the prices here are very steep compared to every other hotpot place I have been to in Boston. After tip it was about $100 for two people and we did not feel like we ate that much, especially when it came to meat. I would come back but I have other places that I prefer more.

My favorite hot pot spot in Boston for over 15year+. We always get the kimchi broth and don katsu broth and they are both great. We end up going back because their sauces are what makes it different/special from other shabu spots. I love love love their peanut sauce (so good that i ask them for extra all the time) but their soy sauce mixed w different herbs and chili oil is amazing. If you choose a meat a plate of vegetable (napa cabbage, mushroom,corn, buckchoy, carrot and tomato comes as a default on the side) if you want extra veggies you must order it a la carte. Also included is a choice of carbs (rice, vermicelli,udon) Highly recommend their fried tofu skin and fresh tofu skin and their in house made fish paste! This place is very spacious making it great for families large and small and the staff is on point . We love that this location has parking in the back which is a plus for allston location since parking can be tough. Definitely give this place a try if you're in the area.