I began researching for a nice place that we could go to and thought about going "dimsum". However, the week before I happen to be watching "TV Diner" (One of my favorite foodie show, another one is "Phantom Gourmet") and these 2 young girls mentioned this great shabu-shabu place in Chinatown. Now that solved my dilemma as to where we are to go for dinner and I continued my research online. For a great dining experience, one has to read other diners' reviews and we were'nt disappointed.
Kaze Shabu-Shabu which is located on the corner of Essex and Harrison St. in Boston is the place to be for an inexpensive and quality dining experience. For those who do not know, shabu is a Japanese term for hotpot stickers (which is its Chinese counterpart). According to one story, the word shabu was the sound that it makes once meat, seafood, vegetables, etc hits the pot of boiling water. Hmmmm! I'm still trying to figure this one out. I thought that I would usually hear "sizzle". But anyways, you can read more interesting stories about it here.
Though one reviewer suggested that appetizers can be skipped because the entrees get to you faster anyways, we still decided to get 2 appetizers, just so that we can try them. We ordered the Cream Corn (see photo below) and the Crispy Seafood Wrap (no photo because, everybody got so excited that we forgot to take a picture). But believe you me, both appetizers were excellent that we couldn't wait for the next dish to come.
As our soup base, I'm glad that we decided to go for the dual soup and chose meat based and the other was Thai Tom Yun which was also highly recommended. Although, I had some misgivings about the Thai soup because it was suppose to be hot and spicy but to my delight it was not really that hot nor too spicy after all. This is similar to our "sinigang" soup base with maybe some chili added to it.
For our entree, we chose the surf and turf combo plate because it has seafood and chicken as our meat. Our waitstaff suggested that we get 2 plates instead of one and this we shared with the 4 of us.
The premise for shabu dining is to cook your meat, seafood and vegetables in the pot of your chosen boiling soup base. They do give you instructions on how long your proteins and veggies should be cook but it is really no sweat for experienced cooks. However, for those who don't even know how to boil water, I guess you should just try to "wing" it. If you happen to take your meat out prematurely, just place it on the bowl or dish provided and scoop some boiling broth on it. The broth will surely cook your meat or seafood in a few seconds. I even use the soup to put on my rice since I really love to do so whenever we have soup during mealtime.
Not a lot of the reviewers that I've read talked about dessert but since we were getting to be adventurous that night and after that wonderful meal we then decided to try their desserts after we saw their extensive list. We had 2 bowls of green tea ice cream, the Chocolate Mousse cake and the Mango Mousse cake. The cakes were heavenly, not too sweet nor too heavy on the palate. I believe that their desserts complimented the main course and it didn't fail to impress us. Next time, I'll have a cake all to myself... :-)
All in all, Kaze, gave us an experience that we would not easily forget. Ambience was just right for my taste. Cleanliness was strictly observed and the waitstaff were all attentive to our needs. This is one place that you will want to bring in your friends and family and introduce them to a different dining experience. I can't wait to go back...
Table Setting at Kaze
Soup Base: Meat (l) and Thai Tom Yun (r)
Surf and Turf: Salmon, Shrimp, Fish cake, Scallops, Clams, White Fish, Squid, Chicken
Combo plates come with a side order of rice or noodles, fresh vegetables and other condiments. In the middle is the "Cream Corn" appetizer.
Chocolate Mousse Cake
Mango Mousse Cake
i just lovee ethe dessert. getting hungry by just looking at it!!