鍋ぞう 池袋サンシャイン６０通り店

Reviewer comments: The restroom is shared with the KTV across the street, but it's still okay.

When I came to Japan, I wanted to have wagyu shabu-shabu. I found this Japanese hot pot & shabu-shabu place on Google Maps with pretty good reviews. The comments mentioned Chinese-speaking waitstaff, so I decided to give it a try. However, the person serving us was Japanese. At first, it was a bit of a language barrier, but the waiter made a good effort to communicate with us in English. 👏 It was a weekday evening and quite crowded. We chose the black-haired wagyu all-you-can-eat option for 8,800 yen per person, which included unlimited black-haired wagyu, domestic beef, domestic pork, vegetables, ice cream, and white rice. Additionally, soft drinks were 550 yen, and unlimited alcoholic drinks were 2,200 yen. If you didn't order anything, they provided plain water.

Initially, they brought out two basic plates each. I started with the domestic beef, and I have to say the quality of the domestic beef was really good! The pieces were quite large, and both types of domestic beef were nice. One had more marbling, making it softer, but they were both delicious. Next, I moved on to the black-haired wagyu. You can cook it for just 3 seconds and it’s ready; the marbling is rich and it’s more tender and juicy than the domestic beef. After that, I kept ordering more wagyu, and they brought it out quickly! By the end, I started feeling a bit full 😂, so I switched to trying the domestic pork. I can’t quite remember how the quality was since I only ordered one plate, but it should be good too. The broth was a bit salty at first, and there were also items on the side like water and shabu-shabu soup. As I continued eating, I added more water, which made it feel more like a hot pot. 😂

Overall, if you're not set on having wagyu, you can simply order the regular domestic beef, which is already quite good. I would recommend friends to come and try it.