In December 2015, Sakura Shabu opened up their location off Wilshire and Harbor Boulevard in downtown Fullerton in the same location that was formerly a shabu shabu restaurant. Sakura has multiple locations: Huntington Beach, Lake Forest, and soon to open in Anaheim. I was excited to try this new place, hoping that this would be up to par with the more popular Shabu places found in Rowland Heights.
At first glace, the prices didn’t look bad, until I realized that a small portion is just a mere 6 slices, and a large is twice that at 12 slices. There’s nothing in between, and the price jump was substantial as well. The staff justified that if you can’t finish 12 pieces, you can cook it, and then take it home in a container. Uhh, no, I don’t want to take home a few slices of meat.
There’s only 4 broth to choose from: Miso/ Spicy Miso, Sukiyaki, Kim Chi, with the latter 2 broths costing extra. They also up-charge you if you want brown rice.
We chose the regular Angus beef plate (6 pieces) and added one order of the regular sized premium Angus beef plate to share… giving each of us 9 slices of meat.
While beautifully presented, I was really disappointed in the size of the regular Angus beef. Now I can see why it can be possible for someone to consume 12 slices. Those slices were small, and no way would 6 pieces be sufficient, even for a child.
The slices for the premium Angus beef, however, was substantially larger, and I can see someone ordering a small plate and feeling that it was cost effective. Portion sizes for the vegetables were a bit underwhelming, and I wish they could have added just a bit more.
Overall the food was not bad. I would have preferred more marble in my meat, rather than have the fat on one side like bacon. For the cost of our meal, I get a lot more for the same at the places in Rowland Heights. $50 for dinner and no drink. Ouch! Overall grade: C+
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