Nagomi Shabu Shabu @ Menara Hap Seng

The shabu shabu dining experience originates from Japan, where thin slices of beef is being swish to and froth in pots of boiling clear konbo and daishi soup. Nagomi, unlike other Malaysianised shabu shabu places with fish balls and mock meat, offer us a truly Japanese swish swish experience.

Since the Menara Hap Seng branch is located near to my working place, together with my colleague, we checked out the place on their second day of opening.

The best thing without a doubt was the atmosphere but the service was slow and a little chaotic; it takes ages for the serving staff to bring in the menu, another long pause before we get our serving of soup, and finally our order of shabu shabu sets arrived after a freaking long time.

When we asked the waitress to check on our order of food and why is it taking so long, she shoved her tongue and answered “I duno wor”. Classic.

The shabu-shabu servings are available in sets (salmon shabu-shabu RM45++, chicken set RM28++, duck set RM 29++, beef shabu shabu RM33) and all set comes with the clear broth, a bowl of rice and assorted vegetables.

Everyone gets an individual pot and individual serving of soup. Most of us chose the signature clear chicken broth, Nagomi while another colleague chose the spicy soup.

The Step By Step Guide

1. For a more flavorful broth and to bring out the taste of the meat, cook all the white vegetables, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, onions and leeks first.

2. Dip a slice of meat into the hot boiling broth, and swish it back and forth for less than a minute. Poultry may take a longer time to cook than meat.

3. Dip the cooked meat in our homemade sauce. Ponzu is great with vegetables, goma to enrich the meat and chili to suit Malaysia taste buds.

4. Intersperse the cooking of meat with other green leaf vegetables and tofu.

5. Pour the steam rice into the leftover broth, let it simmers a little, enabling the rice to absorb all the goodness from the broth.

Other than the set item for shabu shabu, Nagomi serves all kinds of salads, Japanese tapas, sushis and sashimis as well. We were too horrified to order extra sides by then. We paid around RM40++ per pax, pricey but one can be sure that they are getting what they paid for. I hope that service has improved by then because I can almost be assured by their quality and commitment towards their Japanese Shabu Shabu.

Nagomi Shabu Shabu
http://www.nagomishabushabu.com/

Jaya 33,
No. 3, Jalan Semangat,
Seksyen 13,
46200 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.

Suite 1–19,
1st Floor, The Podium, Menara Hap Seng,
Jalan P.Ramlee,
50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Hartamas Shopping Centre, Ground Floor.

Business Hours:
11:00am to 10:00pm (daily)
Contact:
603 7986 2330 (Tel – Jaya 33)
603 2141 6332 (Tel – Menara Hap Seng)
603 2141 6331 (Fax)