If you can even find this place at night then youre in for a special treat. (It is only open from 6-9 every night, and reservations are required we were told- we had made ours a month ago but we were told when leaving to always call first before coming back). No lit sign out front. Just around the corner off of Main on 10th. Outside looks are decieving, if you find the place it will look kind of like a hole in the wall type of place on the outside similar to what you might find in Chinatown in NYC or San Francisco off of an alley or something, but when you walk inside tho you find this amazing and really cool little Asian restaurant with lots of bamboo and cool looking wooden tables, all with 2 cooking burners in the middle of the table each with a pot on it.
We saw a few couples trying to have what looked like an intimate special dinner so a nice romantic meal here or a special moment meal this place would be perfect. But then I also noticed that there were alot more tables with multiple people which we found it was alot of fun to have more people to share in the fun, food and noise. The place is kind of noisy but not in a bad way, its just noisy being small with most of the people there all having a great time. I know it will be just me and the wife some visit in the future but it was a lot of fun with our grown children and a teen.
You start out by choosing an appetizer or like us we usually are starving so we go straight to entree- you can choose from Kobe prime rib to ribeye to chicken to several different seafood choices. The meat is sliced super thin and arranged on a large platter cold. Youre then brought a large platter of cold vegies and tofu chunks that you will also cook in the pot. Everything is super fresh and expertly presented and you can see that with this food it is going to be a very healthy meal. (We were told by our server that returning guests and regulars always order the chefs 'mystery' appetizer. They wont say what it is as it is a special creation of the chef but that you wont be disappointed. We're trying that on our next visit).
The method here is basically Asian style hot pot cooking- the center of the table has 2 burners with 2 pots of boiling broth- everything gets cooked in the pots by everybody at the table. Its fun and interactive. Its called 'shabu shabu' and according to them this is the only place in Oklahoma doing it even though it is apparently normal to find this style of cooking in most Asian folks homes and restaurants abroad. Think the Melting Pot but with broth instead of oil and cheese and Asian style cut meats and vegies instead of cubes of bread, meat and vegies. (I was raised in southern CA eating alot of fresh seafood being by the ocean cooked in a Euro style of fondue along with meats and vegies in hot oil and dipped in sauces and chutneys my mother prepared fresh, this was similar).
Dean. One half of the duo who owns this place and another in Stillwater, Main St Noodle, is the dining room main man who goes around and helps out newbs to learn the processes as well as being the overall dinner entertainment. This guy is a character. We had a blast with this guy, he made it way more fun than what it already was. The other partner is the chef in the kitchen.
I chose ribeye steak and everybody else ordered something different so we could all share- wife chose one of the seafood plates with salmon and shrimp, one kid chicken, another a different seafood plate, and another ribeye. We chose one pot of spicy broth, or Mongolian, for the guys and one of regular or a sukiyaki type of broth for the girls even though by the time we were done we had all cooked in both, then you also have various sauces to the sides of the burners and pots that the hot meats and vegies rest in for a second before they go in your bowl of sticky white rice before eating. The always happy and fun servers are constantly coming over and refilling the pots with broth during the meal.
Just like in cooking stir fry you quickly figure out to put in the stuff that cooks longer first then add the quicker cooking things and then reverse the process by pulling out the quicker cooking stuff and cooling off a bit by dipping in the provided sauces then into your bowl of rice and then reaching in and getting your longer cooked stuff. With 5 or 6 people sometimes it became confusing but once we got a rythym going it was alot of fun all at the same time. I ordered steak but I snagged some salmon, shrimp, scallops, and chicken from the others. Everybody did the same and we had no fights, unlike when the kids were small.
Dean comes around to all of the tables to help out and he also brings a spicier dipping sauce for those that want it that really has the heat. (If he asks you your heat preference from 1-5, just say 5. I said 3. He was deadpan when asking me so I was slightly intimidated and reluctant to ask for the hottest. Sure enough, it was blazing hot, which I like anyways, but no one else could handle it. Our server later informed us that he has a mischeivous streak and will give most big guys like me a 5 anyways to mess with them no matter. I was cool with it, or hot...). And an egg dip to dip the meats in before putting in the broth was awesome, Dean will come over and instruct you in this method of cooking it as well as how to eat it after it is cooked, once I tried it it was so awesome I did everything in it after that. And when youre all done cooking your meats and vegies then youre instructed to dip some of the remaining broth from the pots into your rice bowl to finish off the meal with a great tasting soup.
I ordered a large serving of meats but could have ordered small and been more than happy, and Im a big guy, unlike most Asian or fusion joints you will not leave this place still hungry. And if youre into dessert, we are, weirdly they make an awesome version of my all time fave dessert- Tiramisu. The girls got a strange looking ice cream sandwich in the shape of a fish, they all liked it.
Note. If youre used to spending money on a meal every now and then that is just as much part ambience and entertainment as well as great tasting and super healthy with the best service plus you can see how much prep went into preparing this awesome meal by its chef, then like us you wont mind their fairly high prices. If youre the type tho who has to weigh out how much food you got for the price you paid then you probably wont be happy with your bill or this place. It was pricey but we're frequent restaurant patrons and we like to have fun and we had a freaking blast so to me it was well worth it and we will for sure be back. Its not fast food though, we were there about an hour and a half, still, I found it to be a nice change from our usual over priced steak, baked potato, salad joint we always go to on a Friday night. Just an hour drive from Tulsa- swung by the wifes work on Memorial to pick her up with a reservation for 6:30 and we were heading back home stuffed at 8 ish and home way before the news came on.
Im already thinking of all of the stuff I can take to the kids who are going to school there- umm, so I have a reason to revisit this place more.
We saw a few couples trying to have what looked like an intimate special dinner so a nice romantic meal here or a special moment meal this place would be perfect. But then I also noticed that there were alot more tables with multiple people which we found it was alot of fun to have more people to share in the fun, food and noise. The place is kind of noisy but not in a bad way, its just noisy being small with most of the people there all having a great time. I know it will be just me and the wife some visit in the future but it was a lot of fun with our grown children and a teen.
You start out by choosing an appetizer or like us we usually are starving so we go straight to entree- you can choose from Kobe prime rib to ribeye to chicken to several different seafood choices. The meat is sliced super thin and arranged on a large platter cold. Youre then brought a large platter of cold vegies and tofu chunks that you will also cook in the pot. Everything is super fresh and expertly presented and you can see that with this food it is going to be a very healthy meal. (We were told by our server that returning guests and regulars always order the chefs 'mystery' appetizer. They wont say what it is as it is a special creation of the chef but that you wont be disappointed. We're trying that on our next visit).
The method here is basically Asian style hot pot cooking- the center of the table has 2 burners with 2 pots of boiling broth- everything gets cooked in the pots by everybody at the table. Its fun and interactive. Its called 'shabu shabu' and according to them this is the only place in Oklahoma doing it even though it is apparently normal to find this style of cooking in most Asian folks homes and restaurants abroad. Think the Melting Pot but with broth instead of oil and cheese and Asian style cut meats and vegies instead of cubes of bread, meat and vegies. (I was raised in southern CA eating alot of fresh seafood being by the ocean cooked in a Euro style of fondue along with meats and vegies in hot oil and dipped in sauces and chutneys my mother prepared fresh, this was similar).
Dean. One half of the duo who owns this place and another in Stillwater, Main St Noodle, is the dining room main man who goes around and helps out newbs to learn the processes as well as being the overall dinner entertainment. This guy is a character. We had a blast with this guy, he made it way more fun than what it already was. The other partner is the chef in the kitchen.
I chose ribeye steak and everybody else ordered something different so we could all share- wife chose one of the seafood plates with salmon and shrimp, one kid chicken, another a different seafood plate, and another ribeye. We chose one pot of spicy broth, or Mongolian, for the guys and one of regular or a sukiyaki type of broth for the girls even though by the time we were done we had all cooked in both, then you also have various sauces to the sides of the burners and pots that the hot meats and vegies rest in for a second before they go in your bowl of sticky white rice before eating. The always happy and fun servers are constantly coming over and refilling the pots with broth during the meal.
Just like in cooking stir fry you quickly figure out to put in the stuff that cooks longer first then add the quicker cooking things and then reverse the process by pulling out the quicker cooking stuff and cooling off a bit by dipping in the provided sauces then into your bowl of rice and then reaching in and getting your longer cooked stuff. With 5 or 6 people sometimes it became confusing but once we got a rythym going it was alot of fun all at the same time. I ordered steak but I snagged some salmon, shrimp, scallops, and chicken from the others. Everybody did the same and we had no fights, unlike when the kids were small.
Dean comes around to all of the tables to help out and he also brings a spicier dipping sauce for those that want it that really has the heat. (If he asks you your heat preference from 1-5, just say 5. I said 3. He was deadpan when asking me so I was slightly intimidated and reluctant to ask for the hottest. Sure enough, it was blazing hot, which I like anyways, but no one else could handle it. Our server later informed us that he has a mischeivous streak and will give most big guys like me a 5 anyways to mess with them no matter. I was cool with it, or hot...). And an egg dip to dip the meats in before putting in the broth was awesome, Dean will come over and instruct you in this method of cooking it as well as how to eat it after it is cooked, once I tried it it was so awesome I did everything in it after that. And when youre all done cooking your meats and vegies then youre instructed to dip some of the remaining broth from the pots into your rice bowl to finish off the meal with a great tasting soup.
I ordered a large serving of meats but could have ordered small and been more than happy, and Im a big guy, unlike most Asian or fusion joints you will not leave this place still hungry. And if youre into dessert, we are, weirdly they make an awesome version of my all time fave dessert- Tiramisu. The girls got a strange looking ice cream sandwich in the shape of a fish, they all liked it.
Note. If youre used to spending money on a meal every now and then that is just as much part ambience and entertainment as well as great tasting and super healthy with the best service plus you can see how much prep went into preparing this awesome meal by its chef, then like us you wont mind their fairly high prices. If youre the type tho who has to weigh out how much food you got for the price you paid then you probably wont be happy with your bill or this place. It was pricey but we're frequent restaurant patrons and we like to have fun and we had a freaking blast so to me it was well worth it and we will for sure be back. Its not fast food though, we were there about an hour and a half, still, I found it to be a nice change from our usual over priced steak, baked potato, salad joint we always go to on a Friday night. Just an hour drive from Tulsa- swung by the wifes work on Memorial to pick her up with a reservation for 6:30 and we were heading back home stuffed at 8 ish and home way before the news came on.
Im already thinking of all of the stuff I can take to the kids who are going to school there- umm, so I have a reason to revisit this place more.
