Ayame Shabu Shabu Hot Pot - Irvine, CA

Ayame Shabu Shabu used to be Ayame Sushi in the Orchard Hills area of Irvine. It's the sister restaurant to Zipangu at The Lab / Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa, CA. Decided to go try this place out as we heard it was not too bad. There is a vegetable hot pot option for vegetarians. They also have spring salad, edamame, and tofu appetizers too...but I didn't get those. The hot pot alone fills you up. If you are still hungry and want to add additional ingredients you can order them separately. They also have sushi too if you want to order some. Each person gets their own individual pot so you don't have to worry about sharing with meat eaters.

Veggies Only

Started throwing stuff in the pot before I realized I didn't take a picture of the plate full of food they bring you. Already threw in the mushrooms, tofu, Japanese pumpkin, and carrots.

Veggie Plate

The plate is full of napa cabbage, green cabbage, baby bok choy, broccoli, tofu, mushrooms, carrots, Japanese pumpkin, and a couple of rice cakes. This picture is missing the stuff I already threw in the pot. The greens were all fresh and clean. I like the bamboo plate they put the food on.

Dipping Setup

There is sesame sauce on the far left and ponzu (citrus) sauce to the right. I chose brown rice over white of course. The brown rice was good. Some places the brown rice is either too dry or too soggy. This was just right. You can see a couple of cubes of tofu ready for dipping and eating.

Simmering Hot Pot

My veggie pot is simmering and ready to be eaten. This is how you get fresh food right off the stove. Use the wooden ladle to spoon out your goodies, dip, and enjoy. Careful...it is super hot!

My Setup

This is how my little area was sort of set up. Eating on the left, uncooked veggies on the right, hot pot a bit further away on the top portion of the picture. You can't complain about the food because you flavor it as strongly or as lightly as you like it. So the other things I look for are the quality of the ingredients they provide and it was all very good. Boiling your food makes this meal healthy and light.

Assorted Mochi Ice Cream

Now comes the not so healthy part....mochi ice cream for dessert! The green color is green tea flavor, the yellow is mango, the pink is strawberry, and the white is vanilla. They were all very tasty but oh so tiny. The picture makes it look bigger than it actually is. Or perhaps just having two bites makes you want  more so you think it's tastier?

If you are in the area and want to check this place out it's:

Ayame Shabu Shabu Hot Pot

at Orchard Hills Village Center

3923 Portola Parkway

Irvine, CA 92620

714-544-2800