Ushabu (finally!)

To say I’ve been excited for this place to open is an understatement (and yes, I  was there within 48 hours of the opening).  The sign has been up for almost 2 years and I have been wondering what exactly Japanese fondue consists of since that time.  Granted in the last 2 years I never bothered googling that, I wanted to be surprised.

Ushabu is technically a shabu-shabu style restaurant (which translates to “swish-swish”, because you are supposed to take the super thin slices of meat through the hot broth very quickly).  It is in Tremont and a fun experiential dining adventure (think Melting Pot but more Asian and less caloric).

 The place is rather small, we sat at the bar which also has the places to insert the broth. At the 6 tables and bar, the place can only seat about 30 or so. It’s essentially one hallway, I imagine in the winter it might be a little chilly when someone enters.  Also, it takes a while to eat so I imagine a reservation will be vital. Also, the booths look like they can hold 4 (maybe 6) so if you have a bigger group than that it might be tricky.

The place is so new they don’t have a liquor license yet, but are allowing BYOB for the time being.

The small plates all looked intriguing. And since these are the only really prepared food, I felt I wanted to try something… especially since the proud and anxious chef kept coming out.  As some of you may know, there are a few words that call out to me on a menu, and when a dish has the words “scallops” “quail egg” and “pork belly” I’m probably going to order it. It was described to me as a “little play on surf and turf” $9.

It was tasty but small plate is a fair title.  I liked the playful plating, but as you can see from the chopstick, there was not much to this dish. It was very tasty. I loved the scallop with the citrus. My favorite part was imagining the chef frying the tiny quail egg.

 

Dan ordered the clams. It had Uni foam, edible sand and things that looked like seaweed and beach grasses ($10). This is one of those kinda silly but fun concept dishes that if someone made it on a cooking show the judges would either love or tear apart for being gimmicky. I had questions for the chef. Uni foam has about 85 steps to make apparently, and edible sand is essentially panko crumbs, anchovies, and fat (so deliciously unhealthy buttery carbs) and is delicious. This dish was awesome and afterward, you have a nice little zen-sand garden to play with.

Now onto the actually shabu-ing.  We both ordered the chicken-ginger broth (there is also a vegan seaweed one and spicy miso which I might try next time since I found it good but in need of some more seasoning).  At the front of the restaurant is a very large meat slicer. They bring you your bowl of noodles and veggies and suggest you put those in first. The pictures I am showing you are of Dan’s  (we got the same thing but I had the lamb, $20, and he got the beef, $23, but to be honest when you cooked them in the broth and dipped in one of the 3 sauces, they tasted pretty similar).

This is a fun meal. Also, lots of veggies that are in a pretty healthy broth. It was filling and a great challenge to my chopstick skills. Picking up the udon noodles after the broth and trying to tip them in a sauce before eating them was a challenge for me.  I definitely was not very dainty when slurping, maybe not a good choice for a first date. I want to go back and try more of the small plates, also as winter approaches a nice soup always sounds fantastic.

there is a veggie option that comes with more tofu so it can be vegan-friendly. The mushrooms and daikon were some of my favorite parts of the meal anyway.

The interior is simple, but kind of expected at this point (The industrial look with exposed brick, light-colored wood and Edison bulbs).

We got dessert as well ($3) the matcha ice cream and yuzu sorbet. These are made by Mason’s Creamery in Ohio City. The ice cream was much better than the sorbet, which reminded me of lemon Italian ice that was in the freezer too long.