Nabezo (Tokyo) – Sumptuous Japanese Hotpot Buffet With Wagyu Beef In Heart of Shinjuku

One of my most satisfying meals in Tokyo was at Nabezo in Shinjuku. It felt great to indulge in steaming Japanese hotpot in the cold weather! Even though the meal was rather expensive and I had to wait for around 45 minutes, it was completely worth it.

Nabezo

Nabezo is a popular restaurant in Japan that offers all-you-can-eat Japanese hotpot buffet. There is a time limit of 100 minutes.

It has many outlets across the prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama. Within Tokyo alone, there are 15 branches. We visited the Shinjuku Higashiguchi branch in Tokyo.

How to Order

Click here to enlarge

Step 1. Choose the Soup Base
The soup bases flavours are below. You can order two types of soup bases for an additional JPY 200.

• Shabu-Shabu
• Sukiyaki
• Shio-Tonkotsu
• Kimchi
• Tounyu-Collagen

The most popular soup bases are Shabu-Shabu and Sukiyaki.

Shabu Shabu consists of vegetables and meat cooked in boiling water. The meat is usually eaten with dipping sauces. Nabezo’s dipping sauces are ponzu sauce and sesame sauce.

Sukiyaki is another style of Japanese hotpot that comprises meat boiled in a sweet soy sauce base, and dipped in raw beaten eggs before being eaten.

Step 2. Choose the Hotpot Course
I looked through the menu and saw that Nabezo offers three types of hotpot courses, listed below. Note that the prices are for per person.

• Nabezo course (JPY2800): all-you-can-eat beef and pork, with a time limit of 100 minutes
• Beef Tongue course (JPY3800): Nabezo Course + Beef Tongue
• Japanese Beef & Pork Course (JPY4800): Nabezo Course + Japanese Beef (kuroge wagyu) + Japanese Pork (Matsusaka)

Pricing for children and elderly:
4 to 6 years old – JPY500
7 to 12 years old – JPY1200
Over 65 years old – JPY500

Step 3. Choose the Side Dishes (free)
I was impressed by the sumptuous spread of fresh vegetables, rice, noodles, ice cream, desserts, coffee, tea, and soft drinks. There is a variety of condiments too. These are all complimentary!

Convivial Ambience and Wonderful Service

We visited Nabezo on a Tuesday at around 8pm without reservations, and was told that the waiting time would be around 45 minutes! Nonetheless, I got a queue number and then proceeded to the nearby Alfred Tea Room with the wife to kill time.

We went back after 45 minutes and were seated promptly. We were served by an American staff who was extremely friendly and answered all my questions about the menu patiently.

I really liked Nabezo’s ambience. It is a non-pretentious joint with a casual and convivial atmosphere that set diners at ease.

Nabezo Course

variety of tea

mushrooms

noodles

I ordered the Nabezo Course (JPY2800), and chose the Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki soup bases. For the meats, I ordered Pork Boston Butt (pork shoulder) and Pork Sparerib. Click here to see the full list of meats.

Before the meats arrived, I put in some vegetables and mushrooms into the soup bases to sweeten them.

After that, I swished a slice of meat around the Shabu-Shabu soup base quickly for about ten seconds before putting it in my mouth. It was really sweet, juicy and tender. I wouldn’t say the the meat was premium quality, but it was definitely more than decent.

But the highlight for me was the Sukiyaki soup base. I cooked a slice of meat inside, and then dipped it quickly in a bowl of raw beaten eggs.

It tasted wonderful! The meat had absorbed the rich sweet-savoury flavour of the sukiyaki broth. The raw eggs gave it a luscious smooth texture that felt so good in my mouth.

Eating the meat with raw beaten eggs is the “proper” way to eat sukiyaki style hotpot, and I highly recommend that you do the same. I was slightly apprehensive about eating raw eggs at first, but I’m glad I did so in the end.

Nabezo also provided us with several bottles of soup stock for topping up on our own. I found this to be quite convenient because we didn’t have to keep asking the staff for refills every time our broths ran low.

Conclusion

Nabezo is located on the third floor

Nabezo definitely exceeded my expectations. Before checking it out, I thought it would be a typical tourist-friendly restaurant with average food and service. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the good quality of the hotpot buffet, as well as the wonderful service. It was quite an expensive meal (JPY 6480 for two persons), but I feel it was worth it. If you are willing to pay more, you can even enjoy wagyu beef for the hotpot. Make sure you reserve online in advance, if not you will have to queue for very long.

Nabezo (Shinjuku)
What to Order: Nabezo Course (JPY2800) with Shabu-Shabu and Sukiyaki soup bases
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 11.30am to 3pm, 5pm to 11pm | Sat, Sun & PH: 11.30am to 11pm |
Address: Japan, 〒160-0022 Tōkyō-to, Shinjuku City, Shinjuku, 3-chōme−28−10 ヒューマックスパビリオン新宿東口3F
Directions: Five-minute walk from Shinjuku station, located on the third floor.
Other branches: http://nabe-zo.com/lan_en/restaurant_search_en
Phone: +813 3356 4129

This article is part of our super awesome Ultimate Tokyo Travel Guide For First Timers. Everything you need to know about Tokyo is just a click away!