Tom Located at level 8 of Orchard Central, Shabu Sai is one of the many available buffet options at this level. This time, we visited Shabu Sai because of the affordable pricing for its beef inclusive options…
Choices Available at Shabu Sai Buffet Orchard Central
Once you arrive at the counter, you’ll be guided through the menu shown below…
Step 1: Choose your buffet course
Those choice of buffet available are
Regular Buffet ($25.99) – Which includes Unlimited Pork and Chicken Only
Regular Beef Buffet ($27.99) – Which includes Unlimited Beef, Pork and Chicken
Wagyu Beef Buffet ($39.99) – Which includes Unlimited Premium Wagyu Beef, Pork, Beef and Chicken
This time, we chose to top up the additional $2 per person to enjoy the regular beef buffet along with the pork and chicken options.
Step 2: Choice of any 2 soups
There are several choices of soup to choose from including
– Sukiyaki
– Spicy
– Tonkotsu
– Tom Yum Miso
– Yuzu Collagen
There was also a monthly special of Herbal Chicken & Barley Soup which we ordered as well. Hence, during this visit we chose the monthly special along with Yuzu Collagen. Sukiyaki would have been our choice if the monthly special wasn’t that enticing. Both soups came up to be excellent choices…
Step 3: Let the staff know your choice of meat
Just before you get seated, you can let the staff know what would you like on your first serving. These will be brought to your table once you get seated – no time to lose at a buffet right? This time, we chose 2 of each:
– Pork Belly
– Pork Collar
– Chicken
– Beef
Step 4: Drinks Bar or not? Make payment and proceed to choose your vegetables and sauces at the buffet bar
Just before making payment, you’ll decide whether you’d like to have the drinks bar. Since it is priced at $2.50 – cheaper than Sushiro’s free flow drinks bar, we decided to go for it. Then it was time to check out the buffet bar options…
Shabu Sai Buffet Review – The Taste Test
At Shabu Sai’s price point of $35.50 per person (inclusive of drinks bar and beef buffet), we thought that the buffet was well worth it and the taste was actually quite good. Here’s the breakdown of the various parts of the review:
Soup. Both soups were flavourful, rich and delicious. If we had to choose one, we thoroughly enjoyed the Yuzu Collagen. You could taste that the broth was simmered overtime along with a subtle hint of yuzu right at the end. As with all hotpots, both soups became so “sweet” towards the end when all the meats have been cooked within.
Meats. All the meats, including the chicken, were surprisingly good. If we had to choose, we’d go with the pork belly and beef, both of which had good tastes of the meat (unlike some cuts from other buffets that are bland) and are cut to generous portions such that after cooking, it would still amount to a sizeable bite.
Ingredients. We were surprised by two other choices at the buffet bar – the meat pastes as well as the noodles. The meat pastes were well marinated with ginger and ponzu (we think). It became so tender after cooking and absorbing the goodness of the broths. Likewise, the noodles were slurpilicious. We loved the texture and almost couldn’t stop ourselves from getting more of it. Beware!
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Conclusion
The service at Shabu Sai was actually very good. The staff was attentive and made sure that we always had meats on our table. Even while we still had one or two more plates of meats left to go, they would come around to ask if we wanted more. As you can see from the picture below, the soup, towards the end of the meal, had turned into a beautifully sweetened broth, where one could not stop from having more of.
The soft serve ice cream made a perfect end to a great meal at Shabu Sai. If you’ve tried the regular buffet (or even the Wagyu Buffet) at Shabu Sai, let us know what you think in the comments section below! Definitely a “return visit” next time for us!
