Irvine already has a few shabu shabu bars: House of Shabu Shabu at the 99 Ranch plaza on Jeffrey, Ayame Hot Pot on Portola Parkway, and SWSH at Diamond Jamboree, which was the last entrant in a city that previously only had one a few years ago.
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Now there's a fourth. Mokkoji Shabu Shabu has now opened in the space where a Daphne's once stood in the Kohl's-anchored complex on Jeffrey near the 5. When the Korean BBQ Honey Pig opens in the same plaza shortly, you'll have quite a DIY-diner's choice: Do you want to boil or broil your thinly sliced meats?
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.