As we mentioned here several months ago, a new Japanese grill and shabu shabu called Miyabi was going to take over the space left over by Sushilicious across the street from IVC. Now that restaurant has opened. The only change appears to be that the shabu shabu part has taken top billing: the place is officially called Miyabi Shabu Shabu N Grill.
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And it does look like it is dedicated to serving shabu shabu, with a set-up you're probably used to seeing at other shabu shabu restaurants–induction stove inset on the counter with bar-style seating where you will dip and swish your thinly-shaved meats in the water and grind sesame seeds for your goma.
A shabu shabu lunch ranges between $11 to $46 if you opt for a premium meat, but there's also a few entrees that involve either a chicken cutlet, tempura, kurobota tonkatsu, and udon for about $10-$13.
If I'm not mistaken, this ups the number of shabu shabu restaurants in Irvine to four, and I'm not even counting the Mongolian hot pots.
15435 Jeffrey Rd., Irvine, CA 92618, (949) 551-0200
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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.