Wasabi Bistro

A friend called and asked me to join him for a weeknight hot pot dinner. Given the recent cold nights, I was more than willing and able. I knew this block very well for many years but, after Five Happiness closed last spring, I have not ventured here other than a bite at the Korean BBQ staple next door. I drove by the day before our dinner and noticed the sign and made a point to read the reviews on Yelp to prep myself.My friend was working in the area and, since the restaurant opened throughout the day, we agreed to meet here between 4:30 and 4:45 pm to beat the dinner rush. I found a metered parking space three spots before the restaurant and fed it till the 6 pm enforcement time. I studied the window menus (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=XKPkDYvwWxLIydl8zcW9uA), (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=vieSU3e6VjGw__fYyrOSkw), (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=4Z6BgdvH8AEPbVI8NPPxlA), while waiting for my friend. A short time later, my friend arrived and we walked in. There was only one occupied booth on the far right with customers. The greeter/waiter pointed us to a booth on the right. We sat down and saw the paper menu on the induction burner with a pen and we knew what to do. Since the pot allowed us to choose two broths my friend chose the original while I opted for the satay. After checking those boxes, I read off the menu items to my friend and checked the items that we wanted from their two-sided menu page with the provided pencil. The waiter chuckled as he advised me that we didn't have to order at one time. We then alternated going to the sauce station (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=nQEdeC1p_fY3cPesiiNt-Q) to customize our dipping sauces. I then made my way to the rear right corner to two refrigerators holding canned drinks that are included in our meal. I was pleasantly surprised to find a good variety of sodas, Asian brand drinks (soy bean milk, lemon tea drink, etc.), popular soda brands, and Hawaiian sodas and brought a can of guava soda to our table. As we did this, our waiter brought us our soup pot (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=kr3nxvwUKmS2Dfbb9z4H5g), substantial and the size of a literal pot. For cooked foods, we ordered a variety of items including the Shanghai dumplings (xiao lung bao) (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=QOYtVKSZWRhtcU4AK-8FPw), green onion pancakes (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=CplJtNOwBYlH3cIgifVBJw). For the dinner service, salmon sashimi and Hokkaido scallop (one per customer) (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=yf1ZDx_kqqc7jj3LaI75oQ) were offered. Our raw food selection included various meats with vegetables (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=-At31JOcqJ1lmTQfFT-EnQ) and seafood and meat balls, enoki, wood ears, radishes, and tofu (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q&start=24&select=J86vCDrFrWhXnA6_QsUCfw). We took our time cooking the raw foods as they came, gnoshing on the prepped foods as they came. My friend chose to cook his ramen noodles early on while I waited towards the end of our meal to cook my udon. Needless to say, we both were stuffed, for me slightly uncomfortably so. We both passed on the ice cream station which is near the entrance. As we dined, other parties of two to four came to dine here. There was one unfortunate incident with a large party as we were seated. The group was mostly hearing impaired but they were not familiar with the restaurant concept and would not need to the waiter's offer to order on their behalf. Besides having dietary restrictions for their party of twelve, several guests became frustrated so they left, despite the waiter bringing some food for them to try first. The waiter remained patient and did not charge them or get angry despite not charging them anything for what was brought. My friend and I enjoyed our meal and finished most everything. I only left a small bowl of unfinished udon in soup. Midway through our meal, out waiting told us that we didn't need to order everything at once and could have paced ourselves. Will do that on our next visit.*** Background, they are actually the Grand Hot Pot that used to be near Arguello. The property owner refused to renew the lease. It turns out that I have tried their satellite location in Pacifica which we also enjoyed.

All you can eat food on happy hour with the option to add all you can drink sake! This was awesome and a great place to go with friends and family. We ordered a bunch and the service was excellent

Wasabi Bistro is an AYCE+D hotpot + appetizer restaurant. They no longer serve sushi or a la cart items. We came for lunch $24.98 which is from 12pm-4pm. More items are available during dinner hours but honestly I don't think you're missing out on that much. We arrived around 3pm and were seated with no problems. For our soup base, we tried:*House Spicy Curry*Tonkatsu ~Neither was that flavorful and the curry was definitely NOT spicy!!For a full list of items we ordered, check out my pics. I didn't find anything to be really good. Sadly it just tasted like standard cheap buffet stuff. XLBs were terrible. Green onion pancakes tasted like greasy cardboard. The meats were okay. We ordered: lamb shoulder slices, fatty supreme beef, pork belly, beef trip, frog legs, fish fillet, and clams. You should definitely skip: mixed tempura, spring rolls, and pot stickers. There is a sauce bar and you might need it to give your meats some depth. There is also ice cream located in an odd area. They had red bean, matcha, black sesame and vanilla. They're not high quality by any means but I would go with the red bean and skip the rest. Restaurant seats like a typical Chinese restaurant with booths for hotpot cooking. Metered parking around the area or if you're persistent and don't mind walking, you can drive out a little more to the residential neighborhood. Service was adequate. I think everyone comes here because of the unlimited drinks, which you can help yourself to.

Somehow their ayce hot pot is less than $40 and it comes with aycd alcohol too (sake, soju cocktails, sapporo). A typical ayce Chinese hot pot with nothing crazy in terms of options. They do have a lot of cooked appetizers you can order that are decent. Quality of meat is okay but variety is pretty good. The sauce bar is pretty messy. They have a drink fridge in the back where you can get alcohol free Asian drinks and soda. For the price it's a no brainer that it's worth it but one thing to note is that the servers kept bringing us food we did not order and would not take it back. There was a good amount of people eating inside but service was fast. Come here for a good time on a budget

Don't let the name fool you, it fooled the hell out of me. This place does not serve Japanese food at all anymore and is like a front for the elusive Grand Hot Pot AYCE!This spot hosts a great AYCE Hot Pot for under $40 (free on your birthday)! Not only do you get to order crazy stuff like honey glazed prawns that normally costs $20 at restaurants these days for free, they have a refrigerator with free canned drinks like them Chinese herbal tea, soda, soy milk, milk tea, and more!The food quality was great too and service was attentive. I almost wonder why they never have much people inside for the value. You order off a menu Ala carte and there are plenty of broth choices with split pots to choose two soup bases.Finally the bonus points that turned this into a 5 star spot for me: They have a TV that they turned on to the 49ers game for me when they saw I was wearing a 49ers hat! Also my clothes didn't smell like hotpot as much as any other place I had hotpot in the past. Lastly the ice cream bar!

Very family friendly! We came here for AYCE $36/person hot pot to celebrate a birthday, and birthday actually eats free with valid ID! AYCE includes an assortment of high quality beef cuts, seafood, veggies, cooked entrees, non alcoholic drinks like soymilk and grass jelly, alcohol like sake, beer, and wine, and also complimentary ice cream buffet! All of the meat was very high quality and complimented well with the broth. I definitely recommend sticking to the classics with the original and spicy. My picky eater dad really enjoyed their prawns and fish, and even mentioned wanting to go back for their original soup base! He was a huge fan, and a happy dad is a happy daughter. My family was also a fan of the sashimi and honey walnut shrimp which is included in AYCE. Feel free to wrap up your meal with Asian influenced ice cream flavors like black sesame and mango! The service was also polite and efficient, and we'll definitely be back. I'm excited to have found this gem.

This is not the same as the wasabi bistro in the Castro. They still have the all you can drink option but it's only beer and the only food option is all you can eat hot pot. It was all pretty tasty but just prepare yourself going into it. You are about to have a lot of liquid. Service was fast and they would provide more beers or menu items when asked.

I came here with some friends to eat hot pot and it was so fun! What started as a simple dinner with yummy hot pot became a 20 song karaoke party. I even sang a song with the staff in Chinese. I cannot believe I didn't know this place existed! As a vegetarian I would have like a few more veggies (like lotus) but it was great experience overall.

Love this place because they are so reasonably priced and it includes drinks and ice cream. Food was fresh. Soup base was good. Overall so enjoyable. Pace yourself. Ask them you want less of everything because you dont want to waste food. Top 8 of my favorites: vegetarian green dumpling, house made fish paste, free sodas (chinese sodas), free ice cream, tripe, a lot of meat,including pork tongue, fresh clams, chicken katsu, skip ragoo, skip green onion bread ( you fill up). Just need a few more community chopsticks. Come between 12 noon to 4 pm for a feast $23.99. If over 65 years old, you get $2 off. . Dinner has additional dishes $33.99. So worth it. Gather your friends for a big table. Credit card fee is about $1.75. Hard to find parking. There's always paid parking at Smart & Final.

Very slow and inattentive service. Ken went ahead and gave himself a %15 tip and referred me to the menu that reads a "recommended" (key word) tip of %15. Somewhat shady noting that he refused to not charge my debit card the total + tip amount. When I was planning to leave a cash tip. Would've been great experience.