I recently discovered a very hip and tasty restaurant in Costa Mesa called California Shabu Shabu.

If you are unfamilar with the term Shabu Shabu (as I was) here is a very nice and accurate summary from Wikipedia:

The dish is prepared by submerging a very thin slive of meat or a piece of vegetable in a pot of boiling water or dashi (broth) made with kombu (kelp) and swishing it back and forth several times.  (The familar swishing is where the dish gets its name.  Shabu-shabu directly translates to “swish-swish.”)  Cooked meat and vegetables are usually dipped in ponzu or “goma” (sesame seed) sauce before eating with a bowl of steemed rice. 

Once the meat and vegetables have been eaten, leftover water (not broth) from the pot is customarily combined with the remaining rice, and the resulting soup is usually eaten last.

In all honesty I discovered California Shabu Shabu quite by accident or should I say it was a stroke of luck?  Let me just say that if you are looking for a restaurant in Costa mesa and are looking for a new type of dining experience I highly recommend California Shabu Shabu.

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