Shabu Shabu

Chinatown
237B Grand St
New York, NY 10002
(347) 497-6235


It was a particulary hot day when we stumbled into Shabu Shabu. Desperate for a cold bubble tea, I was ready to stop anywhere offering up this great drink.

Shabu Shabu is a bit shabby shabby, but it's clean and seemed to be popular as the restaurant section was filled. I'll have to try that later...
Anyway, they have a special counter that serves up exclusively bubble teas and they had a fairly run of the mill selection. They also sell little cakes shaped like ears of corn (you can get 10 for $2): they were warm and quite delicious. I chose their classic black milk tea and my husband chose a lychee kumquat.
The presentation was good: it came in the classic plastic cup with ridges and the vacuumed-on plastic. The bubbles were a little too chewy and didn't have much flavor. They were all black and almost seemed a bit hard in the center. The tea itself was fairly good, a slightly bit too sweet though. It was a bit much to digest especially for my husband as he had already swallowed 8 out of the ten mini corn cakes!

Shabu Shabu is only a couple of blocks away from a park where people from the neighbourhood play handball and basketball so it is a nice place to sit and enjoy your drink.

Black Milk Tea:

Tapioca Pearls: 3/10
Tea: 7/10
Presentation: 8/10
Ambiance/Store: 6/10

TOTAL

6 / 10