What a feast we had at Shabu-shabu Tanaka! It was a real Slow Food experience -- a 2-hour lunch with various sakes! We started out with cold shabu-shabu salad, paper thin slices of pork over a bed of lettuce, steamed brocolli, asparagus, tomatoes with sesame dressing. We then had sushi (salmon, tuna, yellowtail, shrimp) and ate until we couldn't. We then had beef sukiyaki with udon. In the meantime, Mr. Tanaka was passing around various cold sakes that most of us had never tried before. I (the webmaster) love cold sakes and have tried quite a few but never had one aged in a cedar cask, making it taste slightly like retsina, but in a more subtle and pleasant way. While we're eating these various courses, Jay taught us to make our own rolled sushi -- california roll, shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, eel, caterpillar roll, and... I lost track. At the end, he even showed us the real shabu-shabu. It's like a fondue but with seaweed stock and bonito dashi mixed in water. Raw vegetables, meats, seafood are served for us to cook ourselves. Various dipping sauces come with your order (sesame, ginger, ponzue).

Please do check them out. The food was good, service was very hospitable. Shabu-shabu Tanaka is located at 5655 E. River Rd. (NE corner of River/Craycroft)

Roll your own sushi - Catherine Roll your own sushi - M Even a personal chef can use a little lesson - Ragan

Sake tasting Cold shabu-shabu salad

Sukiyaki with udon Shabu-shabu Tanaka - Mr. Tanaka