Daimaru Shabu Shabu located at 8333 Kennedy Rd, #1073 in Markham

I am late to the Japanese hot pot party.  Lots of people have been to Daimaru Shabu Shabu (大丸) at this point.  They have multiple locations across the GTA.  I was really excited to go try it out for the first time! 

We were able to enjoy the all-you-can-eat Japanese hot pot in peace during the full 2-hour dine-in experience even though I was two months postpartum (the trick is to bathe and then feed the baby just before leaving the house so that they are tired out and happily sleeping during the entire meal).

The table setting before the food arrived

We arrived on Sunday at around 2 p.m. and opted for the Happy Hour menu.  From 12 to 4 p.m. for $26.99 per adult, you can choose from the Happy Hour menu and not have to pay for the soup base (this costs anywhere from 18 to $20 usually).  It’s a great deal!  The selection of hot pot ingredients are a bit limited but it was a great introduction to the worldwide known Japanese hot pot franchise for me.

I loved how the ingredients were so fresh.  I liked that the servers came to our table frequently to check if we needed anything (since there was no app or screen at the table to order items from — you have to order directly with the staff; old-school style).  I liked how they had a filter plate on top of the dish you eat from which keeps your food from drowning in hot pot soup.  I liked the Japanese ready-to-eat snacks (takoyaki, Hokkaido potato chips, rice cakes, sliced pineapple — so sweet) which are so different from the usual hot pot appetizer items.

Pork Bone Soup and Sukiyaki

In our two flavour pot, we had two soup bases which was Sukiyaki and Pork Bone Soup.  I selected the Sukiyaki one because my friend raved about it being her favourite.  Originally, my second choice was the Tom Yum soup base but the server warned me that both soup bases would be on the sweeter side and asked if I was okay with that (I love his foresight).  I don’t like my meats sweet so I changed it to the Pork Bone Soup.  I’m so glad I did this because we didn’t end up liking the Sukiyaki (I found it too sweet for my taste) and used the PBS primarily for cooking the food.  It was a solid soup base; nothing to complain about.

Selection of vegetables, mushrooms, shrimp, sauces, potato chips, and pineapples

Fresh cut meat: selected sirloin, beef brisket, pork belly, and lamb

The cuts of meat were very thin and perfect for hot pot.  You only need to dip it in the pot for a few seconds for it to be cooked.  My favourite was the beef brisket and pork belly.  I found the selected sirloin to be too tough and chewy unfortunately.

I was obsessed with the enoki mushrooms that they had.  They were so crisp and fresh!

I really liked the “hot pot noodles” that they had too.  I’ve never had such good quality noodles at a hot pot restaurant before.  Usually, they want to fill you up on low quality starch items so you can’t eat much (but then again, here, they give you appetizers like takoyaki and fried rice balls and potato chips to keep you full too🤣).

The tongs used for dipping the ingredients into the pot were unique

The PBS base was great

Fried rice cake, poached egg, takoyaki, enoki mushrooms

The black fungus and shrimp were extraordinarily fresh as well.  I got annoyed with the shrimp because its shell stuck to the skin which made it tedious to remove before eating.

Sauces: Garlic Soy, Sesame, and Sesame Oil

For the sauces, they give you an entire dish that is pre-made for you (unlike the Chinese hot pot places where you can mix different ingredients at a sauce station).  The Garlic Soy had soy sauce and lots of green onions and a hint of spice.  It was tasty.  The Sesame paste sauce indeed was rich in sesame paste and thick and vicious too.  They didn’t cheap out.  I felt bad for not even ingesting much of it and leaving the remainder to waste.

I liked the free and fast wifi (no password = no hassle/easy sign-in).  I liked the comfortable seating and how there was a curtain barrier between you and the next table.  I liked that they provided wooden hangers for you to hang your coats.

Desserts: Vanilla ice cream, Hokkaido milk pudding

Lastly, I really enjoyed the desserts.  I chose the vanilla Chapman’s ice cream which came in an Styrofoam cup (it gave me a nostalgic vibe of being in Asia).  As it was last call at this time too, we ordered our desserts early.   By the time I actually ate it, the ice cream had melted slightly in the cup but it turned out to be even more delicious this way.  The slightly melted vanilla ice cream at the sides of the cup were so creamy and smooth!

The Hokkaido milk pudding was great too as it had very refreshing tangerine bits on top of the milk pudding.

It was such a comfortable, satisfying, and delicious meal that I plan to come back again soon to try out their premium menu.  So grateful for my friend telling me about it so we could finally check it out!

Daimaru Shabu Shabu at Langham Square in Markham

Looking back at the experience, one thing I would love to be changed is for a digital ordering option to be available.  It was tedious to scroll through the menu on the PDF on my phone every time I wanted to place an order with the server.  That said, their menus are beautifully designed and look like artwork (a Japanese kind of calmness too).