Preparing the broth mix (Photo by Luis Samayoa)
The very first time I tried shabu shabu was during a visit to Tottori in mainland Japan. My fiancee wanted to try eating it together during a recent trip to Okinawa, so we did some online research. We found Agu No Kakurega Chatan, a shabu shabu spot with great reviews.
First of all, Agu No Kakurega Chatan is easy to miss, even with GPS. And when it comes to parking, the restaurant only has two spots. Luckily one of them right outside the entrance was open when we arrived.
Ordering inside Agu No Kakurega Chatan (Photo by Luis Samayoa)
Pork plate (Photo by Luis Samayoa)
Sesame dipping sauce (Photo by Luis Samayoa)
The restaurant itself is small, so don’t forget to make reservations ahead. The interior is simple and has enough tables that can be joined together for larger parties. The noise level may have been a little higher than some other restaurants, but it made for a great atmosphere.
As for the menu, it was all in Japanese. Thank goodness for Google Translate. We decided on sharing the Agu’s Hideout Seiro Set for 3,980 yen total for the both of us. The sukiyaki set consisted of neatly organized pork slices and minced meat served inside a bamboo pipe with plenty of veggies to cook in our broth. The menu also had alcohol, but we decided to stick with a glass of water.
During my shabu shabu experience in Tottori, I ordered mochi and quickly learned the hard way that if it stayed in the boiling broth for more than five seconds, it dissolved. Yes, I lost some tasty bites of mochi during that meal. But knowing meat can’t dissolve like mochi, I was feeling confident I’d get my fill at Agu No Kakurega.
They had 2 styles of sauces. One was standard soy sauce, and the other was a golden sesame creamy sauce. Generally, I prefer soy sauce, but the sesame sauce worked well with every piece of meat and vegetable. Eating the meat without dipping it into anything tasted very bland, so I stuck to dipping sauce to give it more flavor. Another thing to keep in mind is that shabu shabu restaurants usually offer different types of broth flavors to choose from.
Since my fiancee and I were sharing, the dinner was very light, but I was satisfied. This meal made me reminisce about Korean BBQ, but instead of a hot plate or grill, there was pot of hot broth. Though this meal was delicious, the delicate pork and minced meat didn’t make me forget the melted mochi I lost in Tottori.
Menu (Photo by Luis Samayoa)
Address: 2-2-2 Mihama, Chatan-cho, Nakagami-gun
Hours: Mon-Sun 5 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Phone: 050-5486-4957
