Toki Shabu Shabu-new addition Allston's Packards Corner

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Toki Shabu Shabu
121 Brighton Avenue
Allston, MA

Last night, I went with my boss and his wife to Toki Shabu Shabu the new addition to shabu shabu in the Allston, Brighton, Brookline area. Now you can get Shabu Shabu at three places without having to leave the area for Chinatown. There is Shabu Village on Harvard Street (towards Coolidge Corner) and a new Shabu Zen taking the old space of Greenfield on Brighton Avenue very close to Toki Shabu Shabu.

We were impressed by the modern decor which was softened to be a bit warm and not too cold as modern and contemporary decor can be. I loved the lighting and the walls. It reminded me a little of Gari on Harvard Avenue in Brookline a little. Being a Monday night, we were promptly seated. Service was good and attentive. Our tea cups were always replenished as well as our broths for our shabu shabu while eating our meal.

I must admit that the tables are not big enough to hold all the "big" plates that hold the food. We decided to have the tea and ordered a bottle of the Kaori Ginjyo 300 ml $30. We thought it was easy to drink and the description said the flavors remind you of muscat grapes and banana. We were given three small shot glasses and each got a few shots of this great sake. (We are not sake experts but it was a good cold sake that went well with our meal.)

So for Asians, there are different ways to have hotpot. The Japanese call it shabu shabu, Chinese Hot Pot and sometimes it is referred to Asian Fondue. Asians love to have hot pot especially in winter and it is very healthy as you cook your ingredients in front of you (especially fun for those who are "do it yourselfers"). For the uninitiated, you can get a set with a choice of thinly sliced meat, seafood or just vegetables. Every place has a variety of choices of broth depending on the restaurant. Toki Shabu Shabu had the choice of three broths-Gochujang-Korean Spicy (we thought it mild to our tastes in terms of spiciness), Tonkotsu Miso and Wafu (Japanese Style) the only style broth we did not have was the soy milk. Then you are given a choice of rice or noodles (usually a variety -vermicelli, udon, egg noodles etc). But at Toki Shabu Shabu it was just rice or udon noodles. Then you can get a bunch of condiments and accoutrements with your meal as well as vegetables (choices vary with the establishment) as well as fish cakes, meatballs, fish balls etc.

We opted for some appetizers to start and we loved them! The seaweed salad was prettily presented and was just right, not too vinegary or sweet. Next we got the kaki fried (fried oysters) and in one order you get 5 for $6. Presented in a cup with vegetables and served with tonkatsu sauce it was a hit with our table! We ended up getting another one! Then we got an order of agedashi tofu $6 fried tofu in dashi broth. The broth was just right and the tofu was great! Then we tried a kushiyaki stick $2 (varies with what you want) for the hatsu (chicken hearts) a favorite with patrons our server informed us. We enjoyed this one as well and got another one. (We thought of how in Brazilian BBQ you get chicken hearts too!) Our final appetizer was the white tuna tataki $12. It was pan seared white tuna over ponzu jelly. We enjoyed the contrast of the citrusy flavor in the ponzu jelly mixed well with the rich white tuna.

For our main meals, we got the sirloin $16, mixed seafood $17 and kurobuta baraniku (pork belly) $11. The extras to put with your serving sauces---choice of sesame, ginger and ponzu is limited. Also the scallions, minuscule amount of garlic, red chili flakes and one green pepper condiment was small. When we asked for more (three people for one small serving) we just got another small serving. The a la carte options were a bit limited. There was no sacha sauce and taro available. The seafood and meats were very fresh. The stove tops are electric so it takes a little time to heat up the broth. Then have fun and swish swish your food and dump in the stuff that takes longer to cook. The vegetable and other stuff place consisted of tofu, napa cabbage, mushroom-three types, noodles, carrots, daikon, tofu, and baby corn. The fatty pork belly was favored over the sirloin. The broths were light and good but we were not "wowed".

We ended our meal with black sesame and red bean ice cream. I loved the black sesame ice cream (not for everyone's taste) and I like the rich deep and heavy sesame flavor. The red bean was very light and you could taste the bit of red bean in the ice cream. Each bowl came with three small scoops of ice cream.

Service was great and attentive. We were never worried if our plates would not be taken away, our tea cups were constantly filled and our broth was replenished often (if we wanted it to be).

Everyone agreed that we loved the appetizers and drinks. Though the shabu shabu was fresh, the choices of sauces and a la carte items were limited. Plus the stinginess on the food stuffs to mix in your sauces was disappointing. It was a warming meal for a cold Monday night.

Toki Shabu Shabu is a welcome addition to the Allston/Brighton scene around Packards Corner (next to New Trendy Chinese Restaurant) and a few steps from Le's Vietnamese (former Pho Pasteur).

Decor and atmosphere : 9
Food: (appetizers) 9 (shabu shabu) 8
Service: 9

Overall 8 half forks out of 10 forks