Tag: button mushrooms

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Mala broth from Chuan Shabu in Worcester

beef tongue, shrimp, and mall spicy broth from Chuan Shabu on Park Avenue in Worcester, MA

Even though it recently opened, many of my friends had already been to Chuan Shabu on Park Ave in Worcester and spoke very positively about the food and the experience – so I knew I had to check it out. The hot pot concept is simply a simmering pot of flavored broth that is usually in the center of your table. You choose various ingredients like vegetables, protein and noodles/rice to cook in the pot. Similar to a fondue concept but with an Asian flair.

Three of us decided to share a hot pot so then the task was to decide what we wanted to “cook/simmer” in the pot. Since we all enjoyed spice to our meals it was easy to decide on the Mala broth. You can choose more than one broth but we kept it simple at one. To complement the broth we went with the Beef tongue and Shrimp without tails and for our vegetables it was the button mushrooms and broccoli. We each chose our own style of noodles – for me it was the oriental noodles. All of these items come raw allowing you to cook them in the broth you choose. At first I was worried about the hot pot being on the table but while it kept the food hot you never felt the warmth on the table. We definitely chose right on the broth – it was spicy but not overwhelming (unless you piled your bowl with all of the hot peppers that came in the broth). The beef tongue came thinly sliced which made the cooking process easy and fast. Everyone can choose how they want to eat the hot pot food and all 3 of us approached it differently. For me, I set some beef tongue, shrimp, noodles, and some veggies into the broth and after a very short time used the small utensils to grab the food out and into our my own personal bowl – of course I grabbed some broth to make it more of a soup.

It was a fun adventure and good way to try new foods while having fun with friends. Reasonably priced. For me it was the right portion of food but I always knew that if I still felt hungry I could simply order more veggies, protein or noodles. Chuan Shabu is definitely a nice addition to the Worcester food Scene – so be sure to check it out!

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Chuan Shabu Worcester with beef tongue, shrimp, and spice

Beef tongue from Chuan Shabu on Park Avenue in worcester, MA

Beef tongue from Chuan Shabu on Park Avenue in worcester, MA

When I was told about Chuan Shabu, my interest was peaked. The concept of the hot pot was intriguing to me…choose menu items à la carte and cook them in a broth of your choosing. This made me think of fondue, but without the cheese or chocolate. When arriving at the restaurant, we were greeted with a modern, chic environment with an oriental flare. We were then seated in a long row of table which also doubled as our cooking stations for our meal. This is when things began to fall apart.

For a group of 10+ people, we were only seated with one waiter, which is very overwhelming and unfair to the waiter. While he was very friendly and courteous, the menu took some explaining and getting used to. After the first round of drinks were handed out and the menu explained multiple times, we placed our order which consisted of their spiciest broth, with a combination of broccoli, button mushrooms, shrimp, beef tongue and our choice of noodle. First off, only order their spicy broth if you love heat and can handle a lot of it, because while it is flavorful, it packs a wallop. The vegetables were very fresh and plentiful, and cooked nicely in the spicy broth. The shrimp, however were very small and disappointing. The beef tongue, while being cut into very small pieces had a nice gamey flavor to them and was a treat to try for the first time. The noodles had great texture and you could cook them as little or as much as you wanted to, depending on your liking.

Unfortunately, at times, after we got our meals, our waiter was no where to be found. With the heat of the broth, relief was needed in the form of a cold beverage and many customers at our table went wanting for too long. When all was said and done, I had eaten about 2.5 small bowls of soup with various ingredients, but still found myself hungry and looking for more. Given the fact that we had to cook all of the food ourselves (given it could be cooked to our own personal tastes), the bill at the end of the day was around $20 for soup. While the concept was intriguing and the food was tasty, I think that there is better value for your dollar in the city. If you are going to try this restaurant for the first time, I would recommend going in smaller groups (4 people max) to get the best out of this unique experience. I think this restaurant will do well once it gets it’s feet underneath it, but it will probably be some time before I attempt to visit this hot pot location.