Shell Cove BBQ Shabu Shabu Noodle

Although this place is not comparable to the ones in Flushing, I’m giving it a 4-​star because of its location. Being that it’s the only shabu shabu place in Elmhurst, it is very convenient for me.
My mom, her friends and I love coming here for lunch because of it’s affordable prices and many options available. The combos here is pretty good too!

T’was New Year’s day, and the bf and I were craving Hot Pot. After about an hour of searching for the reasonable place to check out, we decided to go to Shell Cove BBQ since didn’t want to go to Flushing or the city. We saw this was in Elmhurst and it was a winner to us.
It was a holiday so we were able to find street parking, only circling the block about three times, which I believe is good. We took a number and checked in with the host. There were only three parties ahead of us so we waited about 15−30min. This was fine since my bf had to get cash in Walgreens since there was a sign in the front saying: CASH ONLY.
The host let us see the menu as we waited which is nice… we were able to pick what we wanted. Eventually we were seated at the back, which I didn’t know they had another room back there… from the waiting area, you can only see about +/​-​8 tables. They immediately took our marked menu sheet and we were eating before you know it.
I ordered half spicy/​non spicy. The spicy was so delicious but it definitely has a kick! In addition, we had the pork and beef combo, fried fish balls, udon and also a veggie platter. We did not know that the platter come with a veggie platter, so we had so much food! The veggie platter has a bunch of veggies and clear noodles so we didnt even finish the udon noodles. I believe this was so much food for two people. The veggies were fresh and plentiful so I didn’t even crave any extra meat. The only additional order was I got more fish balls. I think next time we will not get extra noodles and even veggies, but try different meat and/​or seafood.
They also come around an refill your broth throughout the night. I love that!
We will definitely back soon. It is next to the metro and not a bad drive at all.

This time I tried kimchi broth. Although it can’t compare with spicy Sichuan broth and non spicy original one, the Korea style broth was quite ok with my own made dipping sauce. (Garlic and spicy flavor). The pork Shabu was very thin and fresh. The set was bigger than I expected so I can’t finish them all. My favorite for this time is appetizer (Squid Salad).

This place is just okay. I actually like the set up of where the pot goes. It is actually on the side which leaves the middle of the table free for all the good stuffs. The meat is good quality, the soup is tasty, and I like the set where it came with some veggies, mushroom, noodles and one raw egg. I found that strange but I really liked it poached in my Miso soup. There is a station for sauces and this is where you get your own water. Overall, it is just okay. I like 99 Favor Taste better.

As hot pot connoisseurs… Me and the lady friend walked away throughly unimpressed. We are not sure if this place would even get one star.
It regrets me to leave such a negative review, but the place is simply not up to par with others in this segment.
First off lets get to the table. This is shabu shabu style, so each guest will get their own pot. This is totally acceptable given the décor and vibe, so we get it. This place is targeting the more modern visitor and younger/​hipper crowd.
The location of the pots are on the corners of the table. This frees up the middle for everyone to order and get the food they would like to cook. That is fine and dandy, but now everyone converges to the center. I’m sure there is a science to the madness as constructed by the owner of this establishment, but we think this design may actually bring a more clunky experience. For the hot pot pros out there you will understand. The lady friend and I are snobs when it comes to hot pot, but this layout does raise some questions. We tried to understand the logic and design behind this science, but found it to be highly inefficient by our ways of having hot pot.
Three bowl design? Not sure what the madness is behind this utensil.
With the design issue out of the way, the actual establishment is very clean and well presented. The staff is attentive and get the job done.
One significant plus is that they do have a button for you to press should you need some attention/​requests.
The real deal breaker for us was the food. We don’t care so much about décor, but great quality food and ingredients is what keeps us as repeat offenders of an establishment. They did not deliver.
The frozen tofu was sour. No need to repeat that. The tofu skin was also plasticky. The taste was not desirable. The soup base itself was simply nothing special. The imitation crab meat was just a stick of dough with bad texture and no sense of crab taste to it. The lamb was not fresh. The duck blood was simply done bad, and didn’t have that smooth texture to it (a good texture would be somewhat gelatinous and smooth, but this was just dry and tough).
When we brought up the issues with the quality of the food, the staff got defensive and was completely unapologetic. We were not expecting any favors or a discount because that is not in our nature. We still left 20% on the full bill.
The best part of the meal was the beer. And you can get that at every joint we go to.
I will not be visiting again anytime soon… If ever. The subpar ingredients has made this a very memorable experience, and I surely will not miss it. There are too many better destinations, and it pains me to slam an establishment, but it needed to be expressed.

The combo set meal is full of veggies and you get a lot of meat! High quality ingredients. This place has a lot of sauces to choose from. Only downfall was I wasn’t too fond of the red soup base.

I have been here so many times with my friends. Good food to eat in cold weather and Prices are affordable too

It was a little confusing for our first time here. My oven went out due to my soup over flowing because it wouldn’t go down in tempered. The waiter tried, I tried then the soup just went over and it stopped working all together.
The soup I had was amazing but my girlfriends was to blend for her. We didn’t see the bar of favors to add to the soup. It was a great meal, at a great price for me. Will differently be returning.

I’ve had Shabu several times. This Food was par for a Shabu place– certainly not top of the list. The service was horrible.
Waitresses didn’t know the cook times. We ordered dumplings which arrived frozen and one waitress said two minutes and another said,“eh, ten minutes, five minutes, just put it in.“
The sauces were very confusing.
And the waitresses were not helpful. If you haven’t ever had Shabu– you would enjoy another place.

The service here is so bad that the waitresses seldom take care of you. And two of the four ovens on our table could not work.
The food is OK for hot pot restaurants. We got lamb, shrimps and clams. Their shrimps are very fresh and large enough, but the clams are small, and are cooked. I have never seen any hot pot restaurant serving cooked clams.
Price is OK but cash only.

Oh my oh my! Just returned from a dinner date with hubby at shell cove and could not be more pleased! At first I was hesitant because the menu seemed a bit different from the hotpot I am used to but decided to give it a try since its close to my home and I didn’t feel like driving to flushing after a long day.
They have different soup bases you can choose from, from non-​spicy to spicy & fusion. We had the shell cove special Sichuan style meal base and I requested mine to be less spicy than usual and it was perfect. The combo comes with your choice of meat as well as some vermicelli noodles and veggie combo on the side. You get to create your own sauce in a buffet style condiment aisle to dip your food in, or add to your soup. Not only was it delicious but it was pretty cheap too! We had two angus beef combo ($ 12.25/ea) with the Sichuan style meal base (2 $ extra/​ea) as well as a side of cuttlefish ball ($ 3), a beer and three sprites. Hubby gets very thirsty during his meal. Lol & the total came out to 42 $ and some change. It was great considering we normally spend 60−80+ for our average meals!
The only reason why I deducted one star is because the service can be a little slow. They do have this cool button on the table where you press and someone will come, but I am accustomed to waitresses checking at my table.
However, the experience was amazing, something different and I will definitely be returning! Only thing I regret is not coming here any sooner.

Amazing concept. Fresh food you cook right at the table. My fiancé and I had a blast first time doing anything like this. We tried the beef, lamb, and seafood assortment. reasonably priced
Parking was a nightmare on a weekend but it was worth walking off what we Ate. Definitely going to try it again

I’m a frequent customer here. I come here almost every week to have hot pot. The food and prices are acceptable. Mostly it’s delicious.
Anyway if you could fix your service, you’ll be excellent. You never fill our water, so I go get a pitcher myself (it’s closed to their sauces) and when you see me do that, you just realize what you should do. You grab the pitcher and give me the water. You know if I were you, I probably feel ashamed but I’m sure you’re not because it’s happened with me all the time when I’m here.

Place is clean and staff provided good service. The set meal is great value with good amount of meat and veggie.

My first time having hotpot or shabu shabu! I had the Japanese Kelp soup base since it was free! Lots of veggies & vermicelli noodles, and you make your own sauce near the front of the restaurant. It looks like a tiny place from the outside, but I ate with a party of 12 in the back dining room! They take reservations too.
CASH ONLY HERE!
I got the beef set, and it’s a lot of meat! I definitely could’ve shared my set with another person. Definitely a different experience.

Great place for hotpot, they’ve got tons of choices and the atmosphere is great.
I got the Japanese kelp soup which was pretty good; it lacked salt, but I think that’s what the sauce/​seasoning buffet was for.
Each soup comes with a vegetables, rice noodles, an egg, a sausage, small corn, wood ear mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, chunks of radish, chunks of potato, and a slice of tomato. You have to order the meat separately.
Each person gets their own individual pot, which I prefer over the one humongous one because I honestly didn’t want any of the chunks of pig blood my mom ordered lol
The total came to about $ 105 for 4 people, which wasn’t too bad considering it was dinner. The service was nice; the servers were very attentive and helpful.

Despite some of the reviews preferring hot pot in Flushing more, I actually had a good experience here. The waiters were pretty attentive in my opinion, it was fairly easy to call one over; they came over to refill my my water and soup base voluntarily. The hot pot here is also much cheaper compared to Flushing! We each had the the beef set, and after splitting orders of mushrooms, mixed ball platter, and cod fish, it came out to $ 24 a person after tips. We didn’t even finish all the food and had to reluctantly leave meatballs and vegetables because we were so stuffed! The vegetable platter that came with the beef set was HUGE! Much bigger than the portions given in Flushing. The soup base was good, I’m especially fond of the mixed half spicy and non-​spicy soup base (It comes in an adorable mini pot). I also appreciated how the waiters didn’t rush us to leave. I came to catch up with some friends and we were there for about 2 hours. I definitely look forward to coming back again!
THIS PLACE IS CASH ONLY!

A standard hotpot restaurant with a good selection of sides or combos to make it easier to choose from. I ordered the seafood and meat combo with a spicy Szechuan broth. The amount of food was more than enough for me and I liked the individual hotpots and sauce station.
The service was okay, but not much is expected since hotpotting consists of cooking your own meal. The waitresses did however come around asking if I needed a broth refill. Overall a reasonably priced meal and I would come back again if I were in the area and craving hot pot.

The servers are definitely the worst here. They will ignore you if you ask them for help and continue to do whatever they had preoccupied themselves with earlier. There isn’t an excuse for that even if they are Asian.
The food here is generic. Nothing stood out and nothing was awful. I didn’t feel like they were very sanitary either-​for example the sauce station is a bunch of bowls on the counter which ends up looking messy from all the drippings. Originally, I was excited about the tonkatsu soup base but the food came out no different as if it was with the regular base. I honestly wouldn’t come back here for hot pot since there are plenty of other places I could go to that has more unique options and better service.

Everytime I eat out in the Elmhurst area, I would go for Vietnamese for the fast service or chinese. So when I finally gotten a chance to come here with a friend of mine. We sat down in the booths, but the booths were so far away from the table! Anyways, we each ordered the beef. There were three different kinds of beef offered and three different prices. The angus beef $ 19? where as regular flank beef $ 13, but there were no difference in taste nor freshness. Save your $ 5 and get the ramen on the side.
Each order of the meat came with a bowl of extras filled with vercimelli, bok choi, radishes, an egg, lettuce, and etc! There were so many goodies in there that I like to just throw in to the pot.
I had a pleasant time here! Very filling! I got to mix my own sauces on the table by the front. I really wish they had plum sauce to offer! But never the less, I came again with my bf three weeks later, on a chilly september day!
–1 star for the service. I, myself with my bf came in around 930pm, thank god they didn’t close yet. But there was another couple who came in 30 minutes til closing. they were loud and mentioned thaT they wished they stopped coming in. That’s a welcoming way to welcome more customers in.