GANSO-SHABUWAY Manila

I realized I’ve been contributing a whole lot to the Trip Advisor website and decided to take my reviews up a notch. While I won’t stop writing on there, since I think readership is pretty solid, I thought it’d be nice to update this more often. So here it goes.

If my memory serves me right, I’ve eaten in the Ganso-Shabuway Greenbelt branch about 6 times in a 2 month span. That is kind of a lot since the average person probably does not eat in the same restaurant every week. Shamefully, just a few weeks back I ate there twice, once on Tuesday and then Saturday. This may sound like a carnivorous Japanese hotpot overload on my end but to be honest, it was well worth it.

To give you just a little history on the place, Ganso-Shabuway is the first international franchise from Eiichi Mochizuki’s Shabuway whose origins trace back to America. I’m not exactly a shabu-shabu geek but according to my mother, there is quite a big difference between the traditional Chinese hotpot and this Japanese one.

Ganso-Shabuway’s menu is absolute perfection. It’s as simple as simple can get because there are just two options for most things; two types of broth, two types of beef and two kinds of sauce to dip in. To appreciate the Shabuway experience in entirety you must be a carnivore. Apart from tofu, beef is the only type of protein they serve. There’s Unagi but it does not count because it is 720 bucks and the idea of boiling eel will never appeal to me.

On to the broth, there’s the Traditional Seaweed broth which is 15 shades of bland. I advise every single person who reads this to ignore that and get the Spicy Miso broth which is absolute perfection. It’s dark, seasoned with peppers and chopped ginger. Contrary to how it looks, it’s actually just mildly spicy so please, just order it.

Whatever you order, the beef will reign supreme. Like I said, there are two choices. The Meyer Natural Angus and Kobe beef. I’ve tried both and since shabu-shabu meat is sliced paper thin, there isn’t much of a difference between both. For just half the price, get a large serving of the Meyer for Php 670.

There are two sauces that are served alongside the shabu-shabu; Ponzu and Sesame. The Ponzu sauce hits the sour notes and reminds me a lot of Gyoza sauce, I enjoy dipping my tofu in it. The Sesame sauce on the other hand tastes amazing when you mix garlic and some of the SNB chili oil with it. Gee, I’m a huge peanut fiend and there’s nothing truly more satisfying then dipping the thinly sliced marbled meat in its sesame goodness and having a mouthful with rice. I can’t believe I forgot to mention that they serve unlimited rice refills. Granted you don’t share, of course, since they have a strict no sharing rule that’ll require you to pay Php 250 if you insist. The default veggie plate that comes with an order of meat comes with another favorite of mine, Enoki mushrooms. If you add, Php 80 though you can get an extra order of the King Oyster mushrooms which are awesome. That is all I can say.

For an unparalleled Japanese hotpot dining experience, head right over to Ganso-Shabuway and order what I ordered. Trust me when I tell you to go with a large order of beef.

Ganso-Shabuway Japanese Style Hot Pot
2/F Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City
(Beside Pepper Lunch)
Telephone Number: +632 903 6763; +63 917 5418181
Operating Hours:
Sunday to Thursday 11am to 9pm
Friday and Saturday 11am to 10pm
Budget: At least 600 per head

• food manila
• ganso-shabuway
• japanese hotpot