Shabu near chinatown, not Shabu zen?

[foodieX2]

We have eaten at Shabu Zen a bunch of times with family. Always enjoyable.

My BIL told me there is another place close by with "better atmosphere" and a liqueur license. We are flying into Boston late afternoon and Chinatown is an easy in/out stop for us. Any know the name of this place or another close by where we can get some shabu/hot pot and a cocktail?

BIL is off the grid right now or I would ask him, LOL

[foodieX2]

We ended up at Q Hot Pot on Washington St Friday night. Got there early, 5:30, and was seated right away. The bar area was hopping and within 15 minutes there was over a 40 minute wait for tables! Once we had the food I could easily see why.

We started with pan fried dumpling and soft shell crab maki. The dumplings were so good, thin skinned and crispy, that my son asked to get another order. I didn't have the sushi but my husband really enjoyed them.

For hot pot we ordered two kinds of broth, the mala and the black bone chicken. I had the combo lamb/beef, my husband had the angus as did my son. Veggies were fresh and nice assortment of mushrooms, cabbage, boy choy and more. Now I can handle spicy but I can't imagine how spicy the crazy mala would have been! The regular was full of flavor with lots of large flecks of hot peppers that clung to the meat and veggies. By the time we were done both my husband and I were sweating.

Cocktails were fun but not very strong (just as well as we had a long drive home, LOl). I had the Q-tini and my husband had the Caipirinha.

Overall a great night and much better than Shabu Zen. thanks for all the recc's!

[C. Hamster]

Nice report. Thanks!

We love Q!

[grant.cook]

It still gets crowded, but if you want to avoid downtown Boston, try Little Q in East Arlington..

[foodieX2]

Living down on the South Shore it is unlikely I will venture to Arlington for casual dinner, but thanks for letting me know. The reviews of that location are quite good.

[grant.cook]

Then its our gain and your loss.. Little Q used to be down in Quincy, and relocated up our way a few years back..

[foodieX2]

I dont consider it loss. :)

The Boston location was awesome, we had a great meal and plan on returning.

[mwk]

There is a place in Quincy called Little Panda Hot Pot, that is quite similar to Little Q. It's a much smaller place, but the choices of hot pot are the same and they have the great Chinese Herbal and Mala broth options as well. It's not usually crowded for dine in and the owners are really sweet people. You should give it a try some time:

http://www.littlepandahotpot88.com/

[foodieX2]

Thanks for that! I have friends with adventurous son (like mine) who has never had hot pot but we can never seem to coordinate a time for us all to go to the city. This might be on the weekend rotation!

[mwk]

Q is good. Also, Kaze is very good. They have liquor as well and a nice atmosphere. It's more of the Japanese style of Shabu, whereas Q is Chinese.

http://www.kazeshabushabu.com/

[Spike]

I didn't know Kaze was Japanese style.

Q has a nice Mongolian broth if you're not into spicy.
Both Q and Kaze have good sichuan broths....I think the lamb is a bit better at Q and veggies are better at Kaze.

[yumyum]

Q hotpot. Yummy. They do have cocktails! Enjoy

[foodieX2]

Great thank you. I googled and it is the one Washington St correct?

[yumyum]

That's the one. It smells great in there too! The lamb is very good.

[9lives]

Washington and Beach St. I think they offer parking in the Archstone (apt) Building that they are on the ground floor of. Don't know the cost.