I was curious so I had to make a quick Google about Shabu-shabu. Thanks to Wikipedia, this is what it says:
Shabu-shabu is a Japanese nabemono hotpot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water and served with dipping sauces. The term is onomatopoeic, derived from the sound – "swish swish" – emitted when the ingredients are stirred in the cooking pot.
What made us try shabu-shabu at Sunburst? Let's begin.
Very simple spread of what was served to us but surprisingly it was just enough. Call it mini shabu-shabu if you will.
It was not a planned meal at that time. I had to do some business in our town last weekend so I asked my partner to accompany me. We were actually planning for another place to go for lunch. However, we don't know the exact location. The address was there, the name of the building was indicated on their page but we don't know where that was. I don't trust Google maps that well for sometimes it does not give you the right direction.
From where I had done some business, me and my partner decided to walk for a bit and see if the initial place we wanted to eat is nearby. If it was not nearby, then we would skip it and go to the city instead.
After walking for more or less 100 meters, we came across a newly refurbished establishment where there are cafes and restaurants. In fact, I remember posted about this too A Little Frappé Date
I thought it was just a cafe and milk tea but I saw the sign of Sunburst Diner and decided to check it out. I forgot to take more photos. We thought we will just be checking it out but ended up eating there.
Upon checking their menu, they have a wide range of choices from rice meals to snacks, single order or for sharing and they have shabu-shabu also.
What made us want to try is the price at PHP350.00 (USD5.96) and that is good for two already.
We chose a place to sit and ordered for one set of shabu-shabu. There were only a few tables occupied that time so plenty of seats to choose from. While waiting for our order, I decided to take photos.
You can choose to sit inside or by the balcony. The place has a simple set up. There are lots of interesting quotes on every post, wall and even their glass windows.
Perhaps the most interesting part are these black and white photos.
These are old photos of the Cordilleran people taken from various places in the region showing how life was back then. One wall was plastered with these photos - blast from the past.
Another interesting wallpaper is this one by the stairs.
There is not much of a running theme chosen for the decor and interior though.
However, that is not what we came for but for the food.
This is what the shabu-shabu consisted of. Some vegetables, crab sticks, fish/meat balls and sliced pork. This comes with two bowls of rice too.
You can choose to add some more but of course with additional charge depending on what you want to add. There are two choices of meat you can choose from and that is pork and beef. We wanted to add extra for all the ingredients but the staff said the meal is already good for two that's why she was hesitant at first. We then decided to be served everything first and then decide later on if we wanted to add or not.
In the end, we only added beef. Again, thinking the pork was not enough. However, it turned out that even if we did not add beef, the meal was enough already.
The broth was tasty and seasoned just right. the portions of all the ingredients are just enough for two. That depends though on how big or small of an eater you are but for me and my partner, that was enough.
For the price, it was worth it.
We asked for a cover for the pot because we thought it would help with making the broth boil faster. Surprisingly, they don't have covers for their pot. We also asked for bigger bowls but they don't have that too. Anyway, those were things we can do without for we can make do with what they have.
What's important is that we were fulfilled. It would be one of the places I would recommend and would go back again and try some of their meals.
So that is how our weekend at Sunburst Diner went. I wonder though why they named the place Sunburst. I hope it was interesting enough. They had the chef in their logo in Cordilleran attire it seems.