Mokkoji is more than just a shabu spot—it’s dinner and a live drama show. The food is solid, with nice broths and super thin shabu meat (seriously, it’s like dipping tissue paper). But hey, unlimited veggie refills make up for it! The real star of the night? The tea-worthy gossip. The young Asian couple next to us casually revealed they were both cheating on their original partners—spicy, right? Who needs Netflix when you have Mokkoji? Come for the hot pot, stay for the unexpected reality show.
Sophie Tsai
We've been coming here since 2016, and I can't believe I've never written a review until now! Mokkoji is a great shabu-shabu spot where you order a set that includes a meat option, along with rice, vegetables, and dipping sauces. What makes them stand out is that their veggies (kale, bokchoy, napa cabbage) are essentially AYCE, even though it’s not explicitly stated on the menu. They also offer "hot-drops" for those who want that extra spice in their soups!
The quality of the meat is higher than what you'd find at an AYCE spot. My husband and I typically order our own entrees, but I recently discovered their "share" option, where a plate of meat comes with two bowls of rice and two plates of veggies—making it a better value per slice of meat. Life hack!
The service is excellent, and the food is delicious. However, with the growing number of hot pot spots in town, it’s becoming harder to justify coming here, as the price isn’t much lower than AYCE options, especially with the added cost for broths. Still, it’s a solid choice if you're looking for quality over quantity!
I have been going here once a month to treat myself for over a year. I always order original broth vegetarian with extra tofu. This time I order hot tea. The cup smelled and tea tasted weird. The vegetables seem okay but tofu seems off. I am a person who been eating tofu most of my life and I can tell the difference of tofu taste and textures of tofu suppose to be like. There was something on my last order of tofu and the waitress did not bother offer replace it or ask how my food was. I can say I am not going here again. The quality of food and customer service has declined.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Hot Pot
Diana
My favorite place for shabu shabu!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Maya S
Great Shabu Shabu place as a healthier dinner option when dining out. Meat quality is decent, vegetable offerings are fresh and bountiful. The rice texture could be better, it’s a bit dry and mushy, and the broth and sauce lack slightly in depth comparing to Shabu Shabu you can get in Japan.
Overall good value, for ~$30 you get meat, tofu, veggies, udon, rice, broth and complimentary tea.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Lawylin
The family really enjoys the shabu shabu here at Molokai. Their goma (sesame sauce) is really good and the meets when marinaded add a surprising amount of flavor even after you dip it into the soup. I would highly recommend Mokkoji if you are in Irvine.
just go! it’s amazing. i order the spicy miso broth with toro as my meat. i get two drops of the red spicy drops in both of my sauces and it’s mouthwatering every time.
Met some friends here for the first time. Food overall was good but not substantially better than some other places I have been to. It is very overpriced , especially have to pay extra for broths and they are not extraordinarily special. Definitely cant eat shabu without the broth... dont recommend the Sukiyaki broth, kinda sweet dashi soup base. Service was average, even they forgot our deserts...
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
Rohit Varma
Amazing shabu shabu. The only complaint is how long the weight can be, but that isn’t their fault since they have limited space. Only advice go early and be prepared for waiting, but the food is absolutely worth it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Spicy Miso
Nicole “Gina” R.
Starters came after the mains. Super busy. I prefer the Costa Mesa location, which offers extra green veg.
Starters came after the mains. Super busy. I prefer the Costa Mesa location, which offers extra green veg.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Spicy Miso, Shabu-Shabu
L
I really liked Mokkoji before. Some of the waiters are so nice, always helpful and welcoming. Not sure whats going on now, there is this extremely rude waitress (the one with the low pony tail, wearing black t-shirt). I feel sorry that you are still being hired here. More customers would be turned away with your passive aggressive, unhelpful, unprofessional, rude, condescending attitude. I sure ain’t gonna pay for this kind of service.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
p86111
Friend brought me here, popular restaurant here, crowded weekday night too, mostly bar seating, not much big table The broth( spicy miso) not much flavor ,but its not bad since its shabu The meat: the iron flat not bad, but also not that special, not sure if it worth the price, the fatty one is fatty enough i like it but halfway it get too oily, if they are something between these two, that will be perfect. I would say the thing that make this place good is the spicy sauce( one drop is spicy enough) And the combo come with vegies udon rice So overall its a good shabu place if no wait imo But as decent/ prize/ meat quality wise maybe there are better around
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Corina
This place is way overhyped. I thought the food was just okay, as the ingredients were not as tasty as I anticipated. First off, they only serve brown rice by default. I prefer white or purple rice, but these weren’t even options. The sukiyaki broth, which I was looking forward to, was too sweet and salty. It would’ve been better had it been more savoury with a balanced umami flavour. I wasn’t impressed by the flat iron “Mokkoji cut”, which is their most popular beef, and even with the marinade, it didn’t have much of a flavour other than salt. I also was underwhelmed by the veggies, the assortment of which didn’t complement the soup that well. It sort of felt like I was just adding a bunch of random ingredients to the pot.
Only positive out of my dine-in experience here was that the staff were very friendly.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 5
Corina Lange
This place is way overhyped. I thought the food was just okay, as the ingredients were not as tasty as I anticipated. First off, they only serve brown rice by default. I prefer white or purple rice, but these weren’t even options. The sukiyaki broth, which I was looking forward to, was too sweet and salty. It would’ve been better had it been more savoury with a balanced umami flavour. I wasn’t impressed by the flat iron “Mokkoji cut”, which is their most popular beef, and even with the marinade, it didn’t have much of a flavour other than salt. I also was underwhelmed by the veggies, the assortment of which didn’t complement the soup that well. It sort of felt like I was just adding a bunch of random ingredients to the pot.Only positive out of my dine-in experience here was that the staff were very friendly.
Mokkoji is more than just a shabu spot—it’s dinner and a live drama show. The food is solid, with nice broths and super thin shabu meat (seriously, it’s like dipping tissue paper). But hey, unlimited veggie refills make up for it! The real star of the night? The tea-worthy gossip. The young Asian couple next to us casually revealed they were both cheating on their original partners—spicy, right? Who needs Netflix when you have Mokkoji? Come for the hot pot, stay for the unexpected reality show.
We've been coming here since 2016, and I can't believe I've never written a review until now! Mokkoji is a great shabu-shabu spot where you order a set that includes a meat option, along with rice, vegetables, and dipping sauces. What makes them stand out is that their veggies (kale, bokchoy, napa cabbage) are essentially AYCE, even though it’s not explicitly stated on the menu. They also offer "hot-drops" for those who want that extra spice in their soups!
The quality of the meat is higher than what you'd find at an AYCE spot. My husband and I typically order our own entrees, but I recently discovered their "share" option, where a plate of meat comes with two bowls of rice and two plates of veggies—making it a better value per slice of meat. Life hack!
The service is excellent, and the food is delicious. However, with the growing number of hot pot spots in town, it’s becoming harder to justify coming here, as the price isn’t much lower than AYCE options, especially with the added cost for broths. Still, it’s a solid choice if you're looking for quality over quantity!
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shabu Shabu Dipping Sauces, Shabu-Shabu
I have been going here once a month to treat myself for over a year. I always order original broth vegetarian with extra tofu. This time I order hot tea. The cup smelled and tea tasted weird. The vegetables seem okay but tofu seems off. I am a person who been eating tofu most of my life and I can tell the difference of tofu taste and textures of tofu suppose to be like. There was something on my last order of tofu and the waitress did not bother offer replace it or ask how my food was. I can say I am not going here again. The quality of food and customer service has declined.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Hot Pot
My favorite place for shabu shabu!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great Shabu Shabu place as a healthier dinner option when dining out. Meat quality is decent, vegetable offerings are fresh and bountiful. The rice texture could be better, it’s a bit dry and mushy, and the broth and sauce lack slightly in depth comparing to Shabu Shabu you can get in Japan.
Overall good value, for ~$30 you get meat, tofu, veggies, udon, rice, broth and complimentary tea.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
The family really enjoys the shabu shabu here at Molokai. Their goma (sesame sauce) is really good and the meets when marinaded add a surprising amount of flavor even after you dip it into the soup. I would highly recommend Mokkoji if you are in Irvine.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shabu Shabu Dipping Sauces, Shabu-Shabu, Toro Fatty Belly, Pork Broth
just go! it’s amazing. i order the spicy miso broth with toro as my meat. i get two drops of the red spicy drops in both of my sauces and it’s mouthwatering every time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spicy Miso, Spicy Sukiyaki, Hot Pot, Toro Fatty Belly
Met some friends here for the first time. Food overall was good but not substantially better than some other places I have been to. It is very overpriced , especially have to pay extra for broths and they are not extraordinarily special. Definitely cant eat shabu without the broth... dont recommend the Sukiyaki broth, kinda sweet dashi soup base. Service was average, even they forgot our deserts...
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
Amazing shabu shabu. The only complaint is how long the weight can be, but that isn’t their fault since they have limited space. Only advice go early and be prepared for waiting, but the food is absolutely worth it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Spicy Miso
Starters came after the mains. Super busy. I prefer the Costa Mesa location, which offers extra green veg.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Spicy Miso, Shabu-Shabu
Restaurantji Recommends
Starters came after the mains. Super busy. I prefer the Costa Mesa location, which offers extra green veg.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Spicy Miso, Shabu-Shabu
I really liked Mokkoji before. Some of the waiters are so nice, always helpful and welcoming. Not sure whats going on now, there is this extremely rude waitress (the one with the low pony tail, wearing black t-shirt). I feel sorry that you are still being hired here. More customers would be turned away with your passive aggressive, unhelpful, unprofessional, rude, condescending attitude. I sure ain’t gonna pay for this kind of service.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Friend brought me here, popular restaurant here, crowded weekday night too, mostly bar seating, not much big table
The broth( spicy miso) not much flavor ,but its not bad since its shabu
The meat: the iron flat not bad, but also not that special, not sure if it worth the price, the fatty one is fatty enough i like it but halfway it get too oily, if they are something between these two, that will be perfect.
I would say the thing that make this place good is the spicy sauce( one drop is spicy enough)
And the combo come with vegies udon rice
So overall its a good shabu place if no wait imo
But as decent/ prize/ meat quality wise maybe there are better around
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
This place is way overhyped. I thought the food was just okay, as the ingredients were not as tasty as I anticipated. First off, they only serve brown rice by default. I prefer white or purple rice, but these weren’t even options. The sukiyaki broth, which I was looking forward to, was too sweet and salty. It would’ve been better had it been more savoury with a balanced umami flavour. I wasn’t impressed by the flat iron “Mokkoji cut”, which is their most popular beef, and even with the marinade, it didn’t have much of a flavour other than salt. I also was underwhelmed by the veggies, the assortment of which didn’t complement the soup that well. It sort of felt like I was just adding a bunch of random ingredients to the pot.
Only positive out of my dine-in experience here was that the staff were very friendly.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 5
This place is way overhyped. I thought the food was just okay, as the ingredients were not as tasty as I anticipated. First off, they only serve brown rice by default. I prefer white or purple rice, but these weren’t even options. The sukiyaki broth, which I was looking forward to, was too sweet and salty. It would’ve been better had it been more savoury with a balanced umami flavour. I wasn’t impressed by the flat iron “Mokkoji cut”, which is their most popular beef, and even with the marinade, it didn’t have much of a flavour other than salt. I also was underwhelmed by the veggies, the assortment of which didn’t complement the soup that well. It sort of felt like I was just adding a bunch of random ingredients to the pot.Only positive out of my dine-in experience here was that the staff were very friendly.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 5
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