Gokudo Shabu Shabu-Burnaby

This is my go-to spot for clean hot pot with the assurance that I won't leave with a stomach ache. I love that the meat quality and cleanliness at this restaurant is top notch and their soup base is delicious without the overpowering MSG / saltiness that you get at other hotpot resstaraunts. I never feel overly thirsty after eating hotpot here. Their new location is quite spacious!

PRO-TIP 1: You can add your name to the wait list on Yelp and see when you're next in line to avoid having to go wait in person (especially during weekend evenings).

PRO-TIP 2: After 9 pm, they take 10% off your bill and unlimited drinks (non-alc)!

Recommended Soup Base: My favourite are the Tom Yum and Pumpkin soup base. I enjoy the mild spice, which gives enough spicy flavour but not enough to make it an uncomfortable experience.

Recommended Dishes: I always get the combo (worth it with the variety of veggies and fishballs that you get!). My go-to meat is the fatty short plate (beef) or lamb shoulder slice (7 oz.). While their basic meats are already really good quality, I've also tried the AAA Prime Rib slice which is a cut above, more tender, fattier and melt in your mouth.

Overall, I come here time and time again and there's no better way than to say that it is well deserving of the 5 star experience.

Finally got a chance to visit them after they relocated across crystal mall, and the interior was soo much more big and spacious than I had imagined!

Got a fatty beef combo with their original broth and it was delicious! Loved how it came with a drink, rice, and an ice cream at the end of the meal! The service was also great and they constantly refilled our pots so that we had enough broth to keep going! Can never finish all the meat + veggies so would be a good idea to bring a box to take it home!

Came here after the snow day and definitely appreciated the individual hot pot! I love how they have toddler plate and utensils for the little, too! It is easy to use the waiting list function on Yelp and the servers are nice.

There are many sets to choose from and each set comes with the base broth, meat option, various veggies and sides, choice of noodles, choice for drink, and ice cream! They have large size and small size for different levels of hunger. You can upgrade the soup base for a small fee. I like how the ice cream is in individually sealed containers!

This used to be my go-to individual hotpot restaurant in Burnaby when going out with friends. The menu options are vast and there was always something that appealed to everyone we brought.

We would often get the combo set with whichever protein we fancied that day and enjoyed the great value and variety it offered.

However, at some point post-COVID, they moved to a new location, and it was at that point that things went downhill from my perspective.

Portions are smaller on the combo, not just meat but veggies too. You'd think they want you to fill up on cheap carbs and cabbage, but instead, I left still hungry the last time I visited. At the same time, prices are higher. I dont recall what we used to pay, but our bill for 5 people came to about 25% more than the last time, for essentially the same set of dishes. We also encountered some cleanliness issues, and so haven't been back since.

Last time we were there, a spider rappelled down from the ceiling and suspended there about eye-level, right above one of our friend's soup. Staff needed to be asked a few times to bring us some extra napkins to deal with it. They didn't bring napkins, instead just squashed the spider where it hung and just walked away. A few of the sets also had cabbage that didn't appear to be washed. Our friend understandably lost his appetite and didn't feel like eating much after that, so we paid and left shortly after.

Went during peak dinner hour on a Friday night, but once seated, the service was very quick. Food was fresh and delicious. There was so much food! When we didn't think it was possible, at the end of our meal, we were given these cute little cups of ice cream for dessert! Yum...

I went with a group of three back in August to celebrate my fiancée's birthday while on vacation. We came around 6pm without a reservation on Sunday night and were seated immediately.

The menu is pretty expansive and there a lot of different meat or seafood options to choose from. Most items come with the combo which includes a base soup, rice/noodles, veggie platter, and a drink. It can add up quickly if you want multiple meats or an upgraded soup base.

The portions here are decent, the veggie platter has a good amount of different items. We ended up getting a seafood combo, a beef combo, and a two kinds of meat combo. We also tried a couple different kinds of broth. Everything was just average for us, we didn't feel like the broths or the meat/seafood really stuck out. The drinks were just okay as well.

One big downside for us is that the sauce is premade and very standard. I would categorize the food as being more like Chinese hotpot than Japanese shabu shabu because the assortment of broths and the sauce was a generic Chinese mix of hoisin/oyster/shacha/etc. Usually, shabu shabu restaurants serve ponzu and sesame sauce with the hotpot and Chinese hotpot tends to come with a sauce bar of many different ingredients. We were disappointed in the lack of sauce bar because usually you can compliment your soup base to a specific type of sauce.

Overall, we weren't that impressed with Gokudo Shabu Shabu. We came from the states and thought that Vancouver hotpot would be much better. However, it was one of the more disappointing meals of our trip. Also, we took the metro over to the Burnaby area for our dinner and were surprised everything closes super early on a Sunday night. One plus is that it is a block or two away from Chicha San Chen, the popular bubble tea shop.

Great place when it comes to Hot Pot! I personally like the fact that each person gets their own bowl here.

Food is good, especially on a cold day and after waiting in the long lines which solidifies the legitimacy of this place!

I will say, the spiciness for me on the spicy option was a bit too hot for my liking, but it was still good nonetheless. They were able to pour in some regular broth in my bowl to dilute a little bit of the spiciness.

Restrooms are clean, parking is all street parking, which can be rather difficult to come by on such a major street.

Unfortunately 2/3 of us had stomaches after eating here, we assume it was the shrimp that was in the veggies because my other friend that was fine didn't eat her shrimp. On the bright side, their soups were very tasty! The udon I would skip out on. Service was fast and efficient. The restaurant and bathroom were clean.

I will probably come here again to give it another chance but probably not anytime soon.

We love getting our shabu shabu fix at Gokudo. It's a little on the pricier side but totally worth it every time! The sukiyaki broth is by far the standout.

The food is always fresh. The service was good. There is a lot of soup base for you to choose from the menu. I think the price is average, not too cheap or not too expensive. I pretty like everyone has their own pot because you can choose your own soup base.