Chubby Cattle Shabu | Philadelphia Reviews

My husbands one restaurant goal was to go to Chubby Cattle for such a unique experience. We had the traditional and tomato based soup bases. As well as 5oz of the Wagyu beef which was more than enough for the two of us. We also highly recommend the wagyu beef dumplings! They were divine! The wait staff comes over with a selection of various spices/sauces to add to your soup base I recommend adding some! I’m an adventurous eater, but my husband isn’t. Even he felt adding some sauce and spices only enhanced the overall flavor of everything.

My partner and I always choose Chubby Cattle for our go to place for Hot Pot. The staff is always very accommodating and the food is top notch. David was our waiter and he was awesome. He always checked up on us to see if we needed anything and answered any questions we had clearly. I would highly recommend this place to others.

My 16 yr old niece & I both loved the food & environment of Chubby Cattle. Our server David helped us patiently through the hot pot selection process (& order a lil off menu.) Wagyu beef is DEFINITELY worth returning for!! The conveyor belt of fresh food is a fun addition & conversation piece. I love booth seating, so extra star for that.

Fabulous place to go with 2, 4, or more people. You get a broth then add vegetables noodles and meat of your choice. DELICIOUS. We are from out of town and we’re here for the flower show(which was also fun) but a fun way to end the night was to cook our own food.

The food is good. If you like Mongolian hot pot, it's a must try. I would like to give them a 5-star rating, but there was a couple of things that made the experience a little uncomfortable or offsetting. First the booths are very small. There's not much wiggle room. They even acknowledge as much by building in these table extenders to allow for some more table space. There's really no great way to put everything on the table at the same time when you're in a party of four. The sauce tray isn't as accessible. I've been to other hot pot places where there is a sauce bar. You can go there whenever you want to refill your sauce cup. At Chubby Cattle, you have to ask the server to get it for you. It adds a layer of inconvenience, but that's all. There's also some sort of member club that gives you 20% off conveyor items, but that offer was currently suspended. Also almost everything Wagyu was not available (except the brisket and later I found the dumplings on the conveyor belt). Lastly, the conveyor belt has lots of items for you to throw in the hot pot. A little offsetting for me is that some of the items were sitting a shallow pool of water. I value that everything is thoroughly washed, but maybe it needs to be drained better. Overall, it was a great experience. I really enjoyed my tomato oxbone broth and could consume it by itself. I've really just scratched the service of the full experience here. It was a little pricey as my individual bill came out to $27 even with a Yelp check-in giving me a free conveyor belt item.

Instead of just one communal hot pot each of the four of us had a smaller heater for broth pots. Although we all tried the oxtail tomato broth if you wanted different broths it would make it very convenient. We ordered three meats, multiple vegetables, and chose items from the conveyor belt. Those items were mostly impulse additions. Everyone enjoyed the broth. The vegetables seemed very fresh. We had watermelon juice to drink which was delicious. I think they are still working on their drink selections/ liquor license. The service was attentive without being intrusive. The ambiance was enjoyable. We had a great time visiting and catching up with locals. This was their first time trying this hot pot place as well. Definitely fun and tasty. Great flavorful broth and tons of ingredients to choose from.

My family decided on Hot Pot for a late lunch on our recent visit to Chinatown. We did not realize how popular this spot was, and we surprisingly only had to wait 20 minutes for a table. I strongly suggest making reservations, as we were there at an off time. We had never been, and the staff was patient and helpful in explaining what we had to do and provided order suggestions. We ordered the original, mushroom, and oxtail broths. All were delicious, but the oxtail was our favorite. For food to cook in our broths, we ordered the platter of meats, glass and udon noodles, baby bok choy (my favorite), corn on the cob (which surprisingly cooked very nicely), enoki mushrooms, and spinach. Everything was very fresh and beautifully presented. This is definitely a spot to visit when you have time to enjoy the process and the camaraderie of sharing food and trying different flavors.

Came in for an early dinner with a group of friends. Given how early that was the place wasn't full and we were seated right away. The place has multiple broth option and I have to say that when you're selecting a spicy version make sure that you're able to tolerate the authentic version of spicy. I thought I could but I chose medium version and I am glad I did. The meats are ordered from the menu but there is a conveyor belt with various dumplings, mushrooms, and the like which you can take and then pay based on the color coded plates. The food is excellent. Fresh and tasty with soup and the kitchen dishes masterfully prepared but the population of the conveyor belt seems to be a little slow. We liked a certain type of dumplings that was available on the conveyor but several times it passed with no refilling, which isn't exactly bad but makes an impression.

We walked by this new restaurant during grand opening weekend and it was crowded, so we’ve decided to come back during a Saturday for lunch. Since we were a small group, we were able to get one of the seats near the conveyer belt. During our stay, the conveyer belt had mushrooms, salad, and other veggies. However, towards the end of our stay, we also saw quail eggs, meatballs and such going thru the conveyer belt. You order the soup base and your meats and they come out individually. The meat is thinly cut and fresh. Delicious! It’s a gimmick restaurant but it’s fun and great if you’re into hot pots!

The food here was very good! The restaurant offers hot pot options: you choose a soup base, meats, noodles, and vegetables, and you cook all of the meats, veggies, etc. in the boiling soup base, which you can also consume. Our waitress was great, and suggested to my husband that he get an 'entry-level' spiciness level for his soup when he would have ordered hotter, and it's a good thing she made that recommendation - the entry-level spicy level here is at least a medium at most standard American restaurants, so if you don't like spicy or can only handle a bit, then I suggest a different soup base. I got the mushroom soup base and it was delicious. Seating is a bit tight, so I recommend adding yourself to the restaurant's waitlist on Yelp - it'll tell you where you are in line and what time you should arrive at the restaurant.

Chubby Cattle is certainly an experience to dine at the restaurant with a refrigerated conveyor-belt they combine the age-old tradition of hot pot with a twist and serve premium A5 Wagyu Beef for a unique dining experience. Well you can't always go in person, so what about take-out? Well that is where things change dramatically. I was told out of the entire menu, only two items are available for take-out. So what did I do? I ordered them both.  They were good, but the thing to do is visit Chubby Cattle in person. I had the Wagyu Ya Style Bibimbap and Wagyu Shabu Shabu Don.

This restaurant is a hot spot in the heart of Philly Chinatown, it was Amazing experience for a decent hot pot restaurant. The menu has variety of meats selection and fresh seafood. WagYu beef and A5 Kobe beef which i tried and it melts in your mouth. You order your soup base and all soup pot comes individually. Theres also a conveyor belt with smaller plates items and Sushi. Our waitress was great with the service. I recommend to make a reservation through Yelp cause walk up will take 1-2 hrs wait.** Fri -Sun ** online reservation not accepted. Definitely will come back.

Walking past this place on a recent trip to Chinatown, it looked intriguing so we stopped in for lunch. Amazing!!! We have been looking for a decent hot pot place in Philadelphia for years...finally we found one!!! This is definitely a modern/upscale hot pot place compared to what you might find in NYC or China but it is excellent! Wagyu beef is the focal point here, which my wife tired and loved, but they also offer many vegetarian/vegan options too which is uncommon for this type of cuisine! You order your main soup and protein options and then there is a conveyor belt with smaller plates for the hot pot and sushi, which you pick as you go. Everyone gets an individual pot, very cool and customizable! Definitely going back soon!

i was visiting philly with my boyfriend and we found that restaurant. was a great discovery and it was very good. was our first time and the waiter took his time to really explain to us how it was working. we would definitely go there again if we are in philly

I brought my 17 year old daughter here to celebrate her birthday. It was amazing. The food is so fresh and delicious. We ordered a few options for our hot pot but then we really enjoyed choosing items from the conveyor belt! So unique! The staff is amazing. They even sang happy birthday to my daughter.