There are plenty of people writing blogs about food and restaurants, so that's not an area I focus on in these pages. However I am happy to make exceptions for special cases, such as the Volcano Shabu Shabu restaurant in Shaftsbury Square. Now this place is what is known as a 'Steamboat' restaurant, a phrase which was completely unknown to me when I walked in the door. In fact I was quite the bumbling hick on my visit to this particular dining establishment. From the name 'Volcano Shabu Shabu', I got the impression that they served spicy food. Hot like a volcano, see? I have since learned that 'Shabu-Shabu' is a famous Japanese dish featuring thin slices of beef (and various other stuff) boiled in a pot of water. It all makes sense now.
So anyway, we sat down and ordered a shared platter of various meats and fishes. We were slightly surprised to see oven rings built into the table, but assumed it was for heating sauces or some-such. The platter turned up extremely promptly, which is not always a good sign in a restaurant, suggesting that the microwave may have been used in the preparation. Not the case here. I tried a slice of meat, and it was just about frozen solid. I ate it anyway, being pretty hungry. We were discussing sending the whole thing back when the waitress arrived with a couple of pots full of water. She turned on the oven rings and pretty soon they were bubbling away nicely.
