Kat's 9 Lives

I have been waiting forever to come up and try this all you can eat shabu place called Mum's. Who can say no to all you can eat meat!?! After going to Shabu with Hot Mama, I have been craving for some nice meat and not at a high price! As Ms. Lin has said before that Mum's is lots of good meat for a good price, but their sauces are just decent and not as good as Shabu. This place is located in a hotel in Japan town between Sutter and Buchanan. We met up with a friend and based on the dinner talk I am going to label him as Stinky Tofu! =9The service was nice and quick. They sat us down immediately and brought over the burner. Everything else was already set on the table and ready for you to chow down! As soon as the water starts boiling you can load it with veggies and meat. While your waiting for the water to boil, you can make your sauces. They had the typical sauce that resembles ponzu and a sesame-based sauce. At the table there were two other bowls with the chopped green onions and the minced daikon to add to the sauces.
First we tossed in the mushrooms, tofu, enoki, and other veggies. Then we started to load in the delicious meat. Beware not to let the meat overcook as you put it in because they are paper thin so they cook rapidly. As you put more and more meat in, the broth becomes darker and more flavorful. Do not put in the noodles until the end of the meal because it will soak up the broth and at the end it will be the most flavorful. This does not mean you can't put the noodles in early if you really like noodles because they will come by and add more broth.
You can ask for more meat or more vegetables any time and they will be more than glad to help. Be sure not to fill up on fillers like noodles or veggies, go for the meat ^_-. Can't tell I am a carnivore, huh?
After you put a lot of meat in, the gunky film from the meat will develop atop. On the table there were utensils ready sitting in water for you to use with your meal. Inside there was a ladle designed to remove the foamy film and you clean the ladle off back inside the pot of water. Thereby allowing you a clean broth that's ready for more yummy ingredients! Go meat!
All in all the place was good and great for the price. The meats quality varied a little but overall was good. I mentioned to Ms. Lin that Shabu had better meats and sauce but at a much higher price. At least here you can get your meat fill and at the end of the meal you get a choice of ice cream. Stinky Tofu and I got the Sesame and Ms. Lin opted for the Green Tea. I must say the ice cream was very tasty and had just right creamy texture. If I knew where or what brand they had I would get some for home. The tip was included on the bill and they were very fair as they crossed out the tip section to my credit card bill. Bonus points for not being greedy. I definitely will be back again in the future, but not any time soon as I must explore SF! ^_-Mum's
1800 Sutter St
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 931-6986