Momo Paradise

It's hotpot so meat is the main dish Great service from Brandon
Clean and efficient
I come here at least once a month and would recommend it highly

my mom is visiting from taiwan and had mentioned to my family how much she liked momo paradise so we thought we'd try it out in arcadia!

i usually have family style chinese hot pot at home and wasn't too familiar having shabu at a restaurant but some family members walked me thru it. i went with my mom, uncle, and step-aunt on a tuesday at noon (with prior reservations). it wasn't very busy and we got sat right away. we each got a two flavored shabu- my mom and i shared a tomato and sukiyaki flavor (the latter being the one i preferred) and my uncle ordered the beef cuts and the pork that was available with lunch (i believe the pork belly was only available during dinner and weekends).

we made our way to the farmer's market and got some salad and veggie options for the soup. there was also curry and rice available but following the usual guidlines for AYCE i left the carbs for later and loaded on protein first!
we then got some of the sauces- the taberu rayu and spicy soyu being my favorite- add a little green onion and i was set!

the sukiyaki flavor soup added just the right amount of sweet flavor for the meat i cooked in it, complemented with the side sauces and paired with my favorite veggies like mushrooms and even kale added just the right balance. every bite was delicious!

admittedly, one of my favorite parts of the meal was their drink garden. as a big lover of sweet drinks and soda, i tried their jasmine milk tea first, then i tried the shirley temple soda, their signature momo peach, and then had some cola flavor- all with cane sugar (no corn syrup!) they even have jelly and boba options that you can add- but once again, remember the AYCE protocol!

a super AYCE experience that didn't leave me feeling gross, but comfortably full. and they even give you a scoop of ice cream at the end! (i had the pineapple coconut.) definitely looking forward to going back!

(oh yeah-- i did try a little bit of the beef curry with rice halfway thru the meal. that was delicious too but don't recommend filling up on that!)

We arrived early evening on a quiet Sunday night as a party of four 5 minutes before our reservation but ended up in waiting an additional 15 minutes for a table to be cleaned. It appeared as if they were short staffed which is understandable, however, I'd noticed the hostess/cashier walked into the room near the door and was just standing there and chatting with her coworkers while a customer was waiting to pay. It's a shame that the customer had to call her out of the room to finish paying the bill, but even worse, she didn't look at him at all during the process or say anything and just handed him the receipt and went back to the room. It was a very disappointing sight to see.

Being our first time here, our server Brandon, explained the menu and the process thoroughly so we could understand. We ordered a couple plates of each meat type and grabbed veggies and drinks from the farmers market. The only complaint I have on the food side is that the sauces were limited to the goma and ponzu. While the choices were not bad, a wider selection would be better in my opinion. Other than that, everything tasted good and Brandon was very attentive to our needs and the rest of his tables.

We'll be back sometime in the future and hopefully by then they'll resolve their staffing issues.

The service was very smooth and our waiter was fun and polite. When ordering meat there is no limit per round and they will happily give you a whole stack of plates at once. For parties of six or more, there's an 18% service charge which is separate from the tip.
The meat is high quality, where the fatty cuts are fatty and the leaner cuts are rich in flavor. They slice the meat extra thin so it cooks in an instant, even the pork. The farmers market and sauce bar is pretty small though. I think other Momo locations have more options. Here, there wasn't even sesame oil or soy sauce.

My son has been asking to go here ever since he saw it on TikTok. AYCE with unlimited drinks and boba...my kid loves his boba.

We were finally able to try it out, and it did not disappoint, which shocked me. I'm not usually one to enjoy a recommendation from TikTok.

The restaurant is situated on a quiet corner on First and Duarte. It's very clean and quiet on the inside. We were met by a nice gentleman who informed us that we would have a little bit of a wait since we didn't have a reservation. However, 15 minutes later, he was able to seat my son and me. I appreciated the fact that they accommodated us, without a reservation.

Once we sat, we ordered 2 different broths and 2 plates each of the chuck eye, pork belly, and beef eye of round.

For the rest of the goodies, we were able to grab it from little self serve areas. The choices for veggies and tofu weren't as extensive as we're used to. My son loves yuba and other kinds of tofu. I love having different choices for mushrooms and greens. But the offerings that were included were still fresh and tasty. But we do wish there was just a bit more.

The sauce bar was excellent! They had a spicy shoyu that I absolutely devoured. It was delicious and bursting with flavor. Add that in with some chili powder, radish, green onions, and ponzu and I had the perfect dipping sauce!

Unlimited drinks are also included in the price and we loved the choices. My son opted to make himself some boba type drink, while I tried their Yuzu Jasmine iced tea! It was quite refreshing with a glass of ice. Enjoyed this part very much!

Now for the food! The cuts of meat were delicately sliced and the right by amount. The meat itself was a good quality, you can really taste the difference if you have tried different places for shabu. Some restaurants use lesser quality and the cuts are completely frozen. Not here. We were extremely pleased with our meat choices and later switched up the pork belly for some beef short plates. That actually ended up being our favorite, just the right amount of marbling.

There's plenty of parking in the garage! The service was delightful. The food was superb! 4 solid stars!

Went here on a Friday night, not too packed and we were able to get a table for 5. Would definitely come back for the AYCE experience and access to a variety of their boba drinks and notably tasty curry.

Great service and the insides was very modern and clean. Seating for five was pretty good and felt like we had plenty of space for our meat/soups/veggies.

Broth wise, got their sukiyaki and tonkotsu. Pretty flavorful and tasty. Meat quality was solid, liked their pork shoulder and beef chuck eye. I liked their boba bar, enjoyed the passion fruit tea as well as the jasmine milk tea. Their beef curry and rice was an interesting addition to the palette. Their veggie selection was good but could have had more options in my opinion.

First time here my wife and i have been wanting to try this place for forever.
Food Quality was great the service was great, Thank you anderson. The ambiance is very nice and clean!. Will definitely be coming back!!!.
Make sure to book a reservation before you come in. Definitely worth coming back to!.

Definitely make a reservation or be prepared to wait. But the wait is worth it! Make sure not to fill up on all of the sides available! The meat is great!

AYCE Shabu Shabu for $35 on weekends. Includes hot tea but if you want fountain drinks unlimited for extra $2.55. 18% service charge. 90 min limit.

Parking available in the adjacent three level lot.

Reservations pretty much required. We had ours for 5p on a Saturday and walk ins were told no openings until 8p! There were a few empty tables either understaffed or just being held for reservations but I think they could have accommodated one or two walk in "floaters" to fill out tables. There's a 90 min limit but we only took an hour for two.

For us we were allowed 10 items from the unlimited meats at a time. We got 2 of each except for the chicken (saved for the end). They were all thinly sliced and small so we can keep the food moving and fresh!

We split the soup bases: tonkatsu and sukiyaki. The sukiyaki was sweet as described and does get into the meats. The tonkatsu started creamy but as more fatty meats got cooked I think the flavor got a little diluted (and I could clearly see the layer of oil!)

We liked the short plate it had a beefy fatty taste and the pork belly was nice and fatty.

There is also a cold bar to get veggies and tofu and meatballs. There's rice and beef curry with some noodle salads but ramen and udon we had to ask for since they moved quickly.

Some garnishments are available but the servers can bring you goma and ponzu at the table.

At the end you get your choice of a rotating selection of ice cream. For us vanilla, mint chocolate chip, and pina colada were the options.

Overall great meal if you are craving some ayce! We were only able to order 22 meat plates between the two of us.

It was cold so I've been craving for hot pot. We went on a Friday for lunch. *Pro tip: make reservation on Opentable. Usually there are spots available a day in advance. Even the day of early in the morning.

My main review is about service today since the food was consistent and great quality as usual.

We have been here several time in the past 3 months. But we had the best service from Jeff this time. My kid was being particular and had a fit about the table was dirty and some food was not cleaned up on the table when we first sat down. He wiped it and went on his way to get some curry. Jeff saw it and said we should just let him know and he can clean up right away. He was super nice and chill about it. Extra point #1 there.

Jeff also brought straws when he saw we have drinks with boba/jelly without us asking for it. Extra point #2.

When we ordered more meat during other visits, it usually takes like 5 minutes-ish for the meat to be brought to us. With Jeff, it's like within a minute. I was really pleasantly surprised. Extra point #3.

The table next to us were several elderly folks. I saw Jeff was patiently waiting for them to read the menu and answering their questions. He even walked the elderly group to the drink station and show them the options. Extra point #4.

For the meat choices for lunch, beef eye round is the favorite who want something lean with no fat and gristle. I like the short plate with more marbling fat. However, it could be inconsistent with fat/meat ratio. We had a couple of trays of short plate that are basically 90% fat. So be aware that's what you could get. Beef chuck and pork shoulder are usually good balance of meat and fat but there could be some gristle.

Overall the dining experience this time was enhanced by Jeff's attention to details and his kind service. I made sure to tell him he did a good job as we were leaving. We will be back!