District 2, Thao Dien Japanese Restaurant SHO BU Review(2025.04)
- Hochiminh Gourmet
- 39 minutes ago
- 5 min read
#1. District 2, Thao Dien Japanese Restaurant SHO BU Review
Japanese restaurant SHO BU has two branches: the first in Phu My Hung, District 7, and the second in Thao Dien, District 2. This is a place that is especially popular with Asians living in Ho Chi Minh City, as they offer high-quality Japanese aged sashimi at a reasonable price.
Shobu 2nd branch, located in Thao Dien, District 2, has a hall with tables for dining on the 2nd floor, and a hall and rooms for quiet dining on the 3rd floor. I booked a room on the 3rd floor on a Friday evening and visited with my group.
When I made a reservation and visited, there was a table prepared according to the number of people. SHO BU's lunch course is cheap and well-composed, but the dinner course is quite expensive, so it is also a good idea to order a few a la carte dishes.
When you order food, they give you various side dishes. Kimbap & Salted and Fermented Plaice is Shobu's representative side dish, and opinions are divided, but I personally like it. It's not as good as the original, but it's not bad.
Before the sashimi I ordered came out appetizers included chawanmushi, crab meat soup, and sesame tofu salad. Nothing special, but edible.
Of the three appetizers, the sesame tofu salad was the worst. It was a disappointing salad because I couldn't taste the creamy, rich flavor of sesame tofu that I had expected.
While waiting for the tuna sashimi, I ordered the quick-serving Conch Sashimi as a soju side dish. It was chewy and had a rich, sweet flavor, making it a good with soju.
Tuna Sashimi(L) was made up of various parts such as bluefin tuna otoro, chutoro, and akami, as well as swordfish belly, and Assorted Sashimi(M) was made up of flatfish, rockfish, salmon, herring, and squid. Each table was served with an even mix of them on two plates as shown in the photo below.
Bluefin Tuna Sunazuri is the highest grade of tuna sashimi. It is less oily and less savory than Otoro, but has a soft, chewy texture that is not greasy. It is really delicious when dipped in sesame oil sauce and wrapped in seaweed.
Tuna sashimi and Assorted sashimi come with tempura and hot stew(Spicy Codfish Stew or Dried Pollack Soup). Tempura was served around the time we finished eating the sashimi. It consisted of shrimps, chilis, kabochas, sweet potatoes, and onions, and was pretty good.
I additionally ordered the single menu item, Bluefin Tuna Otoro(100g). It was as tasty as the otoro of Tuna Sashimi(L), but it was a little disappointing because it wasn't properly thawed.
After tempura, Dried Pollack Stew came out. It was warm and rich, so it wasn't bad, but those of us who were expecting Spicy Codfish Stew were disappointed. They said that the type of stew they serve changes every day, but it would have been better if they had told us when we first ordered the meal.
I felt a little disappointed with the Dried Pollack Soup, so I ordered Udon and Spicy Codfish Stew as well. The udon was generous and looked nice, but the soup was too sweet and felt like it was separate from the ingredients, which was quite unsatisfactory.
The spicy codfish stew was full of ingredients such as cod bones, radish, green onions, enoki mushrooms, and mugwort. Fortunately, I was able to taste the soup that was as spicy and savory as I had hoped, which was satisfying. It was a good ending to the meal and as a side dish to soju.
#2. Japanese Restaurant SHO BU Menu
SHO BU's dinner course is quite expensive, so it's not bad to order a few a la carte dishes. The lunch course is reasonably priced and well-composed, making it a good place to stop by for a lunch after playing golf on the weekend. The a la carte menu prices are more reasonable than they look, and no VAT, the total bill after eating is not as high as you might think. The alcohol prices are similar to other restaurants in the area, so it's not bad.
Six of us visited on Friday evening and ordered as follows:
Seashells: 350,000VND
Assorted Sashimi(M): 1,500,000VND
Tuna Sashimi(L): 2,500,000VND
Bluefin Tuna Otoro: 550,000VND x 2 EA = 1,100,000VND
Spicy Codfish Stew: 300,000VND x 2 EA = 600,000VND
Udon: 150,000VND x 2 EA = 300,000VND
Sapporo Draft Beer: 60,000VND x 4 EA = 240,000VND
Chamisul Soju: 140,000VND x 2 EA = 280,000VND
Jinro Soju: 140,000VND x 5 EA = 700,000VND
Makgeolli: 220,000VND
I was able to have a satisfying meal with my friends for a total of 7,790,000VND, which was not bad at all. The price range and food quality were satisfactory, but the staff and manager's response and service were definitely inferior to the first branch in Phu My Hung. The Thao Dien branch in District 2 showed a lot of room for improvement in service during this visit. However, if you live near Thao Dien, it was not so bad that you would have to go all the way to District 7.
#3. Japanese Restaurant SHO BU Hours and Location
Japanese restaurant SHO BU has two branches: the first in Phu My Hung, District 7, and the second in Thao Dien, District 2. It is a neighborhood where many foreigners live and where many restaurants from various countries gather, so it is a place where visit often while living in Ho Chi Minh City. The branch we visited that day was in Thao Dien. Click the Check Location button below to check the detailed location on Google Maps.
Address: 97 Đ. Võ Nguyên Giáp, Thảo Điền, Thủ Đức, Hồ Chí Minh
Website: ...
Phone: 0973051700
Hours: 11:00 ~ 22:00
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