Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2011

Dozens of condiments in glass bowls line the illuminated counter. An interior of fuchsia and baby pink walls embellished with synthetic gems, chandeliers, and glass-beaded curtains seems more like Barbie’s dining room than a nabe restaurant.

Nabe Sennin caters to the growing population of fussy eaters who prefer personalized dishes instead of the traditional communal table. This particular urban hot-pot restaurant’s selection of 15 broths, 30 ingredients, dozens of condiments, and three types of shime (noodles or rice added to the soup at the end of meal) allows everyone to create their unique concoction. You no longer have to share, eat from the same pot with others at the table, or lose control of what goes in it.

The restaurant’s individualistic concept has given birth to many unconventional soup flavors like beef tendon curry, green curry and scorching red hot nabe, while maintaining the common ones like kimchi, motsu and mizutaki. Metropolis opted for the recommended soy milk-based soup with a Dragon Ball-reminiscent collagen jelly ball (¥1,050), and nabe full of meltable ginger-flavored jelly (¥880)—both garnished with colorful vegetables cut out in star and heart shapes.

Overall, variety was cherished over quality for better or worse. Their ¥3,500 set came up short with a mediocre izakaya-style menu. It included a slice of cured chicken and cream cheese with salted kombu, chawanmushi (steamed egg custard bowl), fish carpaccio for appetizers, meager slices of shabushabu meat, vegetables, udon noodles for the hotpot, and dry cake for dessert.

One thing that impressed was their wide selection of free-refill condiments, with which other restaurants can often be stingy. We put heaps of cilantro, scallions, ginger, garlic, yuzu paste and other spices into our dipping sauce to make up for everything else.