Shabu 101 Degree Restuarant Backstage
Although shabu is originated in Osaka which is deemed as national kitchen (tenka no daidokoro) of Japan, in past few years, this kind of restaurant emerges in Thailand a lot which is consistent with culture of hot pot consumption that is extensively popular. One of them is Shabu 101 Degree, Thai Shabu restaurant that can catch up with this trend. However, it presents something different with love in cooking and caring
After opening this business for 4-5 years, Shabu 101 Degree continually grows from the first branch in Silom Complex to the second branch at Siboonrueang Tower. In addition, the shop is having the 3rd branch at Watcharaphon soon. Although Shabu 101 Degree is a new brand of Japanese restaurant, with experience from managing Banana Leaf shop for 23-24 years, restaurant management is not something completely new for Khun Norathip Thanasansilp and his family.
Start from good location and potential
while talking in his restaurant, which is decorated in modern style, Khun Norathip told us about story of Shabu 101 Degree “when we had a location at Silom Complex, we thought to open another Banana Leaf but we saw that Japanese restaurants like shabu I sup to trend and we believe in our potentials. We had soup base from Banana Leaf. It is the starting point that we would like to try something new. That’s the origin of Shabu 101 Degree. Actually, it did not start from nothing because we have some customer bases and he and his family are familiar with them that they understand needs of the target group.
“it’s a family business that gradually grows. My father is like the brain of the restaurant who will manage and take care of account and strategies while my mother loves cooking while my brother and I love eating. We love talking about food and during the time to open a shabu restaurant, we tasted food at many shops until we gained lots of weight” Khun Norathip mentioned the business he and his family created that “we cook and we want to make consumers receive god things. We don’t know when we have breakeven point or margin. It’s important but it’s not the first thing we care about ”
Think differently and create new standard
“we are not the first shabu restaurant, our question is that we have to create difference” he explained the origin of soup, sauces, and various menus in the shop “we name our restaurant as Shabu 101 Degree because it is the number like basic course of each subject. We want Shabu 101 Degree to be standard of delicious and various shabu as top choice of shabu eating among Thai people”
With this reason, our restaurant has 6 soups including 101 Soup, clear or thick Tomyam soup, Vietnam soup, mushroom soup, Udon soup and Kimchi soup and 5 kinds of sauce such as Ponzu sauce, sesame sauce, Taiwan sauce, seafood sauce and suki sauce. Meat scalded in soup varies from Wagyu beef, Australia striploin, pork, chicken, jumbo shrimp wanton as well as different kinds of meatball specially served in bamboo such as seasoned crabmeat, seasoned shrimp, seasoned fish and meatball with seaweed
Not only can customers choose menu as they want, Shabu 101 Degree also has buffet service in price of 420 Baht as well as appetizer and aide dishes such as soft crab salad, tuna salad, grilled pork salad, grilled shrimp salad, Gyoza, tofu in 4 sauces, stir-fried enamel Venus shell in Japanese sauce, Okonomiyaki, tempura, salmon steak, Karaage even Tong katsu and others.
Shabu Shabu is the food that can leave smell on your body. The target group of the restaurant is officers that may not be able to have lunch during the break, so, the restaurant has some kinds of bento as another option showing care of menu in comprehensive way. not only good taste and different service, he also understands strengths and weaknesses of the restaurant.
“It seems we focus on variety but we also give importance to quality. We use central kitchen to control raw materials and taste. Meat and vegetable comes from different sources as we see that they can be cooked as delicious menus. For example, Gyoza and salad, we use Ajinomoto because of stable, standard taste and it is widely known.
Khun Norathip also suggests for those who want to run a restaurant that “of course, it is about location first. For example, omelet rice shop near BTS Saladang costs 25 Baht but it can still be sold. After that, select menu you like to cook and like to eat. You can start from a small one; for example, if you like Pad Kaphrao, you may cook the best Pad Kaphrao just not only for pork, chicken or squid. Most importantly, you should select quality products and raw materials.
Strategies are necessary for the age that restaurants emerge a lot but love is important too. Like Shabu 101 Degree that starts from details that Khun Norathip and his family cares that good food must respond needs of variety, quality and new presentation, this oms with true happiness of consumers at the end.
