Description
Balcony Grill & Bar might call itself that, but anyone who's actually been there knows that the restaurant does better with their shabu shabu and snow ice than they do grilling and bartending. On first inspection, you wouldn't think shabu shabu could be possible here. None of their tables are equipped with or plugged into any sort of heating device. But order one and a small pot of broth is brought out, propped up over a lit can of Sterno. The broth is customizable in a dozen ways ranging from a simple Japanese miso to a perhaps Droog-inspired milk and cheese shabu. Add the options of meat to swish in the boiling liquid and you have flavor permutations not possible anywhere but here. Once you've warmed your gullet, cool it down with their snow ice, an ice cream and shave ice hybrid born when a block of frozen milk is scraped to soft, icy ribbons and then topped with fruit, sweet beans, fudge and nuts.
