I cannot even fathom 2020 Thanksgiving was last week. This year has been insane in many ways. I recently returned from a vacation and spent the last week adjusting to life again. We visited Mo-Mo-Paradise for an early dinner the other day. The $28.95 AYCE price tag didn’t seem so bad. Outdoor seating is the only option. They take reservations via Yelp.
Mo Mo Paradise is located in the same shopping center as Manna BBQ. Little Sakana Japanese Sushi Bar is also in the same center. We joked this is the AYCE center of Mira Mesa as all of these restaurants are AYCE.
You can see there is no option to eat inside Mo Mo Paradise. The host was welcoming. You must sign in via their ipad for Covid reasons.
They have a few tents for outdoor dining. There were two heaters in our tent. We had the farthest back table so it got pretty cold as the heater wasn’t completely near us.
The portable burner was already on the table. Our table was small but thankfully there was another half table placed next to ours so it could handle the food ordered.
It is a $28.95 AYCE shabu menu with a 90 minute limit. There is an automatic 18% gratuity added at the end of the meal to the tab. Drinks are not included with the price (other than water and hot tea).
The 16oz draft Sapporo was $4.50. It paired well with the shabu that evening.
The sauces included ponzu, goma, chili , spicy daikon, green onion, taberu rayu.
I rarely get sukiyaki as a base for shabu as I find it too sweet. But the sukiyaki here at Mo Mo Paradise received such great reviews. Bf got the tonkotsu base.
Our server Tammy brought out the meats quickly. Note there are only THREE meat options here at Mo Mo Paradise. The thinly sliced meats are placed in small trays. Each serving is about five slices.
The beef chuck eye was leaner.
The beef short rib was beautifully fatty.
There was some marbling in the pork shoulder.
What I appreciated was the pasteurized eggs for the sukiyaki soup base. I grew up using raw eggs to add to dipping sauces.
The raw egg coats the sukiyaki dipped meat in a majestic way. The sweetness of the broth is countered by the savory coat of the luscious egg. This doesn’t work with the other broths. Bf didn’t know how to eat the meat this way but he absolutely fell in love with the sukiyaki broth.
The tonkotsu broth was ok. It was decent enough to consume as soup but it didn’t have enough flavors for the meats to be eaten alone. The sukiyaki gets salty if you leave items in too long. The bf enjoyed the broth ladled over his white rice.
I had read good reviews about the curry. The curry here at Mo Mo Paradise had beef, carrots, onions, and potatoes. No rice was served underneath which was fine by me. The curry could have been warmer. It was also a bit too gelatinous for my liking. Tip: add some of our cooked beef slices to the curry to make it extra hearty.
The cabbage salad was a nice way to mix up the textures and heaviness of the meats and curry.
They didn’t bring out the other items so I requested to try the at the end. The fish meatballs and fish tofu were fun to try as they were the only seafood items. The fish tofu was different as it had a similar texture to tofu but with a taste of soft fish.
We felt satisfied and stuffed at the end. We didn’t come starving so we didn’t eat as much we I had hoped (not a bad thing right?).
Kevin, the manager, came towards the end to check on us. He was so humble and kind. He also reminded us about the AYCE ice cream at the end of the meal! We tried the cookies & cream and the black cherry.
We returned to Mo Mo Paradise the following week with two friends. We had to wait a bit longer for a table as all the tables were full. I hope they can get more outdoor heaters as the evenings are getting cold! The second meal was good but the small tables, with the burner and all the food, makes for difficult eating at times. We also tried to order the pork meatballs which were still being made but never brought out. So that remains the one protein item we have yet to try here at Mo Mo Mo Paradise.
The burning question for all was “is Mo Mo Paradise better than Shabu Works down the street”. The boys all thought Yes. Shabu Works has way more protein and seafood options for the same price (plus, Shabu Works price includes soda). Shabu Works also offers a lunch special at $19.99 or so. The general consensus was the three meats had better quality than Shabu Works. We also enjoyed the sweet & savory sukiyaki soup base here. We have yet to try the same base at Shabu Works. I hope Mo Mo Paradise starts offering lunch options in the near future. We would return soon.
MO-MO-PARADISE
8120 Mira Mesa Blvd
Unit 102
San Diego, CA 92126
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