Divine Beef Soup! A Time-Honored Shabu-Shabu Spot in Tainan Serving Freshly Sliced Premium Beef

▲Ayu Beef Shabu-Shabu has been a long-standing eatery for 20 years. (Photo by reporter Chen Hanyin)

Reporter Chen Hanyin / Tainan reporting and photography

Beef soup is a must-try local delicacy for many foodies visiting Tainan. Sliced fresh beef is placed in a steaming hot bowl, with tender, sweet, and flavorful meat that leaves you craving more. One bowl just isn’t enough—if you want to indulge in beef, follow the locals to the super-popular Ayu Beef Shabu-Shabu and savor top-tier beef deliciousness.

▲Fresh slices of beef are ready to eat after just a quick dip.

The best are often hidden in plain sight. The unassuming yellow sign reading “YU” Beef doesn’t look like much, but the place is always packed at mealtimes. No reservations are accepted, so you’ll have to line up, but the first bite of beef makes every moment of waiting worthwhile.

▲Slices from different parts of the beef vary in thickness and length.

▲Grilled beef tongue is also a popular item.

The owner has over 20 years of experience selling beef soup and insists on hand-slicing the fresh beef, which must be cooked within 7 hours of slicing. Each cut requires a different knife technique—the forequarter, armpit meat, and tenderloin all have unique fat distributions, and both length and thinness are carefully considered to do justice to every piece of meat. He even jokes that he once sliced and taste-tested each part individually to figure out the perfect flavor formula.

▲The owner has his own philosophy when it comes to how the beef is sliced and how the broth is made.

The quality of Tainan’s freshly slaughtered fresh beef goes without saying, but the rich, concentrated broth in the huge pot out front is truly a masterpiece. The owner explains that when he first started the shabu-shabu shop, he had no idea what he was doing, so he went all in—slowly simmering fresh vegetables, beef bones, oxtails, and brisket to create a thick, collagen-rich broth that’s sweet and savory. The no-expense-spared approach results in a flavor so good, customers keep coming back.

▲The secret to the deliciousness lies in this rich, concentrated broth.

Ayu Beef Shabu-Shabu
Address: No. 525, Section 1, Zhongzheng Road, Rende District, Tainan City
Business hours: 7:00 AM–1:30 PM, 5:00 PM–1:00 AM
Closed: Monday evenings to Tuesday noon