Two New Hot Pot Spots Join the SF Soup Scene

San Francisco’s hot pot scene continues to grow, as two new restaurants open this month. New owners took over the Flame Hot Soup space and have now opened Flame Asian Fusion, which in addition to hot pot focuses on skewers and various appetizers and entrees in Asian fusion style, as the name suggests. The other addition, Nabe, is a second location of the popular Inner Sunset restaurant, and replicates that menu, but in an expanded space. Read on for all the details, hours, menus, and more.

Flame Asian Fusion

New ownership has taken over the old Flame Hot Soup space, reopening the renovated space as Flame Asian Fusion. There is a definite focus on hot pots, and chef/owner Sylvia He created the menu and runs the restaurant alongside husband David Zhu. The menu is mainly influenced by Japan and Taiwan, with meat skewers and Taiwanese-style hot pot taking up a majority of the menu, which you can see in full below.

Flame Asian Fusion/Facebook

The dish the Zhu’s are most proud of, though, is the wagyu beef cooked on Himalayan pink rock salt. The salt is heated by an ethanol flame and the raw beef cooks on top, tableside. “We think this dish is very unique and not served anywhere else,” David told Eater SF. “It took me and my wife a lot of time and research to figure out the exact thickness and the cut of meat that works best for the salt.”

Flame Asian Fusion also serves beer, wine, soju, and sake. To see a rundown of the rest of the dishes, follow the restaurant’s pretty Instagram.

1801 Clement St.
(415) 818-7924
Open daily from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Nabe

Karen T./Yelp

Nabe, which has been open on Irving Street for four years, has opened a second location in the Marina. Owners (and sister-brother) Hilwin and Hubert Wong looked for a space for more than a year, settling in the Marina because the Mission, Castro, and Noe Valley were too expensive.

Now, architect-designer Alan Tse has created a room with both communal and private areas, separated by colorful curtains in an otherwise mellow, hickory wood-filled space. The food is the same on tabletop burners — various forms of nabemono (hot pot), like shabu shabu (water-based broth), kamo nanban (duck and soba), and sukiyaki (soy-based broth) — but a larger kitchen allows for more variety and sake- and shochu-based cocktails.

2151 Lombard St.
(415) 345-8344
Open weekdays from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and weekends from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

• Flame Asian Fusion [Facebook]
• Nabe [Official Site]
• Inner Sunset Hot Pot Spot 'Nabe' Debuts Second Location In The Marina [Hoodline]