From the outside, it could be any Rockville tavern—until you see the neon sign: shabu shabu. The fonduelike style of eating traditional in Japan and Taiwan has been brought here by Bob Liu, who also owns Bob’s Noodle 66 across the street. Though there’s an extensive menu of reliable plated fare, such as beef with fiery longhorn peppers and a soothing scallion pancake, they’re not the cause of all that steam swirling up towards the ceiling. Most people are here to dip their dinners.

As waitresses top off cups of barley tea, Liu meanders among the tables, where an induction burner is inlaid at every place, and gives impromptu cooking lessons in English and Mandarin. First you choose how much spice you want in your broth—go for “la” (spicy) and it comes loaded with potent peppercorns and star anise. Then order plates of thinly sliced beef and pork, cubes of taro, shell-on shrimp, green-lip mussels, and clams. Each order comes with a bounty of broth flavorings—leafy vegetables, enoki mushrooms, tofu, and napa cabbage—which boil as you dip the cuts of meat or fish, which cook in seconds. A fixin’s bar lets you make your own dipping sauce from white-bean and sesame pastes, Chinese vinegars, chopped cilantro, green onion, and other condiments.

“It’s good, yeah?” says Liu as he swings by the table. “Not greasy, healthy.” Yes, and messy, drippy fun.

Open daily for lunch and dinner.