"Yuan’s in Rosemead delivers on that hot pot essential: potent broth. For a small upcharge, you can order three flavors at once, served in a so-called Mercedes pot due to its resemblance to the luxury car logo. The Sichuan-leaning signature spicy pot is flavored with a metric ton of chiles (even the mild is plenty hot), and both the bone broth and tomato broth deliver deep umami. Use a QR code on your table to order anything from giant prawns to lamb belly to chrysanthemum greens and it all arrives in a flash. There’s also a sprawling DIY sauce station, a snack and dessert bar with brown sugar ice jelly for dessert, and little cans of sesame oil you can take home for free." - cathy park, brant cox, sylvio martins, andrew ryce, garrett snyder