Happy Lamb Hot Pot

This place is awesome 👌 the only problem is with space, There were 5 of us and our table was super small. Otherwise I can say that the food is spectacular, a good experience, and the person who served us was very kind and patient in explaining it to us.

This is great hotpot in Central Square. The service was awesome. They sang happy birthday to my friend and brought a candle in ice cream for him. They proactively asked if anyone had nut allergies. Any time we ordered more meat it was brought very quickly. They have a great selection of all you can eat veggies, noodles, and treats to add to your soup. Their thai tea and lychee sake was super tasty too! Definitely check this place out!

My husband looooove this place. Said that they have good meat, fresh ingredients. Can’t say otherwise. How they have that selves full of vegetables, seafood, noodles is a 10/10 for me!

Premium buffet cost less than 40$ with a lot of protein Avbl (Beef brisket, tongue etc). The options for food is plenty and it worths the price. Even single person get treated nicely, which is very good. However it is not friendly for vegetarians, due to the lack of clear indication in their food selection area (some of them might seem to be vegetarian while contain animal products) so be careful.

We had a wonderful experience at this restaurant! The place is large but still packed—and once you try the food, you’ll understand why. I visited today with my family for Mother’s Day, and they had a great promotion: moms eat free. What impressed me most was how gracefully they handled it—there was no need for paperwork or awkward verification. I assume they could tell I was a mom since I had two small kids with me. We were a group of four adults and two children, and they only charged us for two adults. I left an extra tip to show my appreciation. Although they were out of high chairs, the staff went out of their way to arrange a table for us quickly. They were very patient, even with the usual mess that comes with two young kids. The atmosphere was warm and relaxed, and there was no pressure to finish within a set time (although I heard about 90 minutes limit - not sure if they gave extra care for tables with small children 🥰). Overall, it was a very pleasant dining experience. We truly appreciated the food, the service, and the thoughtful touches for families. Highly recommend!

Amazing broths, great meats, variety of fresh additions for your hotpot. Bring friends and stay for hours.

Happy Lamb Hot Pot is a AYCE (formerly a-la carte) hotpot restaurant located in the heart of Cambridge near Lafayette Square. The staff are friendly, but tend to not be involved beyond bringing out meats and the hotpot broth. We've never really had an issue with the staff though. The food is pretty good. Similar to other locations, they have a standard selection of seafood, vegetables, and other additions for the hotpot. They also have a decent sauce bar that is good to go well with your food. Overall, a chill experience for cold days or for eating with friends.

Cozy hot pot place with all the good options. Friendly service. The broth is one of the best I've had. It's nice and flavorful and gets salty at the end like every other hot bot broth. Totally worth it love the spice level. Very hotpot-focused restaurant no distractions 👌

I actually don't really like hot pot that much, but this place really surprised me with its staff and value. I came on a Saturday evening and I have to say if you want to come on the weekend, you really should make a reservation or get in the online queue early. We got there around 7:15, scanned the QR code at the desk to get in the queue and there were 27 tables ahead of us. The wait ended up being about an hour and 15 minutes, but they did tell us it would be an hour or so, and the woman manning the front desk was extremely efficient at handling questions and dealing with impatient people waiting for tables. She was firm yet friendly and it was really impressive to see how she kept everything organized and structured when it could have easily been a really overwhelming experience. After our wait, we got seated and ordered from the all you can eat menu, which was around $31.99/person. "Best of both worlds" broth: We got this one that was half original marrow broth and half spicy marrow broth. I really can't handle spicy, so I mainly ate from the original broth which wasn't bad but didn't have a ton of taste. I did try the spicy marrow broth and it was much better - really flavorful and it really infused itself into the ingredients you put in there. With the original broth, I needed my dipping sauce to give the ingredients more flavor, but it was a nice alternative to have to the spicy version which I couldn't handle too much of. Sauce station: This is pretty standard - there wasn't a whole ton of extra options here. You could make your sauce with things like soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil, sesame paste, scallions, cilantro, sugar, salt, chili oil, garlic, hot peppers, and maybe one or two other pastes. It was definitely enough for someone who likes a simple sauce though - I ended up using the soy, vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, chili oil, and scallions. Drinks: This was unexpected. The quality of their drinks was really good - it felt like something you'd pay $5+ at a bubble tea place to get. They had a plum drink which was sweet and refreshing and then the star of the show was the lychee green tea which was amazing - I had three full cups. It wasn't too sweet but had a strong lychee taste with a green tea base - like I said, it tasted like something you'd pay for at a bubble tea place and the fact that it was included in the AYCE price with unlimited refills is one of the main reasons this gets a 5/5 stars for being over the top great. They also include sodas in the AYCE price too which is nice. Meat: Another BIG reason this gets 5/5 is that the meat is included in the AYCE price and it's unlimited. We got the natural prime-aged lamb, hand sliced beef short plate, and the marinated garlic beef. And then we got all 3 a SECOND TIME for no extra charge. A lot of other AYCE hot pot places give you free veggies, noodles, and fish balls, but you still have to buy the meat so this is an amazing deal to get all of the meat you want included. The lamb and beef slices were nice and thin with a good balance of meat and fat. They cooked really quickly and were really nice to eat with sauce or just by itself. The garlic beef was in bigger chunks but it was still really soft and flavorful. All around incredible selection of meats that were really tasty. Fridge: There were FOUR fridges of extra ingredients you could get. FOUR. And there was so much really good stuff that it was hard to not fill up on just the fridge stuff before the meat arrived. Some of the highlights were clams, shrimp, fish, calamari, shrimp paste, fake crab, tofu in all different forms, fish balls in all different forms (squid ink, stuffed, tofu, tons of other flavors too), luncheon meat, intestines, tendon, fake crab, lotus, all sorts of noodles, all sorts of mushrooms, all sorts of veggies, seaweed, sausages, and even mini cakes. There was so much stuff here it would still be a good value if there was no meat you could order on the side. Hot food: AND there was hot food. It wasn't the best, but I liked that it was there. There was rice, fried rice, braised pig trotters, sesame balls, some taro based sticky deep fried ball dessert, spring rolls, and some other stuff that there were signs for but I didn't actually try. All in all, this gets a 5/5 even though I don't particularly like hot pot that much. The variety here is god tier, and everything was good. The staff was also super attentive - they would pick up our empty meat plates almost right when we finished them and would take orders for new meat at the same time. The restaurant also closes at 9:30, but the staff made sure to tell us when last call for orders and fridge food was (and still they left it open for 15 minutes more after announcing last call) and then made sure to let us know we could stay until 10:30 to finish eating. On the way out, we also got an ice cream cup to go. There's definitely a wait if you show up with no reservation, but it's worth the wait - AMAZING place!

Best hotpot place in Cambridge. All you can eat with meat too. I think Qiaolin and Spring Shabu Shabu are now my favorite. Q in Chinatown is also good.

Love this AYCE hot pot spot in Boston. The food is fresh and delicious, they have all the toppings you could want, and service is fast when you ask to order more meats or top up your water or broth. They are also able to use a divider to allow each table to have two different kinds of broths, which is nice when your party has different spice tolerances. My only warning for the Central Square location is that they don't appear to adhere to their online waitlist, at least the time we visited. We put ourselves on the waitlist at 6pm on a Friday night and were second in line for a whole hour before we went back into the restaurant to ask. When we got there now after 2.5 hours of waiting in total, it became clear that people were just walking in and being seated shortly, instead of the waitlist being used, even though we were told to put ourselves on it when we first checked in. I've never had this happen to me at the Chinatown location, so would recommend that one over this one if the location doesn't matter that much to you. If they could iron out these kinks in their service, this place would easily be a 5/5 for me.

We heard about this place through family friends for two years and finally got a chance to try it. The food is good and the price is reasonable. The sliced meat is great and the options pair really well. The team is great at spotting when patrons need help. We got kids and they can get messy. The team was on point with napkins and utensils. With all you can eat, you can expect some college students and younger folks who can still eat without consequences. The place can get busy, so expect to wait.

Had to join a waitlist upon arrival to the restaurant on a wednesday night. The restaraunt was pretty packed and I felt that they were understaffed (service was not great). Waited about 30 minutes which didn't feel too bad. Got the Cambridge Birthday Deal of one free meal of AYCE hot pot. The tomato broth was not overpowering and was good with the meats and vegetables. Good selection of items (happy they had lotus and taro!). The spring rolls were delicious. Overall would come here again, especially if it's someone's birthday!

It's easy one of the best buffet/AYCE in the Boston area. This location offers a sauce bar.

This location is pretty busy even with a reservation. I love that this place is all you can eat, I heard that some of the other Happy Lamb Hot Pot places aren't AYCE. It's not super spacious, but they do have 2-3 drinks included in the all you can eat price. The meat here is sliced thinner than usual, but it is unlimited. The sauce bar doesn't have a huge selection but has most of the necessities.

Updating this review since they've now switched to an AYCE concept. The base price is around $30 per person, but as mentioned in other reviews, you can come around your birthday to get a free meal! I like their AYCE style much better than their previous style. Before when you used to order every ingredient a-la-carte, the servers were constantly swamped with orders and things seemed quite slow. With AYCE the servers are super quick to clear any empty dishes, the meat orders come out quick, and they also regularly refill your broth. Although there is a 90 minute dining limit, they are extremely efficient about putting in new meat orders so you never have to wait. The veggies, fish balls, tofu, and other hot pot ingredients are in a refrigerated case near one end of the restaurant. This is not a great place if anybody has severe allergies or dietary restrictions because there are not very many tongs in each case (sometimes a shelf of ~4 items will share 2-3 tongs) so there is a high risk of cross-contamination. Some of the items were also mislabeled. The sauce bar is somewhat limited but has all the essentials like soy sauce, sesame paste, scallions, cilantro, chili oil, sesame oil, vinegar, etc. You can order an alcoholic beverage for an extra cost, or order a fountain drink/self-serve juice and passion fruit tea for free. They had a few hot items like rice, fried rice, egg rolls, and you tiao which were quite underwhelming. I found some of the meats/fish to be hit or miss. As other reviewers have mentioned, their shrimp paste is pretty good, but the shrimp, marinated fish, and squid had a strange texture. Most of their meats that I tried were pretty solid, although the spicy marinated beef ended up being pretty tough to chew and never got that tender even after boiling for a while. I could definitely see myself coming back! This is a good AYCE hot pot option for meat lovers since you are not charged extra for meat (unlike at Spring Shabu Shabu). I wouldn't recommend this place to vegetarians because there is only one vegetarian broth option and the vegetables/fish are not well-organized in the refrigerated cases.

This is one of the few AYCE Hot Pot options around the city and the only location within the chain to have it. The line can get busy depending on what time you go. The spicy broth is the one you should get! It has so much good flavor and I prefer it over the options at Spring Shabu (My Favorite). A big plus is that meat is included, they are sliced thin and I was a big fan of the spicy marinated beef. There's a decent number of options to choose from the cold section. I was surprised to see shrimp paste and the veggies and noodles are limited compared to Spring Shabu. The service is okay as it's mostly self-service.

Wow! Can't believe I just found out Happy Lamb does AYCE lol I believe it's $27.99 Monday-Thursday. For $27.99 is not bad at all because the dishes included is pretty much your basic hotpot stuff. I always loved their broth so I told myself, for $27.99 including one of their good broths, it's so worth it! This location is super clean and the service is so much better than the Chinatown location. Must have are the shrimp paste! It's so good and flavorful. Can't believe its included in the AYCE lol Overall, I highly recommend going here. Not sure how it is on the weekends ($31.99) because I came around 530pm on a Wednesday night, got seated right away!

Top hot pot spot in the area! It's AYCE meat (including lamb, beef, marinated garlic or spicy beef, chicken, and pork) plus the self service buffet is stocked with shrimp, fish fillet, shrimp paste, squid, beef tendon, tripe, various fish balls and so much more! The variety and quality of options was impressive. There were plenty of veggies and noodles to accompany. The sauce bar was a little lacking in comparison to other hot pot joints. But they did have the basics: soy, vinegar, sesame, sacha, chili, garlic, cilantro, scallions. The broth was delicious. It's shared for the table (not individual) but you have the option of doing half and half and choosing two broths. I'd recommend getting the spicy + regular combo. There are two nonalcoholic beverage options (peach green tea and kumquat lemon) included with the meal, which is really nice. The dessert options were more limited. There were sesame balls, fried dough with sweetened condensed milk, and prepackaged cups of ice cream. If they had a soft serve machine, then this place would really be complete! Be warned-- expect LONG lines, especially on the weekends. Your best bet is either going at off times or placing your name on the waitlist well in advance.

Pretty solid selection of items for ayce and we walked in Sunday noon with almost no wait as two people! There were tons of veggie, tofu, noodle, and sauce options. We got the dual broth option but mainly used the non spicy one since it was less oily. There were also two drink options as well with ice. It's a great place to eat lots of vegetables with friends! I will warn that all my clothes smelled like soup broth after!!

Food was so good and took me back to Japan sha boo sha boo and Korea for hotpot! Make sure to go to the Cambridge location for the all you can eat. Service was on the spot and they kept bringing the meat that we were so hungry for! Ambiance was fun and clean! So clean. Bibs to keep you clean is provided.

Came here at around 8pm on Sunday and the rush seemed to be dying down. There were empty tables but it still took 5-10 min for us to be seated since there was no one at the host table to greet us. Once we were seated, our order was quickly taken. Everything is buffet style except for the meat which you have to order with your server. The utensils to get food were dirty and mixed around everywhere but they had a variety of items and it was well stocked. It was so difficult to flag down our server to order meat and even after we did, she must have forgotten because it never came so we had to ask someone else. I noticed that there were only two servers working at the time and they had to clear tables too. The first round of short rib slices we got (pictured) were very fatty but it got better after the second round. The marinated meat seemed like a better choice since it was not fatty even though the slices are thicker. The shrimp was horrible - difficult to peel and was not deveined. The broth wasn't too watery but also not spectacular, but that is to be expected for ayce. It was disappointing that they never refilled our broth even though you could see it was so low our food was sitting on the bottom of the pot. Overall, it wasn't a terrible experience but I would pick a different hot pot place next time. If you are able to go when they are not busy at all, you might have a better chance at getting the server's attention.

AYCE hot pot for $30! Who wouldn't love this? There are 5-6 options for meats too which ranged from lamb, to pork to chicken to of course beef. The self service bar for veggies and other items was fresh and consistently packed, but they didn't half fish roe balls the day I went, Wahh. Anyways the broth I got was the bone marrow and spicy. The spicy was not spicy at all, unfortunately. And both kind of tasted pretty much the same. Oh another cool thing is coke products come with the meal with free refills and they also had like three different types of juice/tea options at the self service! Which I appreciated. Convenient location and fairly large.

My favorite AYCE hotpot place in Boston! The original herbal broth is my favorite. Tons of veggies and meats to choose from. My personal favorite is the garlic beef and the fatty beef.

Really more 3.5 stars. But giving 4 (besides no 3.5) with the understanding that the is AYCE and their pricing is still cheaper than other AYCE especially given the location being in Cambridge. We had a party of 6 so we were able to make reservations. We arrived on time but the hostess said needed to give them few mins to clean the table. 20 mins later, we were seated. They do have a 2 hour table/ dining time limit. But at 715pm we were given our check when we had just put in another order of meat. At 8pm the manager told our server in Chinese to tell us that our time limit is up. We were almost done anyways so didn't want to make a big deal that we weren't seated at 6p so technically we had extra time. Another thing that would cause a delayed dining time is the way they have things set up. There is only one section along the wall to get food (the way it's opened up is not the most sanitized because we saw people sneezing around it while trying to get food). The beverages station is right next to the food so you're in the same line as people trying to get food. There is only 1 sauce station, so there is anyways a wait especially if its their first time dining there and need time to figure out what's what. Good amount of food varieties for vegetarians and non vegetarians. You can order the meats off the menu and that's part of the AYCE as well.

We didn't realize this was AYCE but glad that it was so we could try different items. We love hot pot and it is such a wonderful thing for cold New England nights. Happy Lamb is a top spot for us but this was our first time at this location. Food was great and the broth is always amazing. For AYCE, I was impressed with the variety. Be warned -- this place gets crazy busy but what do you expect when you combine AYCE and students. We were lucky to get a table right away because we arrived early but the restaurant filled up fast. The ambiance is like a cafeteria - people walking around everywhere, trying to get their fill of food and drinks. Definitely chaotic so if you prefer a more calm dining experience, try the location in Chinatown (which is not AYCE).

Solid hot pot at a convenient location. Happy Lamp is located in central square super close to Target and Hmart. You can join the wait-list by scanning a QR code and will get a text when a table is ready. During the holidays, price is about $30 per person for AYCE. Meats are a bit fatty imo but the refrigerated section of vegetables and seafood is one of the best I've seen. Staff can be a bit curt at times but I think it's because of how busy the place was. Overall I look forward to coming back with my friends!

I came here with a few friends on a Thursday night. It was cold out, so hot pot was definitely the move! We checked in online beforehand and I'm glad we did because there was a long wait. Once your name is called, you have 10 minutes to get to the restaurant. Pro tip: Get to Central Square early and walk around or grab a drink while you wait. Despite how busy it was, the service was great! We ordered a bunch of meat when we picked our broth, so we were able to start cooking off the bat. I really love the AYCE option! I went back to the buffet area to try different offerings a few times, and I still didn't feel like I got to sample everything I wanted. Some of the highlights for me were the marinated eggs, fish fillet, fish balls, and rice cakes. For the meats they bring to the table, I enjoyed the lamb and garlic beef the most. Also, I loved how they had a sauce bar and some complimentary teas. I will be back soon!

I hadn't been to Happy Lamb in over 3 years (I did love their lunch special) but I was inspired to go since they offered free AYCE on your birthday (or the day before or after, with purchase of another AYCE). It seemed like a low-stakes way to try out the AYCE I've been seeing advertised online. I'm so glad I went. I had a wonderful experience and Happy Lamb is now my go-to for hotpot in the area. Currently the promotional price for AYCE is $27.99 on weekdays and $31.99 on weekends including Fridays. It looks like their normal price is $35.99 -- not sure when they'll return to that. In any case, unlimited meat and seafood at $27.99 is amazing for this area. And the quality is amazing! We arrived around 6:30pm on a Wednesday and were lucky to get seated -- there were people who arrived soon after that were waiting for a looong time. The restaurant was packed. I was surprised to see how the restaurant has completely changed to AYCE only -- it was such a good move. They manage to fit a huge variety of seafoods, vegetables, and noodles/tofus in a small amount of space, very efficiently. It's compact and designed smartly to keep the ingredients in their best state (eg having some things in individual plates). Everything was very fresh and tasty. I especially loved the shrimp paste -- it's airy and light and makes for delicious and fluffy pieces of shrimp goodness. The fish fillet (probably swai) is delicious and the marinated fish fillet had a nice coating that kept it more tender after cooking. Those were definitely my favorites in the seafood section. The thinly sliced meats (you order these separately) were amazing!! It made me think that thinly sliced meats are a win-win for the customer and the restaurant. The restaurant can give you less meat by cutting it thinner but it will taste better because it will melt in your mouth more. Both the fatty beef and the thinly-sliced pork were amazing -- just 10 seconds in the boiling broth to make it a melt-in-your-mouth bite. The marinated beefs are thicker and tougher with some weird parts -- I would not get this again when there are so many better seafood and meat options. They had all the different types of tofu skin and tofu -- love the wrinkly tofu skin and the porous tofu. The bok choy was very fresh and clean. The drinks are a bit sweet but you can always dilute them with water. Of course the broths are amazing as always. The spicy is not as oily as I remember and it's so good! I love the garlic in the broths too -- they end up getting nice and tender. Happy Lamb literally has everything I've ever wanted in a hotpot place (shrimp paste, fish fillet, fatty beef, delicious broth, tofu skin) and it's unlimited! I was very happy. This was a big improvement from the previous version of Happy Lamb (where I never ordered a la carte because I saw the $$ going up). You can definitely eat enough here to be done with hotpot for a few months (or until your next birthday...). I'll definitely be back! I would definitely choose it over Spring Shabu Shabu -- location-wise much more convenient, probably can avoid crazy waits, and unlimited meat and seafood.

By far, this is the best hotpot AYCE option in Boston. Fairly priced for a restaurant that has quality hotpot, meat, items, and service. AYCE also includes 2 or 3 options of beverages. Ambience is decent and could be stuffy at times. Parking is a pain and street parking can be a pain on the weekends. I would travel from South Shore area to eat here and hope they expand one in Quincy or North Quincy soon. Worth the money, long trip, and time. Happy tummy

There is only one way to have hot pot, all you can eat. Otherwise it's not worth it and better to do it yourself at home. Happy lamb was really solid. Most ayce spots have poor quality food, so sometimes I am hesitant to get certain seafood items, but I wasn't concerned at all. Soda and juice is part of the ayce with unlimited refills. They do have a liquor license so if you want some beer, go ahead. They have a decent offering, it's a small location so it's not going to be as robust as spring shabu but certainly adequate. They have a little sauce station that has the essentials but again nothing too robust. I think their veggie selection wasn't as robust in terms of different types of green vegetables, but they have most of the main staples except for water crest. They had a good selection of seafood and although limited meat options, you can't go wrong when meat is included in the ayce. If you can, make a reservation and come hungry! The price is pretty good, so it's a good bang for your buck. The staff was really nice. Maybe not as attentive when we were there but I think it was also because we were the last seating for the night.

I love the broth here! I love the lamb and the veggie mix combo. I removed a star because the dipping sauce game is lacking. They do serve fresh coconuts though which is super yummy to drink while eating hotpot

This place was very crowded when we went! The waiting area is rather small for the amount of people who were in line. Since it's summer, people can wait outside. The food was fresh. I feel like some other all you can eat hot pot places have a bigger selection of food and sauces, but this restaurant covered the basics. We loved that meat was included in the price. They also have fun juices. It was pricier than we were expecting and parking was a challenge, as it was street parking.

Loved it! Super fast service and easy to get anything you want to add to the broth. Nice staff & not too long of a wait but will probably make a reservation next time.

Solid, accessible spot for hot pot (very close to Central T stop). You can pick from several soup bases and it's all you can eat/order meat and veggies. The veggie and other topping options aren't as plentiful as Spring Shabu, but it's all you can eat meat, so there's that. The space is not super well ventilated so wear clothes you don't mind having to wash after, and I wouldn't wash my hair before. The service is fine, but people going for hot pot aren't usually going for a fine dining, service-heavily experience, namsayin? All in all, I definitely would go back. Broths are good, and food variability is solid.

This is a must try in Central Square - truly one of the best bang for your buck all you can eat hot pot in the area. As a vegetarian I always struggle to find good places where there's a decent amount of veggie options but this place is amazing. There's like 7-8 tofu variations, specifically the soy tofu strips and the fried tofu were my favorite. They also have a super yummy mushroom and tomato broth that are vegetarian. Special shout out to the lychee tea!

Great soup options and respectful staff. Love the switch to buffet style food options, very please with drink options and fruit options available.

Really good hot pot. Good sauces. It is somewhere where you serve yourself so you do have to put in a little work for your food but overall it was really tasty.

Reviewing on behalf of a friend who came to dine alone. They frequently dine here alone. The bill was 32$ for the ayce not including taxes maybe a few bucks? They left a 10$ tip, which is over 25 percent. Only to be stopped by the waitress on the way out the door to be asked to tip more. So unprofessional and disrespectful. You are not entitled to any more tip. Get another job if you're not happy with the pay. We ALWAYS tip at least 20percent/25percent just to be courteous and polite, not that we actually believe you deserve it. But to be greedy and ask for more? We will stick to chinatown location.

Such a slay. Idk how to describe it. Unless you're lazy you have zero excuse to do hotpot. Everything tastes so good and it's all you can eat for people like me who can't stop eating. Meat so good veggies so good service so good. If you're one of those people who get skeeved out over the buffet style just get over it lol the food is perfectly fresh. Give it 5 stars but with two warnings: first, if you go around dinner time good luck getting a spot there will be a wait. I always go before the dinner rush. Second, the spicy broth may facilitate bowel movements.

Being from LA, there is a hot pot place called Little Sheep Hot Pot. Apparently, Happy Lamb Hot Pot is under the name that they re-branded to. Was extremely confused about the hours of operations between Yelp, Google and Facebook, but I think they recently updated the hours to the correct one. They don't have their hours posted at the front of their restaurant and they don't pick up the phone. When my bf & I got to Happy Lamb right at 5PM on a Saturday night that had rained, there was people waiting out the door already. We were able to be put on a waitlist but didn't realize that the restaurant had been operating continuously since 12PM... I mistakingly took the hours from Facebook where it said they close at 230PM and re-open at 5PM. MY B. Because of this, the estimated wait of 30 minutes was actually about 1 hour and 15 minutes. So somehow we were seated at a 4 person table when there still was 7 parties ahead of me. We were able to order our broth and meat quickly and start eating. Lots of good options to choose for veggies and fish balls. You serve yourself for choice of water, plum juice or a passionfruit green tea. The tea was good. Early on, one of the staff members had asked us to move over slightly so they can slide the divider on the table so the table next to us could seat 6 people. That didn't bother us at all, we just couldn't sit next to each other. While we were almost done eating and was finishing up, we were brought the check. I guess we ate so slow trying to finish up that the lady actually got annoyed at us for taking so long. I think there is a 90 minute time limit, and I think we were only about to approach it, so I don't think a couple minutes over would cost anything to them. I didn't appreciate that she assumed I spoke Mandarin just because I look Chinese, that's lowkey kind of racist lol. Lucky for her I kind of understood what she was saying but at the last interaction when she got annoyed, I really didn't understood what she said. It kind of ruined what good experience I was trying to have at this place. $90 for two people for AYCE hot pot is a bit pricey, but it is Boston/Cambridge. I guess it's the best that they can do around here. I'll probably wait until I go back to LA for hot pot, don't think I'll come back unless I go for their lunch AYCE for $29 instead of $33. Also, if you want something sweet after, they do have a complimentary ice cream so make sure to ask them to give it to you before you go.

If you want a good bang for your buck, come to Happy Lamb! I've been to all of their locations in the Greater Boston area like Allston and Chinatown, but I decided to come to Cambridge to check out the $17 AYCE deal. Usually Happy Lamb is on the pricier side because of all of the a la carte dishes, but in tiny print, they offer an AYCE option on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays that includes a broth and several meat options. I came here on a Monday night with my friend and I was surprised we got seated quickly. With the deal, I thought there would be a wait. The restaurant is lively and jam-packed. You smell like hot pot instantly as the Happy Lamb aroma is VERY distinct. The service is pretty good, seemed a little understaffed but we weren't waiting forever as things we were rolling in pretty quickly. We ordered the 'the best of both worlds' broth, lamb, short rib beef, fish fillet, a bowl of rice, thick hand-pulled noodles, shrimp paste, and a mushroom platter. Everything was super fresh and my favorites were probably their shrimp paste (probably the best shrimp paste for a hot pot restaurant in Boston) and their fish fillet. The shrimp paste is super light and fluffy and the fish fillet is so buttery soft. I normally don't order fish fillets as the quality of the fish always seems to be poor, but their fish fillet was pretty solid! Also, ask for some sauce on the side to make your optimize your experience! We also ordered some drinks on the side to have and they were pretty good! My friend got the watermelon juice and I got the passion fruit green tea which was pretty refreshing. Hoping to come again soon because this deal can't be beat!!

Happy Lamb does AYCE and has a great promotion going on for when it is your birthday. Of course, I decided to take advantage of this deal and try it out for the first time during my birthday week with my family. We were seated immediately and simply let our server know what broth and meats we would like to get. We ordered the best of both worlds and then proceeded to grab our hotpot ingredients. They also had a DIY sauce bar, which has all the generic condiments and garnish. They also had some drinks which you can refill yourself. My go-to would be their passionfruit green tea. They have a variety of ingredients ranging from different varieties of fish balls, seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, noodles, and other root vegetables. My favorite would be their shrimp paste, which tastes so fresh and nicely seasoned. I would recommend quickly grabbing it when it is available as they run out fast and the servers are not really invested in refilling the ingredients shelves. We ordered lamb and fatty beef, which tasted alright. My little brother likes their marinated garlic beef, and it tastes pretty tender, but I am not as huge of a fan of garlic as compared to him. There is a hard cap of 90 minutes as the servers will make sure to let you know that your time is coming up. Overall, the quality of the ingredients was not bad, and the AYCE aspect makes this restaurant very attractive. While nothing prominently sticks out to me besides the shrimp paste, I would not mind coming back here in winter when I am craving hotpot.

Just love us some Happy Lamb. It's changed a little since we were lat here. It's AYCE. You order your meats but the drinks, veggies and noodles are now self serve. We like this better. All the meats were great but the beef was the best. The veggies were all real fresh. Service was good. For under $30/pp it's a steal. Definitely a Cambridge favorite!

Happy Lamb Hot Pot may as well be the best hotpot spot in town. Located next to MIT's food scene, this place gets busy for a reason. Top notch service with meets to notch ingredients. My girlfriend and I were blown away by the quality of the broth. We opted for spicy and regular marrow broth. I think we drank most of the broth separate from the ingredients since it was so good. The hotpot is separated into two compartments allowing for two broths at one time. The food menu is extensive complete with classic meats, fresh veggies, and fresh starches. We were especially blown away by the quality of the tofu skin. So silky and fresh! We think that dipping sauces are not needed at all given how flavorful the broth is. The line for the restaurant gets super long, so I would try to get here before 6 if you want to sit down first. We will definitely be going back to Happy Lamb Hot Pot! Come check them out when you're in the area.

Why haven't anyone told me about this All You Can Eat Chinese hot pot place??? I went on a sunday night, and it was about $35/person. Unlimited meat option to get your proteins in (i could only fit 3 trays in my stomach. I ordered the best of both worlds; half spicy; half regular hot pot broth and shared with my bestie. Theres an unlimited sauce bar, and an unlimited veggie/noodle/seafood far. Literally such an experience, i would definitely come here again. Thank you for this! TIP: I recommend trying their Potato Noodles (soo chewy and delish!)

Very solid AYCE option. They have many meat, veggie, and tofu options. The broth was a bit milder/less flavorful than other hotpot places so I really relied on the sauces (which you can mix on your own in the sauce station). I also liked that they had green tea and yuzu juice complimentary. They don't advertise the birthday promo that much but note that you can eat free on your birthday (if you bring a couple other friends).

All you can eat hot pot right in central square! It was easy to order, you just pick you soup base and any meat that you want (we got the sliced lamb and beef) and the rest is self serve, including other hot pot food items and dipping sauce. Good selection of vegetables and seafood, sauce was also very accessible. They helped us get the pot set up in terms of making sure it stays hot and refilled out pot when the soup base was low. The spicy soup base was not as spicy as I thought it would be. Great experience all in all

Pros * Pleasant hot pot set up * Great selection of non-meat items * Friendly servers * Decent price for all you can eat Cons * Besides the marinated beef, most meats cut very thin, so they shrivel up when cooked * Service can be slow / non-existent (on purpose?). After being attended to three times, our server stopped showing up. We had to flag down other servers to request food / drinks. I could see our server hanging around the kitchen doorway, and staying away from us. The only time our server came back was to present us the check (while we were still eating). Then the last time he showed up was to ask if we were ready to pay the check. Not good service. * They do same you into an 18% tip (calculated incorrectly post-tax), as this is the "default" tip, and you have to do a "custom" tip to leave anything lower. If provided appropriate service, 18% would be appropriate as well. Thank you to the servers who stepped up and helped us when our assigned server ghosted us. The food and ambiance is great, but depending on your server, the service can be bad.

Enjoyed AYCE hotpot here and was impressed with the experience. The food is fresh and the service was on point. You select the broth and protein and get an array of veggies, noodles, seafood and dipping sauces to add. The seating and tables/ambiance is great for groups and small parties or if you want to go solo. Will definitely recommend and return for a great meal.

This was my first time going to Happy Lamb Hot Pot for the all you can eat hot pot. The location is conveniently located just a few blocks down from the Central T stop on the redline. There's plenty of indoor seating, but it was very busy around 6-8pm, so I recommend getting there earlier in case there's a wait. And the staff were relatively friendly and very attentive. The all you can eat menu included six different broth options (pictured). I got the half and half broth with the vegetarian and spicy marrow options - both very good! It also included unlimited access to a buffet of fresh vegetables, noodles, fish balls, etc. The meat options (beef, lamb, pork) were also very good, and unlimited. They have a few different sauce options (I recommend a combination of the sesame, soy, chili oil, jalapeño, and scallions). The quality and flavors of all the items in the all you can eat menu are very good with a ton of options. Overall, I definitely recommend Happy Lamb for hot pot! It is good quality, with a great atmosphere, and very reasonably priced. Will be back again.

It was such a fun place to eat. I loved the buffet option and how all the side dishes were all you can eat. I've been to their hot pot places and though those ones were amazing, they came with a high bill. This place was much cheaper. You are paying for each meat option/plate but the sides including the sauces and rice are a one time charge with all you can eat. Would go here again!!

Service was quick, essentially self serve as it's usually all you can eat. I went on a Friday night, ended up being about 30ish per person for all you can eat hotpot. I'm assuming there's a 2 hour time limit though. You can choose to do half half broths just like all the other hot pot places and decent variety of choices to choose from for noodles, meats, additional seafood items to add in the hot pot. Almost everything is included even drinks other than alcoholic drinks. Definitely recommend the lychee tea! Very millennial crowd area. I would definitely go back there as parking isn't too bad and the fact that it's all you can eat hot pot!

Very good quality lamb and the broth (beef with chicken bone marrow) was incredible! I got a fresh coconut and it was very fresh and sweet. My friend got a watermelon drink and said it was delicious. We got a good amount of food for a party of three and although the food was incredible, we felt the price was a bit expensive. However, I would come back for the high quality meat and broth.

I've eaten here a few times and enjoyed it. They recently incorporated an AYCE on specific days of the week. The broth is very flavorful and I would say you get your moneys worth. One of the better hotpot places in Cambridge!

I would recommend this place if you're willing to wait. We ended up having to wait 1 hour (we were told 30 mins) at H-Mart on a Saturday evening. It's nice that there is an app you can download to track how many parties are ahead. I appreciated that you get to grab the ingredients buffet style instead of ordering from a waiter or app. It allowed for each person to pick what they want without worrying about other people. For a table that seats four people there was only one hot plate. We were able to pick up to two broths. A friend was vegetarian, so it was nice that she was able to get a separate broth. They have some sauces, but definitely less than other places I've been to. On the night we went, they were completely out of soy sauce, which was pretty disappointing. I surprisingly liked the vinegar they had. From my experience most other places only serve water and any other drinks are additional. This place had a couple free non-alcoholic drink options and they offer you ice cream at the end.

I came on a Sunday night and had made a reservation but still had to wait 30 minutes, it was really busy. But it was worth the wait! The plain broth was super flavorful and the spicy broth wasn't overly spicy. They only let us order 3 meats at a time, but it was enough for two people. We tried each one, and they were all sliced really thin. Quality was not bad, but it was just sliced really thinly. But I really liked all the buffet options. They had a lot of variety, including squid, fish, wood ear, many different mushrooms, tripe, fish balls, noodles, eggs, and veggies. I'm usually a fan of going to spring shabu shabu, but I felt like happy lamb had way more options that weren't just noodles, veggies, or fish balls. It cost around $30 a person, if I remember correctly. I loved it, and I'd def come back again.