Jim B.
Yelp
My oldest son and his wife brought my grandson to San Antonio for his first overnight trip. We had a wonderful visit which included a meal at this amazing restaurant.
First, let me address parking. We were worried at first, but soon found a paid parking lot on another street. It was not a long walk, and fortunately, it was an unusually cool morning. We noticed it was much muggier and hotter on the walk back to the lot, but we weren't too bothered.
Hot Joy is appropriately named. If you don't immediately feel joy upon entering this amazingly decorated venue, just go back to the nursing home and eat off your tray. I only wish this place had been around when my sons were little. We always played I Spy while waiting for the meal, and this place would have been epic for that! They have a lot of beautiful bright red Asian lanterns hanging all over the ceiling. There is a beautiful mural of a tiger on one wall. There are private booths with red upholstery with asian inspired geometric designs. Bruce Lee was hanging on the wall of our booth.
They have a server named Skyler who is no doubt one of the best I have ever had the pleasure to encounter. She was friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. I really liked her and feel strongly that she added to our wonderful experience.
The food was outstanding. We ordered a lot more dishes than our party of four adults needed, but we wanted to try lots of things. The servings were huge- even for appetizers. We started with the Sticky Pork ribs. They were perfectly grilled and very tasty. We also had the Joy Pockets, and Sichuan Tofu buns. There was plenty of each to share (there were 5 ribs on the plate!) We liked all of them, but my favorite bite of the meal was the buns. So good!
We also ordered some of the full meal plates to share. The menu on the website is a little different, and unfortunately, my photo is not very good. We ordered the Roasted Pork Belly and the Hot Fried Chicken. The portions were huge, as you can see in the photos. They both came with a side of rice. The pork belly also had a dipping sauce that was wonderful and a side of kimchee. The only thing we had left was the Hot Fried Chicken. Out of all of the dishes, that was the least favorite among some of us. I thought it was really good, but just a tad salty for my tastes. The kids thought the sauce made the chicken too soggy. The wife said it was too hot (spicy) for her. I ate a lot of it, but there was so much we brought home for my younger son. He loved it!
For dessert, we all shared the Hot Fudge Gochugang Brownie with banana ice cream. The ice cream was the best banana ice cream I have ever had! The brownie was gooey and rich and had a wonderful exotic taste. The gochugang was not overly prominent in it.
Okay... as if the service, decor, and food wasn't enough, this place has amazing drinks. Let's just say that our table had seven of them, including my virgin Singapore Sling. The others like all of them, except one that my son ordered. He said it tasted, "gross". I didn't try it, but he is pretty well-versed in cocktails and tiki fare, so I trust his opinion.
I should mention that the baby snoozed happily through the entire meal. He didn't even wake up when a loud high-pitched alarm went off for at least a minute.
I know I will be back. Y'all know that my youngest is my usual adventurous dining partner. He was really upset that he didn't go with us. I will definitely take him soon.