Edgar C.
Yelp
We tried Hot Pot right after their first opening weekend. I am not usually a huge fan of hot pot, and I found everything INCREDIBLE!
You can choose a table with one big pot for all, or a table where every guest has their own mini pot. The broths were delicious (we picked "Best of Both Worlds," which is a divided pot with half spicy tomato broth, half marrow broth). You can adjust the temperature throughout your meal, and servers will stop by to top up your broth as you eat and it evaporates.
You can order 2 types of thin sliced meats at a time: the pork belly, fatty beef, chicken, and lamb were all delicious. I see that some guests have complained about this and took off stars: very unfair, as the meat plates are generous servings that last a while, and each guest can order more as they eat.
The self-serve fridge is full of varied toppings such as veggies, fish, sea food, tofu... They have the delicious weird ingredients I can never find at Chinese restaurants in Madison: baby octopus, shrimp with head, tripes, pork blood, squid, quail eggs...
The $35 price includes all the broth, meats, toppings, and even drinks that you want. Because of state and city regulations, beer and wine is separate, but they have a variety of sodas including delicious Chinese sweet iced tea.
The only negative point for me was the sauce bar: there are many ingredients, including fresh herbs, oyster sauce, sesame oil etc. for you to mix your own little cup of sauce. I would like a plain base, and maybe a few common dipping sauces such as sweet n sour, because I personally don't like very liquidy sauce as a dip. Again: only a personal preference, the sauce bar is huge and there are already many options.
The hostess and our waiter were the nicest, most efficient, and all around best servers we've had in a while, in Madison and everywhere we travel.