Wendy W.
Yelp
The food at Hot Space was great, but the phenomenal service is the reason I'm giving this place five stars.
The roasted scallop, which came in a large shell, was sliced up and mixed with vermicelli noodles and garlic. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The roasted frog was alright. The meat was flavorful, but it needed some kind of glaze or sauce.
I really liked the sea bass, which was the star of the show. We ordered it with two flavors (spicy garlic and black pepper oyster sauce), along with soft tofu, enoki mushrooms, lotus root, and Chinese cabbage. It arrived in a large split pan that the waiters kept heated. The spicy garlic flavor didn't have much garlic taste, mostly spice, but I loved the black pepper oyster sauce. The black pepper was quite strong though, so if that's not your thing, avoid this flavor. The enoki mushrooms, cabbage, and tofu were also delicious. I wish the lotus root had been cooked down and softer.
Now, onto the service. First of all, we got a bunch of free items. Since we got two flavors for our fish, we received a free chilled dish of tofu and preserved eggs in oyster sauce and sesame oil. This was sooo good. Probably my favorite dish of the night. The sauce was simple yet addicting, and it even made me enjoy preserved eggs, which I normally dislike. I ordered passion fruit green tea and they gave us plum iced tea and kumquat lemon iced tea on the house. At the end of our meal we also received dessert bowls of grass jelly in coconut/soy milk.
Our waiters kept checking on us and asking how everything was. They seemed genuinely interested in finding out how I knew about the restaurant and making sure we enjoyed our food. That level of care and courtesy really makes Hot Space stand out, and it's a big part of the reason I'll be back.