Briana S.
Yelp
2.5/5 stars (Vegetarian here, plant-based/vegan review included):
Honestly...I'm conflicted. I wanted to love this restaurant because there were so many vegan and vegetarian broth options, but couldn't. I'm also confused by how Jazz Cat was able to maintain a high Yelp rating over the years. I called in to make a reservation on LNY & confirmed the time for 7:00 pm. However, when I arrived, the waiters were confused about our reservation saying they don't accept phone reservations and only go by the Yelp waitlist. They suggested that I called a different location and it was only until I showed them the phone number I dialed, did they believe that I called the right store. They eventually got things sorted out and let us to our seats. Aside from that rocky first impression, we were excited to finally try this classic hot pot spot for the first time.
Unfortunately that was short-lived. We ordered four different soup bases: Taiwanese Satay (meat), Premium Kelp & Chinese Herbal (meat), Chinese Herbal (vegan), Mongolian herbal (vegan). The Taiwanese Satay was oily but lacked any depth in flavor, and all three herbal broths tasted like bitter water. The waiter recommended the Mongolian herbal and the Yuzu sauce (vegan) so I had hoped they'd be good choices, but even as someone who generally does not like my food too salty, I really think boiling some veggies in plain hot water would have been tastier. At the very least, it wouldn't have been bitter.
The pros for my fellow vegetarian/vegans:
The staff are knowledgeable about the vegetarian and vegan options. The veggie sets came out after the meat sets so we even received cute placards so other waiters could easily identify which pots were still waiting for the vegan items. The veggie set was also abundant and came with nice details like perviously frozen but thawed out tofu that would soak up the flavor of the broth better, and some nice variety of the veggies themselves. There's also three sauces that are vegetarian friendly (and at least one that's vegan, the Yuzu), which hasn't been the case for some other hot pot places I've tried. The interior is also dark and spacious, and they have nice cushy seats. Since each seating area is like a little booth with tall chairs, it does feel private even though the space is shared.
However, for hot pot, the only part the restaurant really "makes" is the broth since you're cooking the meat and veggies yourself. So I couldn't really justify a high rating when none of our party enjoyed our orders. It's possible we could have ordered poorly, that it was an off day for them, or that we aren't the target audience for this restaurant. But frankly, after this experience I think you might be better off making your own hotpot at home yourself, rather than paying $100+ post tip and tax. Perhaps the restaurant can review its extensive broth menu and remove some of them that aren't as popular or could be improved on, and focus on making sure that the ones they have remaining to maintain the quality they're looking to serve to customers.