Alice H.
Yelp
Arrived on a weekday ~6:20 pm and snagged one of the last open tables. They don't take reservations for less than 4 people, so prepare for a wait if you arrive at peak times, which seem to start ~6:30 pm. There were at least 6 people standing in line (that I could see inside) from that point on.
Service 5/5
Food 4/5
Ambiance 4/5
Value 5/5
I haven't had AYCE hot pot since COVID so thought it was time to try again. Our bill for two ended up being $82 after tax for AYCE ($27/adult) + AYCD ($4/person) + split soup base ($14) + tax.
Like Haidilao, you have to pay for your soup base. Note they have large and small portions (differently priced) but depending on which table you sit at, the stovetop can only accommodate one or the other. However the split soup base seems to be $14 regardless.
I thought the soup base was a bit pricy but they do refill. They have a decent amount of options for soup base. We tried the sukiyaki and tom yum. Tom yum is definitely only for those who enjoy spicy. I took one bite and my mouth was burning for a bit. Sukiyaki was not as sweet as I expected and neither broths were drinkable as a soup imo. These were definitely cooking broths. I wonder if some of the more traditional broths (pork bone, mushroom) are more drinkable. Just a personal preference but I like a bit of soup with my hot pot.
There is a sauce station with fruit and appetizers which is free of charge. The sauce ingredients were extensive but I didn't find ponzu sauce which was disappointing. I defaulted to the traditional xo sauce + vinegar + garlic + green onion. They have a cheat sheet of sauces you can refer to if you're not sure. My only complaint about the sauce station is that it felt "sticky." My OCD did not like that. The soy sauce and vinegar bottles were sticky from multiple hands. I wanted to wash my hands after every visit but the bathroom was always occupied. Wish there was a hand washing station outside. Ended using copious amounts of hand sanitizer.
The service was great - there were always ~4 people walking around taking orders. I never felt like I was waiting on food or service. One nitpick is that I ordered spinach 3x throughout the night and never got it. It wasn't until halfway through the 2 hr service that they said they were out of spinach.
The AYCD was worth it as you get a whole jug per order. We each got one and didn't feel bad about not ordering another as it was more than enough. Watermelon juice was fantastic, as well as the plum. At other places, just one jug of watermelon juice is $10, so $4 for AYCD felt like a bargain even though we didn't order more than one. Come to think of it, a cup of watermelon juice at the Local Bubble tea shop runs $5.
The hot pot AYCE selection was extensive. Enough for anyone's preference. The menu is pretty easy to interpret - if there's a price, it's a la carte; if there's not, it's in the AYCE price. Note that the meat comes out like 15-20 pieces at a time so don't over order. We did find that if you ask for half orders or X number of pieces they will accommodate, so that was nice. They do warn of surcharge if there's an excess of food left. The other dishes come in smaller portions. My favorites were the lamb, Chinese yam, fish, and shrimp paste.
All in all, I'd return as you get more food for a lower price point than most non AYCE places, but I will still go to my Katy favorite as it's bigger and cleaner and my OCD likes that.