Isabelle Ku
Google
Sept 2024
We were spending the day in Baltimore and decided to check out the Columbia location. I called ahead to make a reservation, since we were going to be dining during busy dinner hours on a weekend. The person on the phone was polite and professional, though they got a bit flustered when I asked them to confirm the details I gave them. They sent me a text confirming my reservation.
The restaurant is part of an apartment/retail complex, but I'm not sure if they have an attached garage. They are right across a small street (with a crosswalk) from the parking lot of a mall, and I noticed a lot of customers parked there. It takes a bit of hunting to find parking, but there is enough parking.
The restaurant is on the corner of the building. They have a few tables and chairs outside, likely for people on the waitlist. The inside is dimly lit and a little bit loud. They have booths seating 2-6 people. And two booth-chair tables seating 8 people. There is a conveyor belt in the middle, with non-meat food items coming by. There was a larger car thing on top of the conveyor belt that probably delivered to those tables from the kitchen. But I think they discontinued that when they got the bigger robot that delivers orders. The staff use the robot a lot to deliver food and drinks. I think while we were there, we had our stuff delivered to us by a human only once.
The sauce bar is on the left side of the restaurant, by the 8 seat tables. It was pretty depleted at that time of night. There was a freezer with cup ice cream next to it, but it seems they require you to order the ice cream through the tablet and it will be delivered to your table. They offer strawberry and vanilla flavors.
Each table has a tablet on a swiveling, extending mount. Though the joints are very tight and it takes some effort to actually extend it. In the top left corner, there is a clock icon and the remaining time you have to eat. You have a 90 minutes time limit. The tablet resets when your time ends.
The food quality was the same as the Rockville location, though I noticed that the portion sizes were about half the size. The veggies were all fresh and crisp. The meats were good, if a bit fatty. Of the non-special meats, the lamb is the least fatty. I also appreciated them serving the different types of meat on their own plates instead of putting all the meats we ordered on one big plate. The Tom Yum soup was also spicier than I was used to. I was interested to see that the vermicelli noodles were served to me dry instead of wet.
The staff were polite and quick. Though they generally have a hands off approach unless you order something over the tablet. Even then, they prefer to hand deliveries to the robot. They are very quick when clearing off and cleaning tables.
There are 2 single men/women bathrooms in the back, on the right side. They are decently clean and dry. There is also a separate sink outside the bathrooms, presumably for people that eat with their hands (like the crab legs).
Overall, a decent hot pot location. I may consider coming back if we're in the area.