Melody C.
Yelp
Hands down the best hotpot place I've been to! I had to double check my eyes to make sure I wasn't whisked away to China. All the decor looked straight out of a Chinese period drama; some of the workers were even wearing hanfus. Customers can don the fits themselves and pose behind a classic Chinese instrument for pics.
Upon sitting down, you scan the QR code for the menu. You can choose up to three soup bases for the table, but each soup base is an additional charge on top of the per person charge. The per person charge depends on the type of menu you're going to order from: the ordinary or the luxury one. The luxury menu ($50pp) offers more items like sashimi and more appetizers , but the ordinary ($30pp) is pretty good as well. It's even cheaper per person if you're a member -- you just have to buy store credit to become a member, which is worth it if you plan on going again. And only one person from the table has to be a member for the whole table to utilize the benefits. Being a member also lets you enjoy their stalls of desserts, which has shaved ice, tanghulu, crepes, and more!
My friends and I chose to order from the luxury menu and got three soup bases: tomato, pork bone, and rapeseed lol (just clear oil with chili). My favorite was the tomato. The rapeseed was soo spicy. Don't recommend dumping veggies in that broth.
Appetizers (comes ready to eat):
Fried shrimp- 12/10 omg so good! It tastes like the walnut mayo shrimps from Chinese restaurants but a lot crispier and without the walnuts. If they serve it without mayo, def ask for it. It's still yummy without but better with. One order came with three pieces.
Seaweed salad- 10/10 like any seaweed salad. I liked it and got a few orders of it.
Fried milk- 8/10 this was one of the two items on the apps menu that was an extra cost. It was $13 but we got comped for it. It was decent but I've had better.
Fried bun with condensed milk - 9/10 this was available to grab, along with some other apps without placing an order.
Some notable ingredients that I tried were:
1. the fish balls - they were so qq and not doughy at all. I wonder if they're made in house.
2. Shrimp lucky bag - lucky bags at hot pot?? Wow! The shrimp was crispy and fresh. The inside of the pouch also had a soft eggy texture, which I really liked.
I was honestly blown away by the variety of options, most of which I haven't seen at laojie or 99 flavor. Even the veggies were interesting. Also, if you like frog, they have frog legs. They even give a little trash can for shells and whatnot.
Desserts:
Tanghulu- 9/10 try to get the ones with strawberries. They're soo sweet and juicy. I don't like the edible film that they put over the fruits though. Maybe it's to help the sugar solidify but it still dripped all over my hands!
Shaved ice- 6/10 the presentation is off the charts for a restaurant that's not specializing in shaved ice. It's made to order, but the wait wasn't too long. The shaved ice wasn't that great though. I tried the strawberry and mango, and the texture and flavor were both a little odd for shaved ice.
Crepe- 7/10 I'm glad it comes in a smaller size because I was struggling to fit it. You can ask for different toppings. I got the taro paste. It was ok, not bad. But I would prioritize other food first if stomach space is a problem.
One dessert stall was closed by the time I went for desserts, so I didn't get to try it. There was another mango dessert at the shaved ice station, but when I ordered it, the worker gave me mango shaved ice. Don't know if they ran out or what.
Drinks:
Individual cans/bottles of soybean, pineapple "beer", water, and soda are available from the fridge. You just get it yourself whenever. They ran out of soybean pretty quickly. There's also herbal tea that you pour yourself.
Sauce:
You make it yourself at the sauce station, but if you're at a loss of what to do, they have huge posters with different sauce combos. They have More sauce condiments than I've seen elsewhere.
Can't wait to return!