Ai Vy N.
Yelp
Hot pot/noodle soup charged by the pounds using all quality ingredients? Yes pleaseeeee!!! Might not be very ideal for those who have a huge appetite, but perfect for the ones like me, who have bigger eyes than stomach and need something to put a brake on that lol (hasn't really worked, but I'll get there!)
It's pretty much a self-serve restaurant. You walk in, grab one of the giant bowls, a tong to your left, and just start having at it! Veggies-noodles-all kind of balls-vegan proteins-seafood-meats. That's the order that they have everything in. If it's not too busy, you can go back and forth to pick whatever you want. The area where you pick the ingredients is kinda small, so I wouldn't suggest doing that if there are several people in line.
Once you have everything you want, go up to the counter for it to get weighed. They'll give you a keychain with your order number and tell you which table number to sit at. It would help them save some time, and speed up the process more if they would just take the payment right there and then, but surprisingly enough, you don't pay until the very end after you're done. The soup will be brought out to your table in another giant bowl, piping hot, so be careful!
Besides being able to choose all kind of toppings I want in my soup, I love the selection of things you can choose to create your own dipping sauce. The fridge at the end of the "buffet" line has different drinks, plus little containers of green onion, sesame sauce/paste, fresh minced garlic, minced cilantro, chili oil, and Chinese/Sichuan pepper oil. You can get as many as you want. These are free of charge (not the drinks of course), just don't be wasteful. Plus there are big bottles of Sichuan pepper oil, soy sauce, and sesame oil on the other side of the main counter. There are also a whole container of chili oil and vinegar on each table.
Some tips to not make your bowl of noodle crazy expensive:
1. Avoid or get very little anything that submerged in water like shiitake mushroom, lotus root, bamboo, pork blood.
2. Same go for dense veggies/protein like tomato, corn, sausages, or any of the balls.
3. I'm pretty sure that they use the giant bowl as a tactic to give us the need to fill it up. I know at least I feel that way lol. However, 2-3 pieces of everything go a long way. Don't pile it up on things that you like. Cuz next thing you know, you end up with a 2lb bowl plus the broth lol.
This place has been around for almost a year now, and I'm surprised that they haven't hit double digit on reviews yet! It seems so unfair that the whole area in front of 99 Ranch is almost always busy, yet, the businesses in the back seem to be in a whole completely different area. We wouldn't have known about this place if it wasn't for Asians Grub in DFDub FB group.
They've been opened for a little while, but seems to be a full family-run business with somewhat limited staff. Just be patient and let your appetite built up, cuz you're gonna need it to finish the giant soup bowl that you'd be receiving soon. The hot pot option is the only one we have tried so far, and gonna keep going back for especially with this cold weather coming!