I've wanted to try this place for a while; and finally get the chance to check it out. It is not the traditional hotpot place where you eat slowly with plated meat and veggies. It's an individual hotpot style which you pick your own food and the soup base, then they cook it for you.
So here is the catch, everything is charged by weight. You select your own meat and veggies, put them into the pot, and let them weigh it for you. It's $3.88 per 100 grams, which wasn't mentioned on their website, not sure why. A host greeted everyone at the door to explain how the system works, which was a nice touch on their customer service. As a first timer, I picked way more than I suppose to. I like the selection of their ingredient, everything looked high quality and fresh. They have all kind of meat such as lamb, beef and pork. There are also many different kind of seafood which is my go to.
After weighing my pot, and selected my soup base, my bill came to $50+! That's a lot for an individual pot in my opinion!! I wonder what picked that was so heavy. However, after trying their soup base, I was very satisfied with my customized hotpot. I ordered the signature Ma La Tang with mild level, it still has the kick but very enjoyable. My partner ordered the collagen pork bone soup base, which he claimed to be one of the best broths he's had in a while. It was very flavorful, yet not too salty. All the ingredient were cooked properly, and I didn't need to use any of the dipping sauce I picked, as the broth had enough flavor to it.
My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach, and I could only finish half of my pot. It's good that to go box was an option so I can take it back home. Their service was nice, and the ambient of the restaurant is quite modern with fine details. They have some wall paintings done from the local artist, and customized the trays, cups, and napkins with their logo. You can tell that the owner spent a lot of time and money to invest into this place. The utensils were also matching, except the metal chopsticks were too heavy for my hands, and I had to ask them to switch them for me with the wooden ones.
Parking isn't too bad as there's a pay parking kn the same plaza. The restaurant was busy during lunch hours, but the rotation is also good and I didn't see anyone had to wait for a table for a long time. I would definitely go back again, and maybe scale back on the selection...who knows, maybe I'll go over again, haha! read more