The food service was nice and organize. Kristine was at the counter helping us order in a timely…read moremanner. She was able to introduce us to a new menu. She was really good organizing the floor(mind you this was a really busy time of the day) I was really impressed on how she handled that. The food was amazing lots of variety and would definitely come back to try all the other flavour. Ambience of the place was nice and cozy. It was nice and clean. The sauce area was well stocks. I love how they maintain the cleanliness of the place. Thank you again for a nice experience. And another shout out to Kristine for helping us making sure we're taking care of while organizing the flow in the counter.

The food at this location was really good. All the workers were really nice and understanding and…read morethey helped us choose the best sauces and in general this was just a great experience. The food definitely left us full and it was just a wonderful and delicious experience. The food was fresh and delicious.

Love this place, in my opinion, best build your own hot pot in toronto. Great amount of toppings…read moreand broth was fantastic. Service is super great too, they accidentally forgot my spinach so they let me make a new bowl without any hesitation. It can be very busy and chaotic but that won't stop me from coming back!

Hi Bowl - A Different Kind of Hot Pot Experience!…read more Hi Bowl is a hot pot restaurant with a slightly different concept from what I have experienced in America so far. It gets a lot of things right, but there are also a few quirks worth knowing about. Here is how it works. When you enter, you head to a large ingredient display that resembles the fresh food section of a supermarket. You grab a big bowl and choose from a wide variety of fish, meat, vegetables, noodles, and other ingredients. There should be something for almost every taste. I decided to take small portions of several ingredients so I could try as many as possible. One thing I missed was fresh eggs, but more on that later. Once your bowl is filled, you take it to the scale and pay by weight. The bowl itself is excluded, of course. Then you choose your soup base. I went with tomato broth. And here comes the major difference: Unlike traditional hot pot, you do not get a steaming pot at your table to cook your ingredients yourself. Instead, everything is prepared in the kitchen, and your finished soup is brought to you. Convenient? Absolutely! But this approach has a few disadvantages. Anyone familiar with hot pot knows that some ingredients cook in seconds while others take considerably longer. Since the kitchen handles everything, you have no control over how individual ingredients are cooked. For me, the potatoes were a good example. I prefer them really soft, but mine still had a noticeable bite. With traditional hot pot, I would simply leave them cooking a few minutes longer. Here, that is impossible because there is no heated pot at the table. Fortunately, I had only taken a small portion. This probably also explains the absence of fresh eggs. Whether you like them runny, soft, or firm, you cannot control the cooking process yourself. Another disadvantage is that you need to plan your portions carefully. At traditional hot pot, you can try something, discover that you love it, and simply order more to throw into the bubbling broth. At Hi Bowl, you would have to return to the display, assemble another bowl, weigh it, and wait for another complete preparation. My suggestion: On your first visit, take small portions of many different ingredients. Consider it a tasting session. Once you know your favorites, you can return and build your perfect bowl. For me, hot pot is also about spending time with friends, talking, experimenting with ingredients, and enjoying a constantly steaming pot together. That experience is somewhat lost here. Your soup arrives ready to eat, and the broth gradually cools down. If you take your time, it may become lukewarm before you finish. It feels more like a customized soup than a traditional communal hot pot experience. Now, please do not misunderstand me. I have mentioned several disadvantages, but I genuinely enjoyed my meal! The tomato broth was excellent: slightly sweet, rich in tomato flavor, and wonderfully hot when served. I enjoyed it so much that I finished every last drop. The ingredients looked fresh, and the wide selection makes experimenting with different combinations fun. The restaurant was packed at lunchtime, and I was lucky to find a seat for one. During my approximately two-hour visit, I noticed that a large majority of the guests appeared to be of Asian descent. While that is certainly no guarantee of authenticity or quality, I took the restaurant's popularity with this crowd as an encouraging sign. There was even a small complimentary soft-serve ice cream for dessert. A nice little surprise! My entire meal, including a drink and dessert, came to less than $20. The bowl was generously filled and easily satisfied me for lunch. Admittedly, I was cautious with my portions because I wanted to understand the concept first. But I suspect even a substantial dinner could comfortably stay below $30. I will definitely be back! Hi Bowl is not traditional hot pot, and understanding that beforehand makes all the difference. You sacrifice some control over cooking times, the flexibility of ordering additional ingredients, and part of the social experience. In exchange, you get a convenient, quick, reasonably priced meal with plenty of fresh ingredients and a delicious result. I like the concept, I love the tomato broth, and next time I will know exactly what belongs in my bowl. What more could you want?

Two of us rolled into this popular spot on a Wednesday evening wearing our stretchy pants ready to…read moreand eat were not disappointed! For me, this was my first time at a Liuyishou and it was quite the eye-opening experience. The selection of meats and veg to boil is impressive! Since my dining partner was well-versed in Sichuan hot pot I got to try some interesting items for the first time, like intestines and bull frog and had no problem with these novelty items since I had someone to recommend them and guide me through the process. She said some people will watch a clock and time some of the more sensitive items to make sure they don't overcook, although we didn't bother and focussed on stuffing our faces as quickly as possible. In addition to the free lemon water, we ordered a pitcher of Sapporo for $27 seemed a bit on the pricy side for a non-import brew. (Sapporo owns Sleeman which is in Guelph.) The ayce price for two was $66 (all prices without tax/tip) plus a two-flavour soup base was another $20 on top of that. So it was $153 with tax/tip for two of us. (Lunch is cheaper) For the two flavours of broth we had one super spicy Sichuan, and the other a milder bone broth one, which offered a nice contrast to try each broth with the various items. Since the atmosphere is bright and airy, without much for sophistication or decor, this would not be my first choice for a date night spot although the food is impressive, the vibe is not overly romantic and pretty basic. I can see now why it was not very busy that evening in May when we went with a price of over $150 for two, it was a good experience but you can do better for an intimate atmosphere at that price point.

We tried to eat here on a Friday night; it was absolutely packed. Rather than having one hotpot to…read moreshare, we could only get a table with four separate warmer plates for our bowls, and the edge of our table was just dripping in someone else's soup. When we found out that it was $50/person, our group decided to bail. I would try it again though; I mean, it must be good if they managed to have a full house! Also weirdly, if you eat here enough, you can get things like gas money or a Hermès scarf. What? Never seen that in a restaurant before!

Liuyishou Hot Pot all began from one location in Chongqing, China in the year 2000. Now they have…read moreexpanded to over 1200 restaurants worldwide. Making it an internationally recognized hot pot chain in Asia, Europe, North America and UAE. This GTA location has been serving guests for almost 10 years. Finally got to try this restaurant and it did not disappoint. We visited for the all-you-can-eat option and got the dual sided pot so we could have two different base broths. Tomato soup base broth and house special pork broth. Loved it. But you could also opt for the a la carte option if you don't want to do the AYCE. We did the AYCE option which was very good. Much like Little Sheep, Haidilao, Daimaru Shabu Shabu, you can mix your own dipping sauce at the D.I.Y. self-serve sauce bar. It also has appetizers and desserts. I liked it so much that I shamelessly came back to Liuyishou Hotpot the following week for more hot pot! Both times I ordered a variety of proteins, quality meats, vegetables, rice, noodles and tofu. Service was outstanding. Ambiance was great. The decor was on point. Music was greatIce cream at the end of your meal was a nice touch. This place is a must try.

Finally lively AYCE hotpot with wagyu…read more Liuyishou is a popular outfit for traditional hotpot, and here in the GTA they have long moved to AYCE format. This Scarborough location has been around for a long time as seen by the dated interior. Nonetheless it's still popular with some good promos to compete among the huge swath of Asian restaurants in this plaza. We chose an array of hotpot broths including the house special spicy, sukiyaki, pork bone broth & tomato soup. We came here to celebrate a family occasion, and Liuyishou delivered with its good selection of broths, meats, seafood, and veggies. The $8 Wagyu add-on on weekend was a nice upgrade--thinly sliced, tender, and worth trying if you want something a bit more indulgent. The $3.99 all-you-can-drink station was a pleasant surprise too, making it easy to keep refilling without thinking twice. Service was quick even despite it being relatively busy and a bit loud during dinner peak. Note the pricing per adult ($34.99 weekend dinner) excludes the soup base which is about $17 for a large shareable pot or $9 for an individual sized pot per guest so the bill can rack up. The wagyu and drinks are add-ons too. They do have a 2 adult + 1 kid family combo for $73.99 on weekends with one drink pitcher excluding soup base. Dessert is included such as taro soft serve, rice ball soup & cold jelly. Skip it or hit it? Hit it for a casual, authentic hotpot experience. Wish they replaced the worn seats.

Food: has all the basic hotpot staples, and... that's it. nothing unique or exciting. You can have…read moreunlimited soft drinks (just usual coke, sprite....) and soft serve ice cream. What this place does well is their mala spicy hotpot soup base (especially the beef fat version), which is spicy (not numbing though, sadly) and full of flavor. Price: reasonable with VIP discount (worth getting if you plan to go occasionally) - works out to around $45 per person including 10% mandatory tips and taxes. Crowd: can have a line during weekend evenings. Plenty of space at Friday 6pm. Parking: plenty with spillover parking space in adjacent plaza.

Tried spicy and it was really spicy for me but good. Meat were also good quality…read more Has good choice of skewers as well.

Trish and I had supper last evening at Big Way Hot Pot. When we'd been there in December, it was my…read morefirst time. This time I knew what I wanted to do. Instead of it being more of a broth (I'm not a big fan of soup), I added 2 more chunks of ramen and more chicken and made it a ramen dish. Much better! You grab a bowl and tongs and put whatever you want in your bowl ... there is lots and lots of choice. I put chicken, baby corn and ramen in mine. Trish had tofu, mushrooms, greens and purple ramen. The bowl is weighed and you pay according to how heavy it is. Then you choose your broth ... I chose a tomato broth that was spiced a bit. It's cooked and brought to your table. I intentionally have lots of leftovers. An ice cream was complimentary for dessert.

A new hotpot self select option in North York!…read more We dropped by on a Saturday afternoon. Fair warning the seating is limited in this restaurant still to groups of 2-4 is probably more convenient. It's right by a subway entrance and there is underground parking in the building connected. They have bubble tea and hotpot! Best of both worlds :) I really loved how many options they had for people to pick from, everything looked fresh and the selection was well stocked. You pick what you want and pay first and then got sit down and wait. It's definitely a more casual spot but it was the servers were on top of refilling our waters and clearing our tables!!!

Haven't been back to this hot spot place in so long and was so glad I did again. This use to be my…read morego to hot pot spot! Food here is still solid! Servers are attentive. What is new (at least to me) are their self serve appies have changed. They now serve cooked crawfish, pickled chicken feet, deep fried buns, and so much more. I always loved their appies section and the self serve sauce bar. meats are always solid and their soup bases are good! Overall, still a really good hot pot spot even after all these years.

Came here on a Friday night on Father's Day. Service is quite prompt and food comes out very fast…read more The first round I would say was good, meat was good as well. The second and after ended up being mostly frozen meat, as in meat that was STILL frozen. This makes the meat like a cardboard when cooked. The dessert station is very disappointing. Just cold jelly, sprinkles, fruits, hawthornes. The diced up watermelon is not appetizing. There's cake beside sesame oil dispenser. Lots of seats here and pretty dim in the larger round tables, hard to see your food. Rating: 3.8/5

This 3rd Mom became a regular spot when I was hanging out with a spice fan this fall, as the food…read morewas great, with nice specials like stinky tofu for a buck, and many other low priced options. No beers available which was our only gripe, but man those skewers were so good! Especially that chewy good sweet potato with the dual skewers to hold it together. Inside was some kind of veg and very nice! There's a hot pot type option if you're into that too! Another gripe (sorry) was the too-bright white lighting that you could do surgery under. Not really needed. We never had a problem with service either, the people are the good ones. The toppings bar was small but kicked jazz, so good!

I love hot pot and 3rd mom serves high quality and many great variety of ingredients to make the…read moremost delicious hot pot. You can choose from seafood, pork sausages, luncheon meat, mushrooms, greens, bamboo sheets, freshly marinated pork, beef, chicken thigh, frog, man great noodle options, and tofu options. There's also a skewer menu that you can ask the staff to add to your hot pot in the kitchen. They also offer great options and heat levels for the soup: tomato broth, mushroom broth, spicy malatang broth, tom yum broth, classic spicy broth and if you're a dry mix fan, they have multiple peanut butter- based or classic dry mix options. There's also self serving toppings that you can add to your hot pot. Or pair it with appetizers. To make the meal even better, they're offering soft serve ice cream. The staff are friendly and the service is quick. And the vibe is casual.