Such a fun place to go with friends or family. I liked being able to choose different meats,…read morevegetables, noodles, and sauces and cook everything right at the table. The broth was flavorful and god ingredients tasted fresh. It's a nice experience when you want something interactive and different from a regular dinner ​

I've been meaning to try Soupleaf for a while because I always see so many people raving about this…read morehot pot spot in Austin! Since it was my birthday week, my husband and I decided it was finally time to give it a try. We went on a Monday and took advantage of their lunch special. When we arrived, we were greeted by a very nice gentleman and seated pretty quickly. Our server came by a few minutes later and provided amazing service throughout our visit. Everyone made the experience feel welcoming, which definitely added to our overall impression of the place. There was a great variety of soup bases and meat selections to choose from. I also loved that the vegetables, mushrooms, and assortment of fish balls were available at a self-serve bar, along with a wide selection of sauces to customize everything to your liking. My husband went with the Tonkatsu soup base, and I got the same but mixed it with the mala for a little kick of spice. The meat was great quality, and everything tasted fresh and well-maintained. We also tried a couple of their drinks! The mango sticky rice drink was delicious, and the alcoholic lychee slushy was just as good. Another nice touch was the little ice cream station for dessert, which was a great way to finish off the meal. Overall, we were really happy with our experience at Soupleaf. Between the variety of options, fresh ingredients, delicious drinks, and excellent service, I can definitely see why this place gets so much love. We're glad we finally gave it a try and would absolutely come back!

OVERVIEW: Was super excited to finally try this place! I love that they offer both sushi and hot…read morepot, along with in-house boba tea drinks. You can satisfy all of your cravings here. The interior is so cute and cozy, and you self-serve everything for your hot pot. The sushi was typical buffet sushi - not the best but not terrible, either. I think the dinner options are better for sushi. The hot pot was solid and what you would expect, and they have other hot foods and apps as well. Overall it was a great experience and I would definitely revisit! QUICK FACTS: - Parking? Yes, it's in a large shopping center with plenty of parking! - Reservations? No, you can just walk in. - Sushi is an add-on and costs extra at both lunch and dinner, and the entire table must participate.

EJ's hot pot in the arbor walk plaza is a welcome addition of Asian cuisine alongside sushi options…read morein an AYCE venue. I was very pleased when I stopped by for lunch with husband! The lunch price is very reasonable, and we opted to add on the sushi component for $5 extra for $30/person, which is very fair in the Austin market for hot pot and sushi! The hot pot broths are stellar, I went with the Tom Yum and husband went with the veggie Mushroom broth, both were very tasty and then we went to town with the assortment of ingredients, veggies carbs and proteins all within our reach. I even noticed the lovely little section of hot ready foods for the kiddos, we did not bring our little one but he would've been pleased with fried rice, nuggets and French fries, egg rolls and onion rings as an assortment of noms as he isn't into soup or seafood lol. The ambiance inside EJ's absolutely beautiful, the walls, curtains and decor are all oriental nods and right now they are doing a fun promotion for Mid-Autumn festival as well where you can play a fun game for a portion of a discount off your bill. Finally, our service at EJ's was nothing less than amazing. We walked in and were warmly greeted, seated and our server (I forgot his name, doh!) but he was very friendly to walk us through the menu, patient as we looked our options over and attentive in checking if/when we wanted to order more rolls (we didn't - I had too much hot pot lol) but he was so attentive to us and to his other tables, and overhearing him speak to other tables in Chinese was also lovely to see as he was able to take care of orders both in English and Chinese. I have nothing but the best praises for EJ's and our first visit will not be our last. I'm so thrilled they are close to our home, and look forward to many more welcoming meals with family and friends when we are all looking forward to a clean, quality and delicious meal for a variety of pallets!

I love Chinese cuisine…read more Ever since coming here, groiwng up in California, I am always craving that hometown food and vibes - Din Ho does just that. From having a waitlist QR code check-in to seeing round circle tables it brings back a lot of familiar feels and good times with family. I ordered 1lb of Cha Siu today. Loved how fast they came out with it and even included more sauce when I asked. There'll be more opportunity for us to go out and eat here but for now, its awesome that they're still here and feeding Austinites and visitors with so much good, authentic Chinese food!! I love Din Ho!

The most generous portions of food are served at Din Ho. If you're a big meat eater then you need…read moreto try this place at least once. The triple meat BBQ sampler will keep you full for at least a couple of meals and you'll probably need a salad and fiber pill afterwards. The sauces and marinade are all very good, but the meat cuts were hit and miss. Some pieces are objectively too hard to bite through or too fatty to enjoy. The duck is good but very bone heavy. The noodles dishes are nothing exciting and are msg forward. Not a bad thing in general, but that shouldn't be the only thing I taste. The menu is so large that it's almost a novel. There are hundreds of options which makes it overwhelming to chose from. That means this restaurant is best visited with a hungry friend or ideally a large group to go full family style. It's worth a visit no matter the party size.

Visiting Austin, and decided on this spot as it was nearby…read more order the seafood tofu soap, medium spice level. i was suprised by the banchan that included some fish and also the OG style rice. have not had this rice in a while. most korean spots i frequent just go with rice cooker these days well, i still remember the whole tea and rice deal to get the crunchy rice off and drink after dinner as sort of dessert. not really, its pretty much just rice water in some korean tea.. not something i crave... i do like the crunchy rice bimbibop style... i like the banchan, the one that stood out was the white veggie noodle like one that was in kewpie dressing. i think it was cabbage. taste like coleslaw, so i think it is cabbage. total was 20 cash. there was 4% discount for cash. either way, i was doing 20 as dish was $16. end up with $3.40 tip 21% all good. and the soup was as expected. 5 star all day when u can get good tofu soup for 20 buck all inclusive...

Service was excellent very fun crew always smiling and attentive…read more Ambiance was ok its not the best, its not good either but its not bad at all. Their meat could have been great ONLY if the beef belly was not hella frozen. Thats the only bad thing I don't like the rest was really good and oh not that many meat options but it was good enough to full my stomach. I would recommend trying the short rib the one on the picture and LA galbi. I forgot her name but she was short korean who served our food. She was always smiling, energetic and very attentive. Thanks to her great service. Would I recommend this place? I wanna say yes its worth trying id personally would like to go back.

This place is a little gem!…read more Service at the counter for carry out was friendly, answered all our questions, and the wait was about what's expected. The place was clean with lots of locals eating at this spot during the busy dinner hour. We bought 3 plates, 3 appetizers, and some broth w/noodles all for just under 80. Fed for people to satisfaction with leftovers!!! The broths were flavorful on their own and the noodles made just right. The chop Suey's, were so meaty! Almost as much meat as noodles!! Loved the scallion pancake and "beef burrito". Definitely a do over.

I was craving XLB and dragged my husband along for an adventure to Julie's. New to the area, I'd…read moreheard they were the best. Unassuming location in a strip mall with plenty of parking. You order at the counter and they deliver the food table side. No frills on the service, which is why it's affordable. We ordered: pork XLB, pan fried pork and shrimp dumplings, scallion pancakes, steamed pork buns, and suan tsai spicy beef noodles. The suan tsai spicy beef noodles with pickled greens stole the show. WOW. Perfect amount of heat in a flavorful broth. The pickled greens really balanced out the heat in the perfect way. I could eat this every day and be happy. Noodles were thick and perfectly cooked. I was inhaling the soup and scallion pancakes (also incredible) and left the XLB sitting too long. By the time I got to them, the slightly thicker wrapping had absorbed all the soup. Still good flavor though! The pan fried dumplings were also good, but just overshadowed by the soup in my opinion. I didn't try the steamed buns (not typically my jam), and my husband said the bun itself was great, but the meat needed some flavor. Nothing to photograph as we ate almost everything! I'll be dreaming about the pickled soup tonight as I roll into bed.

We had a great experience stopping by Precious Chinese BBQ for Cantonese style Chinese bbq dishes…read more There were several protein options that were sold out so I was sad to have to change up my order, but the service was friendly, we were immediately seated and then ordered at counter when we were ready to go. One thing we'll say about the interior is it is absolutely amazing and beautiful, and the space is intimate as we were there for Saturday night dinner and every single table was full, there were folks lined up after us waiting to be seated or other parties just ordering take out to go home and eat. The space is clean, very well styled and the food options were fresh, and very well seasoned! We enjoyed our dinner and look forward to returning as we can easily walk over even with the intimate parking spots since this plaza has only a few parking spaces it shares with other places in the area.

Saw this come up on IG as one of the new fast casual Chinese BBQ spots. By the looks of it, I…read morethought this would mirror a lot of the BBQ places in NYC - they a nice selection of food options outside of the usual suspects (e.g. char siu, duck, chicken, and pork belly). We got the char siu, pork belly, and beef chow ho fun. The pork belly was pretty mid with the skin being kind of stale and hard. The char siu was probably the best dish of what we ordered, and the chow ho fun was pretty greasy. I thought they were extremely disorganized, and there was a lot of patrons standing around inside the restaurant trying to order, or waiting for a table. I hope they figure out the operations here because this will definitely cause people to find somewhere else to go. There are definitely other options that offer the same kind of food experience minus the wait time.

I heard so much about Purple Rice and I finally got a chance to check them out! They are a family…read moreowned business who specializes in homemade authentic Korean dishes. The food is made fresh daily and the concept is a grab and go which I love! This is perfect for a busy week, lazy week not in the mood to cook vibe, rainy day, craving Korean food but don't want to spend hours dining, road-trip meals, picnicking , save money, don't know how to cook but want yummy food, and/or trying to eat healthier.... Purple Rice is for you! * pork gimbap: 5/5 genuinely the best gimbap I had! I was always disappointed in HMart kimbap because it's flavorless. This gimbap is so good! I was lucky to be able to grab the last one! * beef bugulgi glass noodles: 3/5 it was leaning on the very sweet side. If this dish was less sweet and balance a little bit more soy it will be perfect. * marinated eggs: 4/5 great for rice and extra protein! * braised potatoes: 4/5 it leaned on the sweeter side * marinated tofu: 5/5 very yummy with rice and it was not spicy. * spicy pork bowl: 5/5 loved it! I just wish there was a bit more broccoli than just 3 pieces . I love the purple rice and everything was cooked to perfection. Healthy meal and very reasonable priced! Good bowl size * beef bugulgi bowl: 3/5 beef was shaved very thin where it was breaking apart. Meat was very little compared to the amount of rice. It was less flavorful compared to the spicy pork which was well seasoned. * rice sticks in red sauce: 5/5 best to eat it when it's fresh. The texture and sauce is so well balance. It's not spicy but the sauce is what makes this dish and highlight the rice sticks! So good! And the best I've had! Do I recommend this place? Yes! Come support this 2 year old family business! Fresh ingredients made with love and is a gem in Austin! Everything is packed really well and the owners are super nice sweet people!! I can't wait to return to get other items I didn't get to try because they were sold out! I came late afternoon close to closing time and there weren't a whole lot left. So come early to grab em!

I got here a few times and usually in the evening. The only part of going in the evening is that…read morethey can run out of food, so be careful coming later in the evening. I like that it is part convenience store and packs food ready to be served. There are even 2 small tables there if you want to just eat there as well. I had a few dishes there and they were great. I got a pork bowl before and the pork was great flavor and was tender. I am hoping to visit again and try to get other dishes to try.

We love nothing better than discovering new restaurants in our neighborhood. CUI was a Yelp…read morerecommended restaurant that we put on our dining bucket list. CUI Vietnamese restaurant listed on their signage as Pho CUI, is literally a hidden gem. We missed it initially and had to circle through the neighborhood to find this restaurant. While we got our food to go, we peaked into the restaurant to see what the experience would be like if we dined in-restaurant. It is a tiny restaurant with about 7 tables with splashes of items from the Vietnamese culture. The process...you add your name to wait list and then sit on these cute little wooden squares while you wait for your name to be called. There are smaller red squares for children. Because we were getting our food to go, our order was taken immediately. We ordered the chicken with rice and it reminded us of one of favorite restaurants in Bellevue, WA. The food tastes authentic and well-prepared. The chicken tasted grilled and flavorful. The rice was the perfect level of softness with good seasoning yet not overpowering. We felt satisfied with our meal. Look forward to returning...

Cui is a fun, creative spot, and the service was a 5 out of 5. The staff were attentive and…read morefriendly, and food came out quickly once we sat down. The catch is the wait. We went on a Saturday as a party of two and waited outdoors about an hour. The dining room is small and seats around 20 people, so it fills up fast. It's cozy, with lots of character in the decor. We ordered the 3 Huế Cakes Combination, a sampler of traditional Huế specialties served with a light, sweet fish sauce. By our 1pm Saturday visit they had run out of one type of cake, so they gave us extra Vietnamese tamales to make up the difference, a thoughtful fix. I also had the Pho "Cowboy" with rare beef and smoked brisket in a clean, flavorful broth with plenty of fresh herbs. Good food and great service, so if you go, plan ahead or come at an off-peak time.