We were looking for an ayce hotpot spot in Lowell after a conference and was recommended this place…read moreby a local. We came in between lunch and dinner hours, but chose dinner because it just has more options for $39.99. By more, I mean we can order three kinds of seafood (shrimp, mussels, and calamari) and 2 more cuts of beef. They didn't have much variety on the tablet, but they did have fishballs/quail eggs/veggies/noodles at the self serve bar. Honestly it was pretty pricey for the selection, as well as the time limit they put on us despite the restaurant being pretty empty. I feel it's common for ayce places to have a time limit on eating, but there was a time limit on ordering here too. However, the moment we tasted the broth, that was worth it. I've never had such good tom yum broth at a hotpot place! It definitely elevated the rest of the experience. They also put care into making things look nice, so that's a plus. Our server were pretty clear with time limit and all that, so it wasn't a surprise. Everyone was really nice as well! Overall, a positive experience. My meal was paid for, but if I had to personally pay for this, I don't think I would come for dinner.

We've been to this restaurant several times, and while the food has always been just okay for the…read moreprice ($29.99 for all-you-can-eat hotpot), this most recent visit was a new low. First, the selection at the self-serve bar has become very limited compared to before. They still have a 90-minute dining limit, which is standard, but they've now added a hidden rule that we had never been told about: you can only place orders during the first 60 minutes of the meal. What makes this worse is how they apply it. More than half of our party arrived a bit later, and the first few people who arrived were told to go ahead and start by choosing the soup bases. What they did not tell us was that this action would start the 60-minute countdown, even though not everyone had arrived and no actual eating had begun. By the time everyone was there and ready to order, most of that hour had already passed--without any warning from staff. On top of that, the portions they bring out are extremely small, and the serving speed is painfully slow. We would finish what little they brought each round and end up just sitting and waiting for the next one, which made the 60-minute ordering window feel even more restrictive and unfair. When we asked about this unclear policy, we were told to wait for the manager--who took nearly 20 minutes to come over. And when she finally arrived, she spoke to us with a condescending attitude and essentially said, "What more can you expect for $29.99?" The contempt in her tone was shocking. I'm not sure how other customers feel, but we're done with this place. We won't be coming back and we DO NOT recommend it to anyone. No restaurant should treat customers with that level of disrespect.

Delicious handmade dumplings- we had the special which had one of each kind of 8 dumplings- they…read morewere all so delicious! We also had scallion pancake (handmade- light, fluffy and crispy in all the right places). The mini hotpot was so good. The broth was fiery and flavorful, I dunked the scallion pancake and dumplings in the hotpot broth to sop up the deliciousness. Comfort food at its finest. We will be back!

This place has the best dumplings in the area, their mala stir fry is amazing. A group of friends…read moreand I are almost regulars here. But today's experience was sub par to what we are used to. I didn't leave the establishment because I was with others who wanted to enjoy the food. The first issue was we couldn't seat where we wanted, it had to be where the waitress or manager decided we were to seat. Not one client in the restaurant. Then she brought the bill before we requested no one was waiting to be seated, then refused to split the bill when previous times with a different server was not a problem. We split the bill to only 2 because thats all she could do, me paying for 4 people she denies my tip amount and says if I don't tip a 18% , theywill charge me $80 extra for a party of 6, again we were only 4 people. I am very disappointed with my service and treatment, unfortunately I don't know the server name but she is one that speaks more English. Will I go back and be bullied into tipping what they want? Probably no.

We use to there all the time and tonight WWE went and the chicken fingers, my mom's favorite, lol…read more They were all the outside, dough, there wasn't much flavor, actually no flavor . We always ordered the beef teriyaki and that was tough. Everything was cold except the chicken wings. They don't give you as much food as they use to. We need to find a new Chinese restaurant close by.

Purple bamboo billerica, stay clear it used to be good not anymore. Have ordered takeout here many…read moretimes always good. Got chowmein with uncooked veggies, no taste just water. Emailed restaurant they never replied, didnt care. So stay clear.

My fiance & I were on our way back to NYC from Maine, and happened to find Pho 88 on the route…read more Knowing that any pho place with a number behind it usually is good, we took our chances. I was so suprised by how good the pho broth is - it's legit. The broth is piping hot, super flavorful, but still light and not too oily. Prices are good considering the portion size. They have all of the proper toppings & they don't skimp on any of the meats. Service is friendly & the restaurant is spacious. Parking is plentiful - there's a lot right out front. Cash & card are both accepted.

Pho 88 is certainly a step above. There is ample parking out front, and there is easy access from…read morethe highway. The location itself is very clean and nice and there are cooking tops for hot pots on most tables. The service was excellent in professional, the only problem was when I was trying to pay the bill. They seemed to disappear, but that was resolved rather quickly. My Pho was excellent. I had the beef. The broth was extremely complex and flavorful and pleasant. I was disappointed. I did not get the dinosaur bone, but I have not found a place in Massachusetts, Massachusetts or New Hampshire. That offers that yet.. Bella got the seafood pho and it was excellent. We both got the large and there was plenty to take home.

Its the first time I went here for food and I wanted to get some takeout to meet up with my BF for…read moredinner since he works late. The older lady who greeted me was very welcoming and offered us to sit down while she checked on my orders. The restaurant was empty but appears to setup for live music maybe on the weekends or evenings. The restaurant from what I can see was clean and the food was well prepared. I'd definitely go back to try their other dishes. Sorry no images of the food i ordered since we ate in the car and it was a bit of a busy day/night for me but next time for sure!

Finally, a good Cambodian restaurant that is legit. My favorite was the beef skewers. So much…read moreflavor and the lemongrass flavor is just so good.

Simply Khmer will still be my number one go to spot to get Cambodian food…read more The triple combo dish is the way to go. For $20 now, you get sticky rice, 5 spicy wings or 3 beef sticks, and papaya salad. You cannot go wrong with that. I wish I lived closer because I would come here every other week for this dish.

This place is off the highway but still convenient as it's pretty much down one main street off the…read morehighway. It has a few parking spaces up front and we had no problem getting one during lunch time on a saturday. This place is pretty big and I love that they didn't try to cram as many tables as possible in there. The staff are friendly and wheel out your food on carts vs carrying them on serving trays. The decor and presentation of the restaurant is very clean and modern. - unlike most other places in the area. We've tried other cambodian restaurants in lowell and they don't compare to the ambiance and vibes of Simply Khmer. I'd venture to say other places are very mom and pop style, and almost ghetto compared to this place. The food: Hot wings - are a must order! It looks like there are variations as others come with peppers or other stuff, mine only came with sauce. Based on yelp photos, seems like its hit or miss what you get? Still, tastes great. Crispy but not overcooked and the sauce is amazing. It's not too spicy either. Crispy egg rolls - they were fine but I'd skip these. They are tiny but you get 5. There is no meat so inside is mushy, but the outside is fried perfectly crisp. The soup Kuy Tiew Special - it's just basic pho soup with beef balls, fish cakes and greens. Tastes fine if you want some soupy noodles, but nothing that stands out. Still enjoyable if thats what you're after. My waitress didn't tell us the specials but I kept overhearing the male waiter tell everyone today's specials and I heard about their new chicken skin. I ordered it to try. They are thin and crispy and half the plate is pickled veggies and some jalapenos. The chicken skin is light and airy, fried crispy with some light seasoning. Worth a try at least once. overall, this is one of the more popular places in Lowell for cambodian food and I can see why. I'm looking forward to my next trip back here. Food quality is good, service is friendly, parking was easy and it was not too far off from the main highway.

I can't say that I know much about Cambodian food. But I ordered the waiter's recommendation of…read moretheir special pork intestine dish, and I have eaten a lot of pork intestine! Pork intestine with pickled cabbage here: I think it's prepared really well, and if I have any objections, it might just be my own flavor palette. It's deep-fried first, and also braised, so it's crunchy and sweet, which isn't like any other preparation of pork intestine I've had (most of which have been Chinese). That said, even if it was a bit sweet for me, the pickled greens balanced it out a bit, and the crunch was pretty nice. Came with a pleasant tasting broth too.

Papaya salad! Yes please!…read more Stopped by for dinner from our trip to New Hampshire because we were craving some Cambodian cuisine. The restaurant is very spacious and the staff is very friendly. We were quickly seated on Sunday night and we were overwhelmed with the entree options because the picture menu was huge! We finally decided on a papaya salad, the spicy chicken with veggies and sauteed watercrest. The portions were a good size and everything tasted really good. I really liked the papaya salad because we ordered it spicy and it came packed with a spicy flavor. The papaya tasted fresh and we enjoyed eating with the big green leaves. The spicy chicken was also very good and it tasted great over white rice. We had a great meal and had leftovers to take home.

Plaza Parking Great…read moreplace for a sit down Chinese food place with good portions and prices. They have a large seating area with tables for smaller and large groups. They have a big parking lot although it took a weird turn for me to figure out how to get to the street. And my car did get in the lot so just a warning for that even though the lot was basically empty somehow my car was struck ‍The service was great, they were attentive and were pretty quick to get all food. For appetizer we got the crab rangoon and beef rolls which are both with a good sized portion although the crab rangoon was more heavy on the cream flavor. We got the large size of the hot n sour soup and the portion was a lot larger than expected for the price of $6. The noodles were a little let down, lacking some flavor this was both for the cold noodles and beef soup. The mapo tofu and the sichuan chicken were definitely my favorite, the mapo tofu had the perfect numbing flavor that I love.

Several more visits since last time have yielded mostly excellent results. High quality Sichuan you…read morerarely see in the 'burbs. -- Sweet Crispy Duck: A do-it-yourself duck bao arrangement with soft wheat buns, sticks of cucumber and scallion, and mostly-shredded crispy duck in a sweet and savory sauce. Think understatedly sweet pulled pork on a bun, only with duck and Chinese flavors. Looks small, but pricing is in the appetizer range, so I treat it as such. Good. -- Shredded Beef with Cayenne Pepper: Not your typical brown sauce glop, even though it might look that way. Lots of spices mixed in, and possibly tiny bits of garlic, along with a fermented, slightly salty quality. Longhorn pepper added mid-level spice. -- Spicy Lamb Dry Hot Pot: Plenty of spiciness and plenty of numbing action from the chili peppers, though no whole peppercorns I could feel. The lamb was both crisp and tender, with spices clinging. Texturally, the vegetables (broccoli, string beans, lotus root) and thin potato slices were all perfectly in the sweet spot between too firm and too wilting. Intense lamb flavor and sauce flavor. Elite. -- Fish Filet in Chili Oil Sauce: Tried this on a lunch combo after enjoying it several times as an entree and it's almost as big as the entree. Very soft, tender, unbreaded fish chunks in an oily, spicy sauce. Near-elite to elite. -- Fish Filet with Green Sichuan Pepper: A huge bowl with delicate white fish and a mostly clear broth that suggested lack of flavor, but looks can deceive; this was very spicy in a pickly, peppery, mouth-numbing way. The broth was too thin to make it suitable for rice, so best with bowl and spoon. -- Shredded Pork with Wood Ear in Hot & Sour Sauce: A new dish introduced in October 2025, this had very tender wormy-shaped pork shreds in a treatment that lived up to the name. Spicy for sure, and very tart as well, with pickled green chili peppers doing double duty. The black mushrooms were relegated mostly to textural enhancement. Clean flavors and no real sauce per se; a nice, unique dish. -- Ma Po Tofu: Pretty solid but pretty standard rendition, with a Boyardee color and consistency, but a spicy, peppery flavor. Soft tofu. Average or a tick above. -- Green Beans with Yacai: Perfectly cooked vegetables with plenty of crunch, just enough wilt, and every one of them well lubricated but not heavily sauced. I'm talking zero glop. Accented with yacai, another vegetable additive that lends some mysterious (actually fermented pickled mustard greens), addicting flavor along with salt. Not saucy, not spicy, but not the least bit lacking. Excellent. -- Sichuan Kung Pao Chicken: Tried on a whim to see how different it would be from standard. It's spicy chicken, with a bit of Sichuan peppercorn tingle, but not that spicy. Same peanuts, no celery. Slightly but not overbearingly sweet. Tender but not crisp. Nice little diversion, but prefer my Spicy Shredded Chicken (much spicier, no sweet) when in a chicken mood. -- Hot & Sour Yam Noodles: Thick, slippery glass noodles in a thick, dark brown condiment with a strong soybean flavor. A little too intense for me, like trying to down a Guinness. Whole soybeans on top. Service is solid, even with just a couple servers at most times.