Good food best service the hotpot there was very high quality the taste was fantasticread more

My friends and I actually come to ChengDu Memory all the time. After dining here multiple times,…read morethis is my first time writing a review--I even forgot to take photos of the food! Our go-to order is the beef and lamb platter, crab sticks, winter melon, potatoes, and their milk tea (which comes with free refills). The broth bases and ingredients are always absolutely flawless. However, instead of just reviewing the food today, I want to share some unique insights and perspectives from my background as a former restaurateur who used to own and operate a hot pot restaurant myself. The True History of Chongqing Hot Pot: Humble Beginnings In China, Chongqing hot pot was originally the ultimate food of the people. Back in the day, it was famously called "1-to-3" (1托3)--meaning meat dishes cost 3 RMB and veggies cost 1 RMB. Traditional Beijing mutton hot pot (Shuan Yang Rou) could never compete with that kind of price-to-performance ratio. True hot pot history spans only about a century. Chongqing hot pot originated with laborers working along the riverbanks. Because they couldn't afford premium cuts, they used various animal offal for dipping. Take Huanghou (黄喉 - Ox/Pork Aorta) for example: it is actually the main aorta of the animal. It requires meticulous, layer-by-layer peeling because only the middle layer is crunchy and edible. Similarly, while a cow has four stomachs, only the third stomach--the Omasum (牛百叶 - Beef Tripe)--is used for hot pot. All of these ingredients require intense, repetitive processing before they can ever hit the table. Why Hot Pot is Secretly an Exceptionally Healthy Food At its core, hot pot is a remarkably healthy way to eat. Nowadays, so many people suffer from cavities and tooth decay. When you boil it down, it stems from one major issue: eating too many carbohydrates. A Quick Evolutionary Detour: During the Paleolithic era, humans didn't eat rice or noodles because wheat and rice had not yet been domesticated. Once the Agricultural Revolution began, the proportion of carbs in the human diet spiked dramatically. When carbs enter the mouth, they break down into simple sugars. When these sugars meet oral microbes, they ferment into organic acids that attack our teeth. Human tooth enamel is incredibly strong--second in hardness only to diamonds--and under normal circumstances, it is designed to last a lifetime. Carbs destroy it. For example, Easter Island once had the highest cavity rate in the world; due to a lack of fresh water, locals relied on cassava and sugarcane juice. The massive amount of carbohydrates caused their teeth to rot starting at age 14, and by age 20, most had virtually no usable teeth left. I'm rambling a bit, but my point stands: because hot pot emphasizes fresh meats and vegetables over heavy carbs, it is inherently very healthy! The Science Behind the Flavor Another fascinating characteristic of Sichuan/Chongqing mala hot pot is the continuous simmering process. As the ingredients are repeatedly heated in the broth, the aromatic molecules are continuously re-released. Because of this chemical process, the longer it boils, the more fragrant and flavorful it becomes.

Came here on a Wednesday night and the place was literally empty. We were greeted and seated right…read moreaway of course. Our server was really nice and provided refills quickly, as well as offered to put in more broth. The sauce bar is pretty good. There are some appetizers there too. We got the lamb and beef combo, as well as pork belly. All of them tasted great. Ambience is really nice. Very nicely decorated. It does make me really sad to see such a great restaurant sit so emptily, likely due to its location.

First time trying. Went late afternoon on a Sunday. Plenty of tables available. Several tables…read morewere full with patrons. We ordered the lamb & beef combo, mixed veggies. Selected the healthy mushroom broth and the pork bone broth. Both were just okay not a lot of flavor, but not too salty. We both got the sauce bar too. Also included some chicken feet, a Thai chicken gizzards and celery dish, fungus, two different kinds of soup, and cantaloupe and grapes. You can go up to the sauce bar Unlimited times. Restaurant was tidy and clean, service was very good and cordial Free parking for two hours on the 3rd floor, but a bit sketchy. The restaurant is on level 2c. Kind of hard to find cause the over the door signage says Bite of China in big letters and Pipa Mountain Hot pot in small print Food was okay portion size of meat combo was generous. Might go back again.

It's a chain, so the hot pot and meat quality are consistent with other locations like Bellevue and…read moreLynnwood. What stands out here is the service. The staff are especially friendly and take great care of regulars. The space is smaller, and parking in Chinatown is limited and a bit of a hassle. Still, the service makes it worth it if you don't mind the parking.

soup szn every season i usually go to the location in Lynnwood but decided to come here, they…read moreshare a space with a KBBQ spot, Happy Lamb is located upstairs! food and service were solid! It was my mom's first time visiting and she enjoyed it as well. the selection for food, sauce and dessert were pretty solid considering the price, i will certainly be back for their happy hour!

Since it is all you can eat, start with a few items and then add more later until your stomach is…read morefull. The price does not include leftovers, so if you want leftovers you will need to pay more. Many drinks available from tea to pop. They have a nice salad bar too. The first time you go there check out all the self-service areas to see what is available. Each person gets to choose their own base for the hot pot. I usually go with tomato, but last time went with the mushroom base.

This was on our radar for a while and our son finally talked mom into an AYCE experience!…read more She doesn't like it as much as myself..... We had a reservation on a Saturday evening but it wasn't that busy. Greeted and sat right away by nice staff. It's a bit of a tight table setup but quite well organized so that each diner can operate the heat of both their hot pot and grill independent of others. Quite a genius concept really and easily learned though odd for familiar diners of each type of cooking. They had this really good stewed pork and quail eggs and a large rice cooker you can help yourself to at the bar while waiting. It was so good I had that for my dessert. A very typical Asian family dish often left on the kitchen stove that we are familiar with. The beverages are included in fridges with many soda lemonade waters and other stuff to grab as you like. There is a huge sauce bar to mix your own. Love the sesame sauce mixed with other things! And a bunch of fresh fruit to help yourself to. The hotpot had a number of choices. Sukiyaki broth looked good and our son loved it. I chose the spicy Szechuan type red broth and ordered it mild but it was still quite hot. Honestly this wasn't as tasty as other hotpot restaurants and even mine I make at home with ginger and garlic is much better. Wish I chose the sukiyaki or basic beef broth like our daughter (it was tasty too). So I gave up after a couple rounds of that and stuck to the bbq. The bbq is small with parchment paper on a steel tray but it cooks up pretty quick and nice. Great general choices with many things available. Spicy pork was not the best I've had though and that's one of my faves. Excellent beef choices and pork belly. Whole head on prawns etc. The list is huge. Overall the service was quite fast and attentive clearing dishes and bringing additional items you order from a tablet. They don't do either type of bbq or hotpot as well as others but it's pretty close and so fun to mix and match! A little extensive but if you can eat a lot it's a fair value.

When we came in, we were seated promptly, which I appreciated! Our server, Noah was super nice and…read moregave me a hair tie before we ate as well and told me that I can keep it. The soup base was good. Our favorite was the pork tripe. It was hearty and rich. The vegetables were good and we appreciated the surprise shrimp, and muscle pieces in our soup. The meat itself is good and it cooked fast, 10/10 would come again.

As always the service was amazing! And the Hotpot always hits! Very large restaurant with a wide…read morevariety of things to order.

Solid 4 star Taiwanese restaurant and the service by the boss brings it top to 4.5. When I visited,…read morethere were two employees running the whole business. Both of them were super friendly and really made the visit special since I felt at home. The popcorn chicken was really top tier and a new go to. I got the personal hotpot and loved that I could customize what I wanted inside. The chili oil wontons were pretty solid but I think din tai Fung has a better sauce. Overall, I would recommend gourmet noodle bowl as a solid Taiwanese spot and I'll definitely be back!

Gourmet Noodle Bowl was my 3rd stop on the recent LNY Food Walk. As I walked in, I found that the…read moreinterior really reminded me of a old fashioned restaurant in Taiwan based on the decor and the table set up. The menu looked pretty authentic, so I was excited to order and dig into the $6 Food Walk special. The restaurant makes ordering easy: there's a kiosk right in the front for takeout, or for eat-in, there's a QR code to place an online order at each table. It's a pretty casual place, with self service water and bussing after the meal. Braised Pork Over Rice ($6) - The menu shows a picture of minced pork rice (滷肉飯), but this is actually braised pork belly rice (焢肉飯). They include two small pieces of pork belly, fatty and flavorful, braised until tender. There's half a braised egg, cooked homestyle (e.g. until there's a green ring around the yolk), which is quite flavorful just by itself, being marinated and braised for hours. Some pickled veggies helps cut through some of the fat. The special part of this dish is of course the meat juices and braising liquid that soaks to the rice. It adds a bit of a sweet and soy element as well as fat to help make the rice even more tender, yet not mushy. (4/5) The food I ate tasted pretty good, and the menu is interesting enough to revisit. Seems like Gourmet Noodle Bowl is another win on the Food Walk front! Note: They also offered a Food Walk $6 "Shin Ramen Bowl" special that I didn't get. Based on the name, is it just instant ramen?

After trying hot pot together for the first time last month, my boyfriend was super excited to take…read moreme to this hot pot place he found online and I was really excited to go with him. When we got in, I loved the clean and open space. There was no place to sit and wait, and the waitlist was digital, but we didn't end up having to wait for more than five minutes. The menu was super confusing to me, I don't know if maybe I just don't go for hot pot enough so I wasn't familiar with it enough to knew what was going on, but it took me a while to figure out how to order, I wish our server had asked us if we needed help. My boyfriend ordered the beef hot pot while i got the seafood and tofu. Mine tasted pretty good, I got it at medium spice and it wasn't very spicy for my pallet, but I enjoyed all the different foods that came in my dish. My boyfriend ordered his hot pot at hot spice and he loved the flavour, it was pretty spicy for me, but I enjoyed stealing some of his broth for my food. We both ordered boba to go with our food and I loved my milk tea. I ordered mine without tapioca and should have ordered it with more syrup because it definitely didn't taste as sweet as I wanted. I thought the personal hot pot concept was cool, but what I love about hot pot is that it's a communal experience which makes it a fun date. It was also weird that no one ever returned to our table to check on us. Because it was our first time there, we had no idea we were supposed to go to the counter to pay and it was confusing to have to try to figure that out.

We used to go here pretty regularly during the winter to warm up, but stopped for a few years. We…read morerecently went back, and quality has really dropped. * They don't ask for sugar level for bubble tea (I always get zero sugar), and the boba is hard (stale, definitely not fresh). They also made it in ten seconds, which tells me the milk tea is pre-made. * Service is hard to flag down, even when the restaurant doesn't have a lot of customers. * They never refill the broth, unlike other hotpot places. * Their vermicelli comes in a plastic bag, which is unnecessary and damaging to the environment. They also give you a low portion. * The broth is okay - it has flavor but not as amazing or spicy as before (I always get the Taiwanese spicy). The pig blood curd was also overcooked. * The sauce containers at the table are barely filled and are lacking the punch it used to have. All in all, pretty mediocre food for a place that used to be pretty decent.

Taste very good. Service is great. Environment is good too. Jess is very nice and helpful. The…read morerestaurant had a great atmosphere, the hot pot was delicious, and the waiter was very friendly and attentive. I'll definitely come again!

The service is always fantastic and great good. They do run promotions and happy hours so good…read morevalue for money

Penny had amazing service! Will come back again!! Very fast paced and got our food quick and food…read morewas wonderful.

I love bellwether. Delicious brisket. Nice staff. Vibe is lowkey giving bougie. Will be back.read more

We first went to the 老四川 in Seattle before our son was born. He'll be 36 years old this year, so…read moreyes he's a horse. I had lived in Beijing for 8 years and spoke pretty good mandarin for a 老外 so I ordered for us. Our waitress, one of two sisters who ran the place, I call her 陈大姐, said to me, Wow, you can speak Chinese! You must be very smart! I replied, You must be very smart. You can speak Chinese! At first she didn't know what to say but then laughed. It was the beginning of a lovely relationship. However since the pandemic we had not been back. Perhaps yesterday we were in the spirit of celebrating the Spring Festival. We decided to go there. What a great choice! 陈大姐 by coincidence was working. She retired years ago. (Her sister opened another 老四川 in Bellevue but unfortunately has since passed away.) 陈大姐 immediately recognized us. She remembered our son and other family members who often joined us there. It felt like old friends getting together again. Unfortunately my wife and I were the only ones in our little group. It's better to have more people so you can order more dishes. We only got 4 dishes, 宫保鱼， 椒盐虾，干煸四季豆， 夫妻肺片。Gong bao fish, salt and pepper shrimp, green beans and "husband and wife lung strips"! Actually that's a beef and tendon appetizer. Everything tasted just like we remember. Well, the fish dish was wetter than before but still tasty. Flavors are authentic but a little toned down from the Sichuan food in China and in a few other local restaurants. The main flavor of Sichuan cuisine is 麻辣 or spicy numbing. It's not really so hot as it is numbing. Your lips tingle. Most people who didn't grow up with this aren't big fans. Their 水煮肉 or 水煮鱼 comes pretty close though. Leftovers with either of those and leftover rice plus whatever make the very best 烩饭, huifan! Just boil it. We arrived there early and there were just a few other customers eating. And they left soon after. So it was just us and a steady stream of delivery drivers coming in to pick up food to go. I would consider ordering on line like that but this food doesn't hold up well over the distance to our home. Although the interior had been remodeled since our last visit, the decor is fairly stark. Combine that with the location in a strip mall on the corner of Jackson and 12th, which has seen better days, ambience isn't a real draw. However if what you want is a very good meal at reasonable prices then you should go to the Sichuanese Cuisine restaurant in Seattle. (I prefer it to the one in Bellevue.) Too bad you probably won't get to meet 陈大姐。Now that we know the food is still great, we will return.

This was a good order sojourn experience might be better. Ordered pa cake, dumplings, and walnut…read moreshrimp. First they are fast and the walnet shrimp was devoured it was so good. They prices are priced well. Remember everything is al a cart, you pay extra for rice. That's fine. The pancake was inedible it had no flavor and was very (very) dry. The dumplings needed soy which I didnt get (bad on me) and the dipping sauce all heat no chili flavor. I have had better frozen dumplings which made me sad. Will try one of the other amazing Chinese places in downtown Seattle.