Happy Lamb in Cambridge, Massachusetts would get a 3.5 if i could give it. The service was quick and efficient and our server was kind, but seemed very overworked and a bit stressed, maybe they need more people working on a shift. The hotpot was okay! the curry broth gets a 10/10 for me, but the Spicy Broth gets a 4.5/5 for me. there's something about it that didn't settle in my tastebuds well, i'd personally go without, but my other two friends I went with loved it, so take that as you will. The selection of additives, corn, greens, sauces, fish, noodles, etc was clean and well stocked. the fish fresh, as well as all of the meat we ordered for our hotpot. I personally recommend their Mango milk slush if available during your visit, it was very good, 10/10 There was plenty of seating, and the food smelled pretty amazing walking in. Pretty view to the streets outside, well lit, but the women's bathroom was a bit creepy, dark, and not well maintained at the time of my visit . 2/3 stalls were fully out of order and 1/2 sinks was clogged with some sort of liquid? I can say the ONE open stall was clean at least. read more

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Delicious AYCE hot pot spot in Central square with delicious food and attentive service. We previously had a bad waitlist experience, but have since come back two times without incident. As a party of four, we were seated promptly in a booth and asked for our choice of broth and menu (classic for their standard variety of meats, premium for even more options). We chose the classic menu and the half-and-half broth to have one side with spicy and one side without. Their non-meat ingredients bar was clean and had a great variety of veggies, tofu, and seafood items, and was kept well stocked while we were there. Servers were attentive to refilling our broths and taking additional orders for meat. All four of us left with full bellies and a great experience. What a great dinner/activity to assemble and cook your own plates of delicious food while chatting with your friends or family. Will definitely be back ever again! read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - half and half broth - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Good quality meat, good service, and a good time! This is a decent hot pot place near the Boston area. I recommend going during their "Happy hour" times that is $19.99/pp as its much more worth it for that price. THE UNLIMITED PASSIONFRUIT GREEN TEA IS THE BEST PART! :) We tried all their meats on the menu and it's pretty decent quality, some of the chicken/pork with marinade is a little mushy in hot pot, but overall was good especially their sliced meats. The self serve vegetables/noodles/seafood was actually one of the best parts!! They have so many options- from bok choy to ramen noodles to shrimp to every fish cake ever, it was such a wide range of sides that is enough for practically anyone. They also have fresh rice in a rice cooker and some hot sides like spring rolls and these delicious red bean sesame balls. They're all fresh, and stored in the right temps. I loved having the unlimited soft drinks and passfruit green tea. It was such a great vibe inside and everyone was chatting away. Parking is easier along the side roads, don't waste your time on the main road. Definitely will be back or visiting one of their other locations as well. read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Tl;dr Go to spot for all you can eat hotpot. Meat quality is good and the broth is very flavorful. Been here 3 times now. One small downside is that parking in Cambridge can be difficult sometimes, but the food makes it worth the trip. They also often have cheaper deals, like a buy 3 get 1 free during the summer. I always get the split pot with spicy and normal for the best of both worlds. The soup is very flavorful and I find that I do not even need sauce with their broth. The meat quality is good and we always get multiple rounds of the fatty beef. Meat is the only item you have to order through the staff, but there is a decent selection of other all you can eat items that you can just grab yourself. I especially love their fresh noodles. Overall a solid choice for all you can eat. I will definitely be back. read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Enjoyed my experience at Happy Lamb Hot Pot. This style hotpot is very interactive as they bring you the meats and broth, but everything else you go up and grab from the ingredient bar. My boyfriend and I split the half and half broth, one was spicy and one wasn't. Then we got the all you can eat standard meat package--our favorite was the classic beef. After ordering this, we went up to get veggies, noodles, and seafood options. There is also a DIY sauce station where you can customize a sauce. The experience really depends on what you make of it, and after a few rounds and observing others, I got my footing and had a better idea of what to mix and make it tasty! They also have a few appetizers and desserts in addition to the classic hot pot. Overall it was a fun experience and I would come back here. Prices were pretty good too since you can eat as much as you want. Staff was also helpful and came around a lot to check on us. read more

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Quick service and a solid spot to get your hot pot fix. This is my second time at a Happy Lamb and I'm surprised at the selection of seafood and veggies that are at the self serve. I was here with a large group on a Saturday night and they were quite busy. The food selection does get a little messy but they are more of a no frills hot pot. read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Free on your birthday if you bring three people! If you're hoping for the best bang for your buck and fuss free hot pot, this is the place to go. You order the meat with the server but everything is set up for you to grab yourself. Don't expect the nicest aesthetic since it's AYCE but it's usually pretty clean. read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

My personal favorite hot pot experience in Boston in a convenient location. I've come multiple times throughout the year with friends and they offer an amazing all you can eat hot pot experience with good quality ingredients, plenty of protein and all the accompaniments & sauces you could desire and help yourself to throughout the meal. Finish off with their classic soft serve ice cream - nothing super fancy but hits the spot every time. read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Half and half broth with lamb, pork, and beef - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Mongolian Hot Pot! Went to the Allston location. Was seated right away. Service was there when you needed it. Great lunch for about $20 includes 1 pot of broth and many choices of meats, veggies, fish, noodles, etc. they also had a noodle and fried rice dish. Decent nibblies to pick on too... Free beverages. Good deal! Would have loved at least another broth, but can't complain too much for the price. read more

Our favorite happy lamb in the area! Casual AYCE hotpot perfect for hanging out with friends or family. Usually there is a line at night but you can reserve a spot in line online. Once you get seated the quickly will bring you the broth you chose and will come around to ask if you'd like to order more meat. Different sides and ingredients to add to the hot pot are available with choices like mussels, shrimp paste, tofu, udon, mushrooms. There is an also a sauce station though it doesn't have as many options as other hot pot places I have been too. I also like that in this location they have ice cream cups too! Can't wait to go back read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Hot pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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This is a solid, go-to hot pot place! My BF and I live nearby so we like coming here when we're craving hotpot and don't want to go over to Allston/Brighton. We usually go for the classic AYCE option with half-and-half original and spicy broths. Though the classic AYCE comes with three options of meat, our favorite is the classic, thinly sliced beef. Going forward, that's probably the only one we'd order because we're just not as much of a fan of the other ones. The broth is super flavorful and hot, and servers come by regularly to top it off. There's a good selection of veggies, noodles, tofu, and seafood you can add in! They also have some hot appetizers you can grab throughout your meal, like spring rolls and shumai. They also have complimentary iced tea and ice cream. The sauce bar is good but I do think could be a little more expansive! It does get more crowded in the winter, but if you go in the "off season" it's much easier to get in without a wait. Overall, a delicious hotpot option right in Central Square. read more

Amazing AYCE hot pot spot. The lunch special on Monday-Friday is amazing and not too crowded and the pineapple sake is really refreshing and delicious. Great service and super fast too. Will definitely be back. read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Never tried this location before, so we went. Needless to say, Happy Lamb locations always live up to their brand name. We got our usual best of both worlds broths and the usual cuts of meat. I would like to say though that the soup seems to boil slower here than other locations. The meat presentation however is insanely immaculate. Effort was definitely put into displaying the meat. One thing that is different here than other locations in terms of food choice, is that in the hot food area, they had braised pork and steamed red bean buns. I normally don't like red bean filling, but whatever brand they're using, it's really good. It would go so well with milk tea. The space of the restaurant is also a good size. Servers here seem to be more reserved, but that's fine to me. Love Happy Lamb! read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Top line summary: food was good but service was average, particularly the hostess. Went with my family on a very cold afternoon 10 minutes before happy hour lunch ended and the hostess was not very welcoming. We were eventually seated and then they intentionally waited until "two minutes after 5pm" to take our order and happy hour was no longer available. Not that big of deal, but very annoying. We also had to flag people down for help as they weren't coming by on their own. Thankfully the food was good and we had a decent meal after that. read more

Great food and great for a relaxing and fun night out with family and/or friends. My friends and I always have a good time at the Happy Lamb and always leave full! The lamb and beef are so good and are unlimited. The additions bar also is good and there is plenty of quail eggs, fish cakes, and greens to go around. Great time! read more

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Super yummy! It was a great AYCE experience! Would come back again + one of Boston's best hot pot places on a cold day read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - delicious hot pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

This is such a good location for cost effective hot pot in the Greater Boston area! Normally my go-to is Ibasaw in Malden, but when I want something a bit cheaper, Happy Lamb is a great option. Good quality, wide selection, decent service. I will also note that the Central Square location is much better than the Chinatown location for some reason. read more

I recently visited Happy Lamb and overall found it to be a comfortable and spacious environment, suitable for solo diners as well as large groups. I really appreciated that the layout never felt cramped, even when the restaurant was busy. I was initially skeptical about the buffet-style setup for the add-in ingredients, especially since multiple people need to move around and select items. However, during my visit, guests were generally respectful--no hovering over the food or being inconsiderate, which made the experience more pleasant. The process is straightforward: after being seated, you receive menus to choose your broth and meats. The staff sets up the hot pot at your table, starts the broth, and brings out the meats. From there, you can head to the buffet to choose vegetables, noodles, sauces, and other additions. Drinks can be self-served or ordered from the menu. I tried their coconut drink, which unfortunately was disappointing; there wasn't much coconut inside, and the aftertaste was oddly off. One challenge for me was the sauce station. Some sauces were labeled clearly while others weren't, making it difficult to build the flavor I wanted. I ended up experimenting, but never quite found a combination that enhanced my vegetarian broth. The mushroom broth I chose didn't really come together for me flavor-wise. Service-wise, staff came by periodically to refill the broth when it got low, which I appreciated. I did learn--only because my guest already knew--that there is a 90-minute dining limit. The restaurant didn't mention it directly; they simply brought out the bill and gave subtle cues when time was almost up, which felt a bit awkward. Overall, I'd give the experience a 3 out of 5. My guest, who enjoyed the lamb, chicken, and vegetables, was very satisfied. For me, the biggest miss was the difficulty in finding the right sauce and flavor profile for my broth. I'm glad I had the experience, but I'm not sure I'd return read more

AYCE hotpot including meat for a pretty good price! I recommend making a reservation beforehand if you're going on a weekend, there can be a long wait at the door. Servers are super friendly and attentive so you never have to worry about having enough time to order more! You choose your broth, order meats, and get a plate full of veggies from the bar. You can make your own dipping sauce, and the whole place is just a fun place to eat. They also have already cooked sides and desserts. Would definitely come again! read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Hotpot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

There is a reason it is called happy *lamb*, you must try it. The place was pretty packed, but had a great energy and the meat selection was all really good!! Everything that went in the pot came out great!! read more

i love hot pot! the all you can eat / buffet situation here is so great. the servers get you going really quickly. you need to ask for drinks, they will not ask you if you want drinks. i love how warm and cozy happy lamb is on a dreary day. read more

First time doing hot pot. Very helpful servers who explained how it works. Select one or two broths, which meats. These are brought to the hotplate on your table.. Go to a buffet area to select veggies , noodles, tofus, and other items to add to broth at your table. Amazing. All you can eat for basically 90 minutes. read more

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I actually don't really like hot pot that much, but this place really surprised me with its staff and value. I came on a Saturday evening and I have to say if you want to come on the weekend, you really should make a reservation or get in the online queue early. We got there around 7:15, scanned the QR code at the desk to get in the queue and there were 27 tables ahead of us. The wait ended up being about an hour and 15 minutes, but they did tell us it would be an hour or so, and the woman manning the front desk was extremely efficient at handling questions and dealing with impatient people waiting for tables. She was firm yet friendly and it was really impressive to see how she kept everything organized and structured when it could have easily been a really overwhelming experience. After our wait, we got seated and ordered from the all you can eat menu, which was around $31.99/person. "Best of both worlds" broth: We got this one that was half original marrow broth and half spicy marrow broth. I really can't handle spicy, so I mainly ate from the original broth which wasn't bad but didn't have a ton of taste. I did try the spicy marrow broth and it was much better - really flavorful and it really infused itself into the ingredients you put in there. With the original broth, I needed my dipping sauce to give the ingredients more flavor, but it was a nice alternative to have to the spicy version which I couldn't handle too much of. Sauce station: This is pretty standard - there wasn't a whole ton of extra options here. You could make your sauce with things like soy sauce, black vinegar, sesame oil, sesame paste, scallions, cilantro, sugar, salt, chili oil, garlic, hot peppers, and maybe one or two other pastes. It was definitely enough for someone who likes a simple sauce though - I ended up using the soy, vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, chili oil, and scallions. Drinks: This was unexpected. The quality of their drinks was really good - it felt like something you'd pay $5+ at a bubble tea place to get. They had a plum drink which was sweet and refreshing and then the star of the show was the lychee green tea which was amazing - I had three full cups. It wasn't too sweet but had a strong lychee taste with a green tea base - like I said, it tasted like something you'd pay for at a bubble tea place and the fact that it was included in the AYCE price with unlimited refills is one of the main reasons this gets a 5/5 stars for being over the top great. They also include sodas in the AYCE price too which is nice. Meat: Another BIG reason this gets 5/5 is that the meat is included in the AYCE price and it's unlimited. We got the natural prime-aged lamb, hand sliced beef short plate, and the marinated garlic beef. And then we got all 3 a SECOND TIME for no extra charge. A lot of other AYCE hot pot places give you free veggies, noodles, and fish balls, but you still have to buy the meat so this is an amazing deal to get all of the meat you want included. The lamb and beef slices were nice and thin with a good balance of meat and fat. They cooked really quickly and were really nice to eat with sauce or just by itself. The garlic beef was in bigger chunks but it was still really soft and flavorful. All around incredible selection of meats that were really tasty. Fridge: There were FOUR fridges of extra ingredients you could get. FOUR. And there was so much really good stuff that it was hard to not fill up on just the fridge stuff before the meat arrived. Some of the highlights were clams, shrimp, fish, calamari, shrimp paste, fake crab, tofu in all different forms, fish balls in all different forms (squid ink, stuffed, tofu, tons of other flavors too), luncheon meat, intestines, tendon, fake crab, lotus, all sorts of noodles, all sorts of mushrooms, all sorts of veggies, seaweed, sausages, and even mini cakes. There was so much stuff here it would still be a good value if there was no meat you could order on the side. Hot food: AND there was hot food. It wasn't the best, but I liked that it was there. There was rice, fried rice, braised pig trotters, sesame balls, some taro based sticky deep fried ball dessert, spring rolls, and some other stuff that there were signs for but I didn't actually try. All in all, this gets a 5/5 even though I don't particularly like hot pot that much. The variety here is god tier, and everything was good. The staff was also super attentive - they would pick up our empty meat plates almost right when we finished them and would take orders for new meat at the same time. The restaurant also closes at 9:30, but the staff made sure to tell us when last call for orders and fridge food was (and still they left it open for 15 minutes more after announcing last call) and then made sure to let us know we could stay until 10:30 to finish eating. On the way out, we also got an ice cream cup to go. There's definitely a wait if you show up with no reservation, but it's worth the wait - AMAZING place! read more

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We have been coming here for a long time. Always a great meal here, we are never disappointed.

Place was nice when I visited ...Everything was fresh & employees very helpful & courteous ..

Sad to write this, I have been coming here for years. We came at 8:30pm, unaware they closed at 9:30. By the time we were seated and got our pot, it was close to 9pm. Sever was not pleasant at all, and the entire dinner for the family of 5 felt rushed as they kept asking us to wrap up for last call. If the pincher bug in the cabbage and the mold on the zucchini wasn't enough, the place was a mess from the sauce bar and buffet area. I will not be returning. read more

hot pot was good, lots of different options and they also have kurobuta pork!! very good the pot was kinda shallow tho, so expect a bunch of splashback or mixing of broths it can be hard sometimes to reach the waiters/waitresses when they're busy, but once you get the order in, it's fast nice ambiance and environment, great interior read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - hot pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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DELICIOUS. The best hot pot spot I've ever had in Boston! The selections are so amazing, and the service is great.

Happy Lamb's birthday freebie where the birthday person is free only applies to parties of 4 or more. Learned that the hard way. The wait time is quite misleading as well. For a party of 3, we were quoted 30 minutes but there were 24 parties ahead of us. We ended up waiting 1 hour at least. The experience here was super fun and food was so solid. Marrow and tomato broths were rich. Shacha sauce was properly a shacha sauce with all the solids. I just wish they had peanut sauce! I liked that the tendons weren't old and freezer-tasting. They were definitely fresher than I'm used to at AYCE hotpot. I need to mention that the sauce bar needs a sneeze guard or some hygiene precaution of some sort - there were hairs in the large sago pot and sesame sauce. The coffee sheet cake was actually quite good with vanilla ice cream at the end. Service for meat refills was a little spotty, we needed to try hard for attention. read more

3.5/5 I've mentioned before, I'm not normally a soup person and so I generally prefer KBBQ to hot pot, but I've been to Happy Lamb a few times because my friend loves it, and I gotta say, I do enjoy myself. I try to avoid the soup because it fills me up too quickly and too watery, but the meats are great and so are the other fix ins (favorite being the rice cakes). I also LOVE their sides. I'm not sure what it is, but their fried rice and their soft drinks are incredible! This location is nothing to write home about in terms of the vibe, but see my Allston review for more details on ambiance. read more

Had to join a waitlist upon arrival to the restaurant on a wednesday night. The restaraunt was pretty packed and I felt that they were understaffed (service was not great). Waited about 30 minutes which didn't feel too bad. Got the Cambridge Birthday Deal of one free meal of AYCE hot pot. The tomato broth was not overpowering and was good with the meats and vegetables. Good selection of items (happy they had lotus and taro!). The spring rolls were delicious. Overall would come here again, especially if it's someone's birthday! read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Good selection of foods including lotus, taro, various meats - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

19.99$ for Happ hour, nice environment and pretty good food, check this out in Cambridge. read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - 20$ for Happ hour, good meal nice environment. Check this out in Cambridge. - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Updating this review since they've now switched to an AYCE concept. The base price is around $30 per person, but as mentioned in other reviews, you can come around your birthday to get a free meal! I like their AYCE style much better than their previous style. Before when you used to order every ingredient a-la-carte, the servers were constantly swamped with orders and things seemed quite slow. With AYCE the servers are super quick to clear any empty dishes, the meat orders come out quick, and they also regularly refill your broth. Although there is a 90 minute dining limit, they are extremely efficient about putting in new meat orders so you never have to wait. The veggies, fish balls, tofu, and other hot pot ingredients are in a refrigerated case near one end of the restaurant. This is not a great place if anybody has severe allergies or dietary restrictions because there are not very many tongs in each case (sometimes a shelf of ~4 items will share 2-3 tongs) so there is a high risk of cross-contamination. Some of the items were also mislabeled. The sauce bar is somewhat limited but has all the essentials like soy sauce, sesame paste, scallions, cilantro, chili oil, sesame oil, vinegar, etc. You can order an alcoholic beverage for an extra cost, or order a fountain drink/self-serve juice and passion fruit tea for free. They had a few hot items like rice, fried rice, egg rolls, and you tiao which were quite underwhelming. I found some of the meats/fish to be hit or miss. As other reviewers have mentioned, their shrimp paste is pretty good, but the shrimp, marinated fish, and squid had a strange texture. Most of their meats that I tried were pretty solid, although the spicy marinated beef ended up being pretty tough to chew and never got that tender even after boiling for a while. I could definitely see myself coming back! This is a good AYCE hot pot option for meat lovers since you are not charged extra for meat (unlike at Spring Shabu Shabu). I wouldn't recommend this place to vegetarians because there is only one vegetarian broth option and the vegetables/fish are not well-organized in the refrigerated cases. read more

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This location is pretty busy even with a reservation. I love that this place is all you can eat, I heard that some of the other Happy Lamb Hot Pot places aren't AYCE. It's not super spacious, but they do have 2-3 drinks included in the all you can eat price. The meat here is sliced thinner than usual, but it is unlimited. The sauce bar doesn't have a huge selection but has most of the necessities. read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cheap and rude owners, all they care is money and get you out as soon as they can to fill the sits again Not very fresh food.

This is one of the few AYCE Hot Pot options around the city and the only location within the chain to have it. The line can get busy depending on what time you go. The spicy broth is the one you should get! It has so much good flavor and I prefer it over the options at Spring Shabu (My Favorite). A big plus is that meat is included, they are sliced thin and I was a big fan of the spicy marinated beef. There's a decent number of options to choose from the cold section. I was surprised to see shrimp paste and the veggies and noodles are limited compared to Spring Shabu. The service is okay as it's mostly self-service. read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Wow! Can't believe I just found out Happy Lamb does AYCE lol I believe it's $27.99 Monday-Thursday. For $27.99 is not bad at all because the dishes included is pretty much your basic hotpot stuff. I always loved their broth so I told myself, for $27.99 including one of their good broths, it's so worth it! This location is super clean and the service is so much better than the Chinatown location. Must have are the shrimp paste! It's so good and flavorful. Can't believe its included in the AYCE lol Overall, I highly recommend going here. Not sure how it is on the weekends ($31.99) because I came around 530pm on a Wednesday night, got seated right away! read more

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great all-you-can-eat system, though as a result, the staff weren't as attentive as they could have been.

It's easy one of the best buffet/AYCE in the Boston area. This location offers a sauce bar. read more

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - Menu - Hot Pot Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

It's a bit of a wait if you come here on the weekends, but they have an option to sign up for a table online. However, the wait times/parties in front of you can be deceptive since you don't have to actually be in the restaurant to sign up. I saw a party of 4 who came in after us (we were waiting on one person) get seated because no one else showed up, so you may have good luck if you're all at the restaurant. Service was great, very quick. Meats were fresh and well presented. The place is smaller compared to their Downtown Crossing location. They had lychee green tea here instead of peach green tea, which I liked a bit less--the lychee was very floral and artificial-tasting. I tried the fried rice here and actually really enjoyed it. They have a lot of sides that you can grab, although there was less variety in terms of sauces. Also you can get one free thing of ice cream at the end, but you'll have to be sure to ask the waitress! The ice cream is very standard and not that exciting but a nice way to end the meal haha. read more