The food here is pretty good! The skewered meats are large, the marinated beef is delicious on the…read moregrill, and there's a huge food selection. The setup for the cooked food section is a bit confusing, though, it looked so much like a staff-only area that we didn't touch it for the first 1.5 hours. I was just staring at it until a helpful staff member finally told me we could actually go in! Lol

Went here for the Midnight (10pm-1am) AYCE special on Monday. No real wait, but you can put your…read morename on a waitlist next to the entrance. Be advised that they only offer hotpot if you are dining alone; no grill option unless you want to pay full price ($45). You basically serve yourself from the cold fridges/hot food sections; 2 seperate sections (one near the entrance (hot food) and the cold food/sauce section. The food is the same for the grill/hotpot. Also be aware that you get your own beverage; either cold lemon water or sour plum drink. The sour plum drink is pretty basic; just salted plums drowned in water; you just get a hint of taste. The options in the hot food area was, hot and sour pork, steamed buns (2 types (1 meat/plain), fried rice, 5 salads, soup, fried section (deep fried chicken skin, spring rolls, sesame balls, fries, and battered fish), there were also 2 dessert options, a sweet water chestnut dessert and fresh fruit. Originally when I came there was watermelon, but then about an hour later when it ran out; they served orange slices. The cold food area had several meat/marinaded meat options, along with beef tripe and chicken gizzards, and several options for noodles and veggies. Like I said before, the meats/veggies/noodles are interchangeable; it's both used for hotpot and the grill. Service is completely self serve, but they are attentive in taking away your extra plates/cups. Be also advised that you pay by cash or debit, there is a extra charge for the credit card option. Parking was easy to find. You can either park in the lot, that has a 2 hour time limit or on the street which doesn't have any time limit.

Chinese DIY Hot pot battling it out in an area dominated by Korean restaurants…read more Small plaza parking available - watch out though as some of the spots are limited to 30 minutes / pretty transit friendly as location is a short walk from Lougheed. Place was very clean and color scheme was a lot like "Fish with You" (fish pot restaurant at crystal mall ). Service was very quick - got a table on a weekend afternoon instantly. They do have a minimal order weight of 1LB/19.99 / so this might be the reason why some stated this place is expensive, and it could be if you're a small eater seeking the $10-15 pots. In terms of selection - I don't think they have that large of a selection compared to say Big Way - I felt like there was less of everything. The Fried Egg here was a disaster and don't recommend / it was very dry. Broth selection was mid , tried the #1 spicy broth , apparently most popular among customers - the medium level spicy was alright - you can taste the gentle numbing of the peppercorns, however it still lacked intensity , maybe I should got max heat. They were having a happy hour - so the drink was on the house, no option of type of drink. It tasted pretty good. Did not get the ice cream at the end, believe they had basic Vanilla.

First time at YGF Malatang, a Chinese chain with over 6000 stores worldwide. Upon first glance,…read morethis outlet is very clean, with all their items kept very cold and their sauce bar was pristine. I liked their selection of items as they had more interesting options like cooked razor clams and buckwheat noodles. The staff were friendly and helpful in answering any questions we had about the spice levels or beverage options. I found their broths to be on the creamier side, and my husband got his malatang mild as per the staff's suggestion, but found it too mild for his liking. Just a note that there is a minimum of 1 lb at $19.99, which can be a deterrent for smaller appetites. I did end up packing my leftovers to go so I could have room for their complimentary ice cream, which was more of a froyo texture. I'd come back if I'm in the area, but it's not a must for me, maybe 3.5 stars?

Big Way has something for everyone. Inside, the space is a little small. The area between grabbing…read moreyour items to the tables is pretty tight so it can affect your meal if you want your space. Although there's usually a line, the turnover is relatively quick. After checking in, staff gives you a breakdown of what's next. You grab whatever you want and it's all by weight - they have various meats, veggies, and seafood options you can add. What I like is that there's a bigger selection than other malatang spots. After selecting what items you want, you then select the broth that you want your items cooked in - they can be in broth or done dry. I really liked the dry spicy tomato dry pot. It wasn't super spicy and full of flavor especially because it was a dry pot. At the end of the meal, there's also free ice cream cones!

Best lunch deal in town! Build-a-hot pot concept is really like a Chinese style bowl of ramen…read morecustomized to your taste and desire. With a generous portion of beef slices, bouncy fish balls, seafood and veggies, my bowl weighed in at $18. Free mango beverage and ice cream too. Service was excellent - they even gave my sister a piece of cake for her birthday!

We came here for the $22 lunch all you can eat special, which delivers amazing value! Unlike other…read moreplaces, the soup broth is included in the cost of lunch, as well as protein like beef and lamb. You also have access to lots of other things like veggies, pork, marinated beef, and fried buns/spring rolls. Pop is also included! Staff are quick and mostly leave you alone once youre at your table so you can enjoy your food in peace. Doesn't get too busy, but you might have to wait a few minutes to get a table at first. Honestly a great deal to go if you can during lunch!

Came here for the $22 per person lunch buffet deal with free soup and was not disappointed. I loved…read moreseeing the little robots that bring the food to the table. I usually go to the Burnaby Happy Lamb location for the dinner buffet at double the price, but honestly this one might have converted me to do lunches instead. The food selection is very good and you can get your own selection of veggies off of the trays on the side. The pork, chicken, and garlic beef are also available on the side. You have to order the beef and lamb separately with the wait staff. This is much better than trying to have the kitchen staff guess how much of each item you want and getting it wrong. The sauces are also available. There are alot of choices, including sesame paste, fermented tofu, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, salt, sugar, green onions, and coriander. The interior of the restaurant is not as nice as the Burnaby location and overall feels less luxurious. The bathrooms were kind of sketchy. The female one had three stalls, one with a broken lock, one that was totally out of order, and a third one that was somewhat functional but had no handle to open the door from the outside. There was also no paper towels.

The workers were very efficient and friendly, they were welcoming and seemed to genuinely enjoy…read moretheir job. The food was very worth it considering the price and the Mother's Day special was a great deal. Overall I would recommend this restaurant families and groups.

This was my favourite location for a long time. I was that regular where the boss lady would come…read morearound and say hi to and chat. Many times I'd swing by for a quick lunches too. Positives. Self serve station where everything is cold and very well maintained (no greasy tongs). Also variety of veggies is one of the reasons I keep returning. Their hot station varies, but I l love the sesame balls, occasional chicken wings, the chef does their version of a hot sauce rice roll which was allot better than many Korean places I've tried- I know- odd, but they do smash those heavy carb hot foods out of the parks at this location. Hesitant. I kinda not know what my final bill is, they ran a promo this summer and the base soup was included. Sometimes in the evening I get charged for base soup. I recently got charged for base soup, as I don't get offered the menu anymore as I just shout out "house soup" when I sit down. Also, the random few times I buy a few packaged of hot pot mixes, somehow I have tipped on top of that too. Like I need to be better at not doing that, or ask the staff to put that on the next transaction. Service. Mainly great. I love how sometimes the back chefs come out and see me and tell me they just put out hot food. Food is definitely a universal love language and I comprehend. ATM 3.5/5

Came for the late night (9-11pm) AYCE hot pot deal and it was a great experience! The food was…read morefantastic, and the ingredients all felt very fresh and prepared to order. The self service sauce and dessert bar adds to the premium experience as well. I wanted to try their advertised Wagyu beef and man was it fantastic! The meat melted in your mouth and wasn't overwhelming which extremely fatty cuts of Wagyu can be. By far the best AYCE hot pot meat item i've ever had, and I've been to many AYCE hot pot restaurants before. Shoutout to the shrimp paste and salmon sashimi as they also tasted fantastic. Ordering food was very simple; you order via a sheet on the paper to start but as the night went on, voicing the order to the very attentive waiter was all that was needed. Service at Dolar shop is always 10/10 and there was no exception during the AYCE service. Would 100% return for this late night AYCE deal as this was the best overall AYCE hot pot meal I've had.

Hands down the worst DolarShop experience I've ever had and I LOVE DolarShop. Came here today,…read moreSunday lunch with my sister, niece, and nephew with a 11:30am reservation made. It's great that they brought the DolarShop menu back, along with the Kids Eat Free deal. We were seated pretty quickly and it was nice that they had free toys for the kids. I told them we were celebrating a Birthday and they said they will only provide something if it's the actual day of my Birthday, which was a slight bummer. The Richmond location has never asked and being that my actual Birthday was 3 days away... oh well! We put in our order on the tablet pretty quickly but were told we can only the food for the Kids menu after we placed our adult food order on the tablet. We waited for awhile but no one came back to take the Kids food order so we had to ask again to place the kids food order once the adults food arrived. The adults food did not take long to arrive but for some reason our pork bone soup base never came with the extra chicken and intestine that it usually does. Again, another oh well! However, the food for the kids took RIDICULOUSLY long. It literally took 45 minutes and checking in on the order 3 times for ONE of TWO kids meal to arrive. The kids ended up eating the adults set meal and after 45 minutes my poor niece and nephew had to share one small plate of food. Another 2 follow ups and another 15 minutes later, the second kids plate of food FINALLY arrived. From ordering the Kids food until arrival, it took ONE WHOLE HOUR for my niece's food to arrive. I understand that they eat free but what's the point if they are going to starve the kids?!? My sister literally finished her entire lunch set, while sharing it with the kids, before my niece's food arrived. The restaurant appears to be understaffed though it was less than half full. The kitchen also appears to be understaffed - while walking by there seemed to be only 4 employees in there, including a dishwasher. No apologies at any stage and while the food quality was fine, there's also definitely less food compared to my recent lunch set at the Richmond location. Luckily, I had won a voucher for the meal but it was difficult to decide how much to tip, as the service was lacking and the kids food took so long. I believe in tipping though but today's tip was definitely not as generous as usual. This likely will be my last time to this DolarShop location and will be warning my friend's and family to stay away. Guess we'll only go to the Richmond location from now on, which is too bad.

The best hot pot ever Opens till after 12 midnight which is…read moreanother arvantage to the business. Most locations are really busy and line up is normal Sea foods to meat to veggies lots of selections.Its by weight then broth comes in so many choices my favorite so far are the collagen,miso and malatang. Ice cream is free I just dont know until when. Associates are mostly friendly and they are wearing uniforms. Cash,debit and credit are all ok. Good for groups,solo and kods friendly. Very very good and satisfying and i visited this gig multiple times now,my favorite and not so far where i live is the metrotown along kingsway branch. Street parking but I always comes after my work which is after 11 pm so no problem. Highly recommended Kudos to Bog Way Hot Pot The soup rocks my world

Came to this location quite awhile back just to grab some bubble tea drinks that I ordered on…read moreFantuan. Finally came here to actually try their hot pot this time. Came here on Valentine's Day. Around 4:15pm we clicked on the Join Waitlist button. We were #25 in line. Started driving to the restaurant, parked our car and waited inside the car until I got a text message saying that our table was nearly ready. It was about 5pm when we got our table so...about 45 minutes of waiting from position #25 on the waitlist. I ordered the Vegan Tomato Broth. It was actually quite bland. Was not impressed with it. I will order the Vegan Mushroom broth next time. Aside from the bland tomato broth, everything else about our meal was awesome. Oh, apparently they have a Happy Hour, which I didn't know about previously. We arrived just in time to be the very last people who got to enjoy Happy Hour. We were given some free drinks with our meals, and the choices were Jasmine Green Tea or White Chocolate. Between the 3 of us we had 2 Jasmine Green Teas and 1 White Chocolate. On top of that we also ordered a Brown Sugar Fresh Milk and a Sakura Strawberry Sparkling drink. I was told that there would be boba poppers in my Sakura Strawberry Sparkling drink but actually the topping was some kind of chewy pearl or jelly or something. Definitely not the juice filled poppers I was expecting, but it was still a yummy drink. For our free ice cream we were given Rose Vanilla ice cream. That was delicious. This was a special flavor that they were serving for one day only, on Valentine's Day. Glad we chose to come here on Valentine's Day!

Looks like competition is heating up around town, with this chain finally joining the dark side of…read moreAYCE goodness. About time. Parking is available in the parkade beneath the building, as well as on the side streets. The place is average sized, but it sure was packed. The waiting area here is way too small. People were crowding outside. Inside looks pretty dated (several restaurants have died in this space) and the renovations look pretty minimal. Staff are friendly but understaffed. Ordering was a bit annoying as they do it by tablet instead of order sheet, so my friends and I couldn't just fill out a form. We often had to wait a few minutes to find someone to top up water or soup or take our orders. The sauce station is pretty good, with the usual expected fixings. There is also a hot food station with chicken karaage which is nice. The food selection is very decent. Their claim to fame is their meat ring which surrounds the pot. See photos. This more for show, and is obviously a relic from their non AYCE days. Selection is a bit lighter than the competition, but there were no glaring omissions. They do have skewers for an additional cost. The staff didn't skimp out on any parts of our orders, which is also worth a special mention. Lastly, be sure to save some room for the ice cream. If I were to rank this place, I would put it slightly below Marble House (Crystal Mall) in terms of quality, but the pricing here is quite a bit better. I would gladly come back for more self destruction. Recommended.

Service 3/5 Quality of Protein 4/5…read moreCondiment Bar/Snack Bar/Self Serve 2/5 Side street parking and backlot parkade available My friend is a VIP here so clearly it's one of his go to hot pots. It was my first time here, as I was on a recent hot pot spell. We came here for dinner and it was under $60 a person with drinks. I wasn't wowed with the broth or protein, it was just allot of protein. The snack bar was rather limited and the items were barely warm. Desserts at the bar was below average. The quality of the unlimited drinks was the highlight (non alcoholic). Not running back.