Hipot Hot Pot - Toronto

Next on the list on cultural experiences is hot pot.  Hotpot is usually a meal had over the winter, because of how the meal will also heat up your home.  The meal consists of having a big bowl of boiling broth, and you get served big platters of raw meats, and veggies.  Everyone then takes the food, and cooks it themselves in the broth, and then you can eat it, or dip it in some of the sauces they have at the table.  The more stuff you cook, the more flavour the broth becomes. I think this meal was the hardest for the "boss" due to cooking raw foods in with other foods in the broth.  For me, this was all the norm as I have had this since I was little, so I guess my stomach is able to handle whatever comes at me from this meal.

This type of meal is now becoming more and more popular in Canada with the growing population of Asians.  This is my first time having it at a restaurant.  The location was a little hard to get to with all the construction out front, but the place was clean.  There were many tables, all ranging from a few very big round tables of 10-12 to the smaller tables of 4.  We showed up late, around 7pm, and we had to wait about 10 mins.  Very popular place.  The location was bustling and noisy, as everyone in the place was having a good time.  The space to move around was a little cramped as beyond the main tables, there were a lot of smaller side tables to help hold all the raw foods (The main table has your bowls, chopsticks and the big pot of broth).  Service wise, the place was overly busy for the number of staff.  They were all running around trying to serve everyone with little luck.  Once we did get our order in, there was a decent number of broth refills when we did get low.

The food was very fresh and had a decent selection.  The main staples were beef, chicken, beef and shrimp balls, whole shrimp, a variety of veggies, oysters, lamb and I think mom ordered 4 lobsters.  Everything was very tasty and I was very full by the end of the night.  The food you order is all you can eat, so you end up paying a flat price and you get a selection from that bracket.  There are higher brackets, and that opens up more selection of meats, and seafood.  The down side is that there were still things that were extra, such as eggs, and if you wanted to start with a more spicy or flavoured broth.

Overall, this is a lot easier and cheaper than doing hotpot yourself at home.  The time it takes to slice everything, the clean-up and selection is a very good choice.  This is not for everyone, as the boss was a little more uncomfortable with the idea, but she still tried everything!  The service left something to be desired (it seems to be a common theme on the trip), and as clean as everything was, the place was cramped.  I was still go back here if I had a craving for hot pot but not go back regularly.  Sadly I do not have much to compare it with, but home cooking.

When we left, 2 hours later, there was still people waiting at the door for seats.

PS:  Quick warning, the menu is only in chinese.

Review (out of 5):

Food: * * * 1/2

Value: * * *  

Atmosphere: * * 1/2

Service: **

Price Range: $25 - $35