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Happy Lamb Hot Pot

4.1 (596 reviews)
Closed 11:30 am - 10:00 pm

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Happy Lamb Hot Pot Photos

Business Info

HAPPY LAMB HOT POT ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Casual
Outdoor seating
Good for kids

Recommended Reviews - Happy Lamb Hot Pot

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Reviews With Photos

Jen L.

This place was awesome. You don't typically get good service at hot pot but the staff here was really nice and accommodating. When I inquired about lamb taking a long time, it turned out I ordered the lamb bone versus slices of lamb. The server said he would adjust the order and got me sliced lamb right away. All the meat was very good quality and sliced perfectly plus the portions were big. The veggies were fresh and a good amount as were the noodles. We had the spicy and regular broth split. They were flavorful, not too salty or too spicy. There were many choices for making your dipping sauces. They do not have an AYCE option which was fine. We just couldn't order as many things since there were only two of us to share the items. I'll be back for the great selection of meats and the quality.

Fried rice cakes with black sugar
Margaret L.

This is a terrific hot pot establishment. They redid the interior since I last visited and it has a lighter, more pleasant atmosphere now. We picked the original and tomato soup broths and got the tong ho, cabbage, enoki mushrooms, a few cuts of beef and lamb, bamboo shoots, taro, kabocha squash, frozen tofu, lam skewers, and more. All of the ingredients were fresh and the meat was great quality. Top marks for plating and garnishes as well - I'm used to just getting unadorned platters of rolled up meat, so this is another level. The lamb skewers were grilled perfectly and not gamey. The sauce station had a rotating tray of small desserts and fruits. We also ordered a few other desserts like the taro yam balls, the fried rice cake with black sugar, and the mochi ice cream. Enjoyed all of them but the taro yam balls were my favorite. Shout out to Ben and Wayne who provided stellar service to us, checking in frequently and making sure we were enjoying everything. We came here for someone's birthday and it was a wonderful experience. This place gets busy in the evenings so I recommend showing up earlier. On Castro you have a ton of Chinese cuisine options at your fingertips but I think you can't go wrong with this place.

Sichuan peppers in the soup
Sammie L.

Heard some good things about this place, but the food and experience were definitely not as what we had hoped. Service: We joined the waitlist on Yelp, and went to the hostess when it notified us check in with the host. She asked us to wait outside so we did, but nothing happened for 15 minutes. We checked again, and she gave a snippy response telling us we'd be called when our table was ready, and they were currently wiping down the table. Another 10 goes by, we ask if it was ready, and that's when she brought us to our table. We understood it was a busy Saturday night, but if you weren't ready for us, please don't notify us to check in. Food: Average hot pot, nothing too special in my opinion. We ordered four different meats and the "best of both worlds" soup. Is there suppose to be an insane amount of sichuan peppers in there?? We were surprised with how much peppers we pulled from the soup. A little extra that was also just not in our favor... There was a Christmas wreath decor on the wall held up by some tape. It fell onto our table while we were eating, and I think dealing with boiling hot soup, it's a hazard. Please make sure if you're putting up decor, that it's fully secured!!!

Herb pork marrow soup and golden hot and sour soup
Cathy Z.

Great service and food! It wasn't too busy on Thursday for lunch. I love the lunch deals too.

Polina L.

We drove almost an hour to Mountain View for hotpot, and after the first place didn't work out, we decided to try this one because of the prices and good reviews. We were seated right away, which was nice, even though the place seemed full. We started from the wrong: our waiter gave us the menus and disappeared. So as first-timers we had no idea how their system worked. We eventually figured out that the broth is chosen first, and all meats and ingredients are purchased separately: different from other hotpot place we've tried. No one explained that small cups from the bar are $3 each either, which I wish we knew ahead of time. Once we got past the confusion, everything was actually very good. The food was fresh and delicious, and we enjoyed the non-spicy side of the broth (the spicy one was too hot to eat, according to my husband). I tried soju for the first time (wanted the green grape flavor, but they only had citrus and green apple). It was interesting but not really my thing. We paid around $80 plus tip, which feels normal for hotpot. Overall, this place is good, but the lack of guidance for new guests affected the experience. If there were no other options, we'd come back, but since we've had smoother hotpot experiences near us, we'd probably stick with that next time. I'm giving it 4 stars mainly because of the initial confusion, not the food.

Linda D.

This place is crowded on Thursday night. At 6pm it was half full but 7 the place was packed! We ordered 2 diff broth, tomato and bone broth, both were delicious. Service was courteous and fast. Request for broth and water refill came timely. Presentation was awesome! Seafood was fresh, everything was pretty delicious. Didn't get to take closer and many pictures since I was seated on the inside booth. Will come again.

Anny O.

We came on a Friday night and it was pretty busy. First time trying happy lamb and although it was good, we thought it was overpriced. Soup broth is good but nothing special. Presentation for the meat was nice but very extra. The sauce and dessert station was disappointing! They charge per person and we didn't find out until after that they recommend not to use sauce! Also there was no dessert.. only a few pieces left and some fruit

Happy lamb, happy wife!
Lloyd T.

Happy lamb, happy man (& woman)! Nothing fancy, just damn good hot pot! The meat is fresh, the soups are tasty (we got the best of both worlds / spicy + mild), and the service super nice and efficient! We love coming here with our dogs and enjoying the outdoor seating!

Aurelia T.

I wish i could give full 5 stars. The food and flavor was amazing. I could confidently say that you can skip that 2$ Sauce bar because who actually AYCE the sauce bar (?). The fruits and the starters are really underwhelming and messy. But i'm sure that the broths are suppppper flavorful that you dont need any sauces ! My only complaint was since we came on a saturday, understanding that the place gets packed, we were fine with being seated at a makeshift table (the one along the entrance, without overhead vents); rather than waiting longer. This table was so small, there was barely any space for us on the table for anything except the hotpot. Our side dishes had to be on an extension and ofcourse it has the block the entrance. The whole dinning time i was nervous that someone will knock our food over. I may come back on a different day to hopefully have a better experience ! The broth is so good to goodbye

Spicy and bone
Bubu N.

Definitely up top on my hotpot list. The broths are so perfectly seasoned and flavorful. The quality and marbling of the meats *chefs kith* I liked the lamb belly and the angus beef. Definitely recommend the fish fillets, they are so fresh. Cooked beautifully. The service was great. Our friends were recently engaged and the server played "Marry You" by Bruno Mars for us. I appreciated him making the night special for us! The ambiance is loud and bright. It gets busy. This might be my new go to spot when craving some hotpot.

Menu
YJ L.

My favorite hot pot place is SeaPot, so keep that in mind when reading this review! I was looking for an a la carte hot pot place because I wanted to control my portions for this meal, and Happy Lamb was open later than other places (10 PM on a Thursday night). No wait, got seated right away in a booth. Smaller two person tables have a portable gas stove on the table, but the main tables all have an induction stovetop-type thing. Menu prices rose since the last Yelp menu picture that was posted 7 months ago--ribeye went from $18.99 to $21.99, but it's still not high enough to make me grumble and not order it. Portion size for ~$5 enoki mushrooms is actually quite large, it's like getting 2-2.5 grocery store packages of enoki mushrooms in one serving. Good to share. The spinach was also a decent amount (but it's spinach, so it amounts to a tiny size once it's cooked of course haha). I absolutely loved the fresh thick noodles and highly recommend to anyone who loves chewy carbs!! Not as thick or as flat as a Biang Biang noodle, but still had the right consistency. I think the cumin in the spicy broth killed me... it was a bit much and too overpowering for my nose. For the house original marrow broth, I think the cardamom destroyed me too... so I felt like I couldn't fully enjoy the hot pot soup. I do wish there was a soup base that didn't have the strong, pungent spices (I don't like tomato broth, but maybe veggie mushroom could have been ok? It's probably not as thick or rich, though). I also wish there were ingredient descriptions of the other broths, not just the house ones. Pay for the sauce bar, which has all your staple sauces and dips for $1.99/person. Overall, it was a good experience and for: - 2 people for sauce bar - fresh, thick noodles - spinach - ribeye - enoki mushrooms It amounted to ~$70.

Laura P.

Still one of my favorite hot pot places in the South Bay. The food portions and presentation is spot on. Your order from a paper menu and mark which items you want. The food comes out in no particular order, which is fine since you need to wait for the broth to heat up anyway. It definitely gets crowded during the colder months for dinner and there is often a wait after 6pm.

Nehir Ezgi K.

We hadn't visited for a long time, and the moment we walked in, we immediately noticed the updated décor. Everything looked much more organized and polished. Even the plating had changed. We really liked it. The presentation of the lamb shank in particular was very impressive -- the flavor and the coating on top were excellent. Our soup and the meats we ordered were absolutely delicious. Service was great as well; the hostess helped us get the table we wanted. It was a lovely evening. Thank you very much.

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12 days ago

I enjoy Happy Lamb very much. I had the lamb with the split pot of spicy and mild. service was excellent

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4 months ago

They charge you extra just to hit up the sauce bar LOL. Ripoff. Ill stick with Seapot

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Happy Lamb Hot Pot Reviews in Other Languages

Ask the Community - Happy Lamb Hot Pot

Hi! Do you offer single-person hot pot options? And is it possible to choose two different broths in one pot?

Hi Abby, yes.

Is it all u can eat?

No, it is a la carte.

Do they have msg in soup stock?

Just 1 cup worth

Do they take reservation for Friday dinner?

yes for 5 person

Is this place all you can eat (AYCE) like the Sacramento location? If so, is it all week and what are the prices?

I haven't seen an option for all you can eat. We paid $53 for 2 people. That included 5-6 sides. Menus can be viewed in yelp pictures of perhaps on their website. :-)

How long is the wait usually on weekends?

Can I come and order broth only for takeout?

I'm sure you can but they also sell their broth packets at Asian supermarkets

Do they still do AYCE on Tuesdays?

Yes!

Is there a closer loc upnorth?

There is one in SF

View All 18 Questions

Imperial Treasure

Imperial Treasure

3.9
(198 reviews)
4.2 mi
$$$
Speaks Mandarin
Kid friendly

Food and experience is closer to 4.5 but rounded down bc it's so expensive…read more Was curious to try this new restaurant specializing in Peking duck. Reservation was easy to make over the phone and you have to preorder duck ahead of time. We also got pan fried buns, bok choy, and mandarin fish. Dishes are expensive but good quality. I read mixed reviews about the duck but I thought it was great - crispy skin and relatively tender/juicy meat. It is the first time I've seen an extra charge for the duck pancake wrappers; it was not a pleasant surprise but at least they were thin and delicious. We opted to have a soup made from the leftover duck and that was delicious. Service was also pretty good; they even packaged the leftovers for us. Highly recommend for a special occasion or to impress friends but too much of a splurge to go to regularly.

We are huge fans of their sister location, Treasure in Belmont, so we were really excited to try…read moreout Imperial Treasure for dinner. Unfortunately, it just wasn't as good overall as the Belmont spot. The space itself is older, and the seating feels pretty tight and not as comfortable. As for the food, we ordered the Peking duck, which came with a lot of meat, but the duck itself didn't taste fresh at all. It had that distinct, stale "old meat" taste to it, and the texture was completely off and mushy rather than having a nice, fresh bite. The xiao long bao missed the mark too--the wrappers were too thick and the filling wasn't nearly as savory or delicious as what we're used to. Even the basic steamed rice tasted like a cheaper, lower-quality grain. For the other dishes, the stir-fried scallion lamb was way too salty, even though we specifically asked them to go light on the salt, and it lacked that deep umami flavor they get so right at the other location. On the bright side, the Treasure's signature beef honeycomb tripe was actually really good, though the spice level is definitely on the higher side so beware if you're sensitive to heat. For dessert, I finished with the sesame glutinous rice balls in sweet rice wine because it's one of my absolute favorites, but it fell short since there was barely any wine or osmanthus flavor. The service was also pretty lacking throughout the night. They didn't even bother to clear our dirty dinner plates off the tight table after we ordered our dessert, so everything was incredibly cramped. They also completely ignored the rest of our Peking duck instead of proactively asking what we wanted to do with the carcass bones and the remaining meat. We had to specifically flag them down ourselves to ask about it and explain what we wanted done with it, which should really be standard practice for a proper duck service. Compared to the sister restaurant, the execution, environment, and service here just aren't quite there yet.

Photos
Ambiance. That indoor gazebo looks pretty cool for group diners.                  @siecysdiary
Ambiance. That indoor gazebo looks pretty cool for group diners. @siecysdiary
Dry Pot Cauliflower  | @whaevaeats
Dry Pot Cauliflower | @whaevaeats
FRIED SHRIMPS WITH CORN IN SALTED EGGYOLK

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FRIED SHRIMPS WITH CORN IN SALTED EGGYOLK
China Wok

China Wok

3.7
(243 reviews)
2.0 mi
$$

What's this? Gigantic sign outside. Chinese restaurant. Next to a busy intersection…read more Stand-alone building, who knows how many decades old. Must check it out; looks dated, but still open so, food should be decent? C1 lunch plate consists of barbecue roast pork fried rice, chicken Chow mien and an egg roll with the sweet sour dipping sauce. All greasy but tasty. Stir fry beef with bitter melon in black bean sauce and white rice that my friend got was healthier and pretty good; she liked it. For dinner at China Wok, another pal and I enjoyed the almost scalding hot Westlake soup to start, and then dug into the house Chow mien, then fish fillet with snow peas. Noodles were great texture with excellent wok hay flava and contained shrimp, pork, chicken, onions and bean sprouts. I really enjoyed the delicate white fish sautéed in opaque sauce with snow peas, carrots and water chestnuts. I found everything very tasty. Service was brusque and adequate at lunch, slightly more welcoming at dinner. Oh and if you need to use the loo, don't expect much. There's a key you take outside.. yup, exit the building, and it's in the rear. Serviceable toilet and sink.. dim lighting makes everything appear dingy. Exactly like oldie gas stations and rest stops. Maybe this building was a fueling station for trucks before someone turned it into China Wok. Still, the Chinese American food here is legit; basic but tastes good. Value, amenities, atmosphere and service, though, could stand to improve. Upping a star just for being a place that has stuck around for some decades and is still standing.

My first time at China Wok in Mountain View…read more We were there around 5:30pm on a Friday. I asked my Yelp Elite friend to suggest a simple, family style Chinese restaurant. So she suggested China Wok. This place has an extensive menu of Americanized-Chinese food. We ordered: - Westlake Soup, $17.95 - Combo Chow Mein, $17.95 - Fish Filet w/ Snow Peas, $18.95 All the food was good and tasty. I thought the portion size for the Chow Mein was a bit small for the price. Service was abrupt and not super friendly. When it was time to pay, you have to step up to the cashier. Notes: - the mens room is outside, in the back of the building. It's not very tidy, and had graffiti on the walls. Key required. - table setting was a fork, napkin, and water. - lots of tables - Mexican food truck doing business in the back parking lot Overall, a fair experience. Would I return? Maybe

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Dining room
Dining room
Mixed vegetable fried rice
Mixed vegetable fried rice
Chicken Chow Mein

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Chicken Chow Mein
Dumpling Hours

Dumpling Hours

4.1
(220 reviews)
5.7 mi
$$

Came on a Sunday around 7pm and there was still a line but we were seated within 15 mins so not…read moreterrible. They use QR scanning on the table but the servers do come around to check if you have questions. We ended up seated outside, which wasn't bad since it was a bit warm that day. We ordered the regular soup dumplings (XLB), the pan fried ones, (SZB), the egg and Chive pancake, and the green onion noodles (recommended by the server). Both baos were excellent and we ended up ordering seconds of both of those. The chive pancakes were pretty good and the noodles were tasty as well but we felt that for the price, it wasn't worth it. We'll likely be back again but stick to the baos.

I have dined at the Walnut Creek Dumpling Hours and to be frank, I was impressed when I did so over…read morethe past several years. I dined at their downtown Palo Alto location a few months back and I wasn't as impressed after finishing my meal. I would say to be fair, my rating is 3.5 stars(not just 3), however Yelp still has not implemented half stars. Please do so Yelp. We ordered our usual XLB, ginger and scallion noodles, green onion pancake, and the pig ears. Everything I mentioned was solid but not spectacular. The interior is clean and modern. Spacing is nice between tables. Our waitress was polite and efficient.

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Inside Area
Inside Area
干烹鸡翅 Dry Fried Chicken Wings (6 pc - $15.95)
干烹鸡翅 Dry Fried Chicken Wings (6 pc - $15.95)
猪肉生煎包 Pan-fried Pork Bao aka SJB | 6 pc - $15.95

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猪肉生煎包 Pan-fried Pork Bao aka SJB | 6 pc - $15.95

Happy Lamb Hot Pot - mongolian - Updated July 2026

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