I have been waiting 15yrs for something like this magical unicorn of a restaurant to open up here in Hampton Roads! It's 2 amazing concepts in one restaurant, and I will ensure you the owner will probly have to expand or open up another one down the road with how popular this restaurant will become.
I used to Hot Pot at home with friends and man, I can tell you it's such a fun experience, and going out to this AYCE restaurant really just hits the spot and saves so much time and money than DIYing it myself!
The selection of items are endless and the Korean BBQ is perfect for my carnivor of a Husband while me personally, I am all about the hot pot!
The interior of the restaurant is beautiful and very elegant. The tables are huge and perfect for gatherings and for large groups of friends to sit around with all of the many dishes to grill or dip! I went with a friend who has never experienced either or, and she was IN LOVE! The music was set at the perfect level and station.
We ordered the triple hot pot, with original, pigbone, and beef butter broths. The beef butter one was fantastic! It was our favorite and my friend has a low tolerance for spicy. Gonna be honest, the original broth was just too basic after tasting the beef butter and pigbone! In fact, they refill your pot with the original broth throughout your meal once the broths get low.
We enjoyed making our dipping sauces at the dip bar (which has way too many little pots to count and endless creations can be made) and enjoyed some salad (my favorite was seaweed salad) before the main attraction. Once the pot arrived we had to wait for it to boil, and once the pot boiled, the items to dip and cook arrived shortly after.
My friend and I ordered many items to include shrimp (they're huge and head on and come in quantities of 3 per order), scallops, lamb, chicken, beef, bok choy, watercress, cabbage, dumplings (3 per order), fish balls, rice cakes, noodles, and so much more. The items come in very small amounts which imo is appreciated to prevent food wastage and to promote trying a larger selection of items. Plus, you can keep ordering more of what you love! The lamb was my favorite. All of the meats are cut and served super thin and cook in a few seconds and are very high quality!!!
We went on the 2nd day of opening and our waitress was a bit overwhelmed but I totally get it. If an order was accidentally forgotten, we asked her about it and it appeared pretty quickly! A few items were already out that we wanted to try (blood, brain, and a few beef options) but with the huge selection of other items, I didn't mind one bit and definitely didn't miss it. The owner or manager, stopped by a couple of times throughout our meal to ask us if we are enjoying ourselves, needed anything, have any questions, ect. It was really nice!
Lastly, we finished our meal with some fresh fruit from the salad bar, and it was just a perfect overall experience and a great satisfying night out. I will be a regular for sure, and looking to take up a second job for my Hot Pot addiction, I would seriously go every day if I could! In fact I am going again in two days but doing the "Both," option. The price is very reasonable at $24.99 for Hot Pot option only, $26.99 Korean BBQ only and $29.99 for the option to do Hot Pot and Korean BBQ!
If you haven't tried this place, then what are you waiting for, DOOOO IIIITTTTT! Just go and thank me later. It's a wonderful and unforgettable experience for yourself, kids, family, friends, enemies, idk, you get the point!
***Recommendation for the owner: My suggestion during this pandemic, is to maybe somehow set up To-Go meal package options for workers that are not allowed to go out to eat so families can enjoy Hot Pot and BBQ at home. Don't know how that would work, but if they can come up with a system, that would be amazing! read more