We were looking for a hot pot place to celebrate the Harvest Festival. There are about 5 locations on yelp, but we wound up coming here because our mom loves a buffet. Overall pleasantly surprised despite its 3.5 rating. Broth was good, good selection of veggies/meats. Their land animals were strong but their seafood wasn't the freshest. Also, don't order the quail eggs; we wonder if they are even real eggs as their yolks never cooked leading us to believe the eggs themselves may be synthetic. Broth- we chose the black chicken broth. Would highly recommend; it gets more delicious overtime as you cook your foods Their stellar meats are the beef family; definitely try the prime beef. Beef tongue is tough but get if you like. Their beef tendon was also good. I was disappointed in their seafood selection. Their clams, shrimp, etc just didn't feel fresh. Salmon also didn't taste that great. Vegetables; good and clean and good variety. My fav is always napa cooked to softness. If you are a hot pot fan, then you know that the winter melon, taro, pumpkin must soak for at least 20-30 mins to get ALL the flavor and softness that comes with that creamy texture. Super rewarding. You get some super sweet oranges slices at the end. Would come back here but avoid seafood and eggs. Stick to beef and veggies for the night, mop up with the taro/pumpkin combo. read more

I took my family here since they wanted to try hotpot and I'm so glad I did. It's an AYCE hotpot place and they have a diverse selection of meats, seafood & veggies cooked in choice of broth. We got the crab, shrimp, fish cakes, fish balls, chicken shrimp dumplings, lamb, watercress, bak choy, mushrooms, udon, flat rice noodles, and rice. Our server so kind and also made us feel welcome at the restaurant. The ambience is very homey and my family had a great meal! read more

You really can't beat this deal for unlimited meat, seafood, and veggies for a hot pot place. As a party of 4, we pigged out with 2 broths, 6 servings of meat, 4 kinds of seafood, a bunch of vegetables and noodles and I can't even remember the rest. If you're looking for something super spicy then the spicy broth is for you. Even with the crazy amount of food, the quality was pretty decent. The portions of the meats are nicely sized, too. The only thing I noticed that wasn't great was the imitation crab. It had an unusual texture and tasted more like a fish cake. The service isn't spectacular and sometimes you have to wave down a server, but they get the job done quickly. This is a great place to take hot pot beginners who want to try everything! read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Yummy! - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

My wife and I stumbled on this place during an October snowstorm. The windows were all fogged up and it seemed like the place to go, and boy was it! The Hotpot is always delicious, there are lots of options to put in your pot, and the veggies are always fresh. This is a great place to bring friends (maybe not a first date tho) and it's AYCE so you don't leave hungry. A word of warning: the mala broth is delicious, but it starts out spicy and keeps getting spicier as it boils so by the end of the meal it's basically lava. I mean it's worth it, but be forwarned. read more

This is a review to clarify that it really is not all you can eat in the sense that you get seconds and thirds, but rather you get to choose from an assortment of meats and vegetables. It was unclear if you could get two noodle dishes so I asked for two but only got one. I also asked for a tea and never got one but it was fine because they did not charge me for one. The issue was when they told me that the price for the buffer was 31.50 but then they charged us $4 for the bowl. I asked why we were getting charged for that when it was needed to make the food. Also, I pointed out that we couldn't cook it without the bowl. So admission should be 31.50 + $4 for the soup bowl. That wasn't communicated at the beginning, so it made me leave feeling deceived. There was an obvious language barrier so it did make communication difficult. Just something I would consider before going there is the price is at least 35.50 before tax. read more

Our first meal in Boston was at an AYCE hotpot on Thanksgiving night, which felt appropriate at the very least because of the large quantity of food we ingested. I'm not sure I like the decor. We were seated on the third floor, which was quiet, unlike the lower floors. There is a nautical theme on all four walls, which seems odd for a hotpot spot. Unlike NYC's hotpot spots, there is only one sauce and it was handed to us at the start. We got the spicy broth and the black chicken broth. The spicy broth is actually spicy, which is always appreciated. We ordered a variety of meats and fish: lamb, beef cuts (brisket, ribeye, etc.), salmon, imitation crab, mussels, scallops, along with garnish: watercress, tofu skin, fried tofu, etc. One major point: the meat portions are large, and within two orders we were utterly full. The service is fine; we're used to better at other hotpot places. But otherwise, at $23/pp (minus broth) it is an absolutely great deal. read more

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Have been coming here ever since I was young for family gatherings. Honestly, the best bang for your buck - no need to worry about getting a much larger bill than expected when it's a buffet! Granted, the meat nor the veggies aren't top tier quality but it's still pretty good! Tons of things to choose from to satisfy every person's food preferences. I always get their house special and their mala broth split within the pots. This has only happened most recently but the power for their hot plates kept turning on and off throughout the floor (2nd) - which was kind of inconvenient but it never lasted for more than 5-7 min. read more

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Literally I was way too impressed by this hotpot buffet! Coming from new york, I never thought hotpot buffet can include seafood, not to say quality unlimited seafood! The meat was also really good quality with a huge variety and the same goes for the veggies. Overall, it is definitely a place I will come back again and again and again. Oh right, technically it has a 90-min time limit but given we come on a not that busy Thursday evening, we ate for like well over two hours and the staffs are still really nice about it and even ask us whether we want to add more Also, a small tip, you can ask for two hotpot flavors with 2 more dollars and I think it is a really worth it, so definitely recommending it too! read more

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decent price great food nice service. would recommend if your in boston and looking for hot feel good food

My boyfriend and I were looking for an AYCE hot pot place so we tried Hot Pot Buffet since Chinatown didn't have many other AYCE options. The AYCE price was ~$35 per person. The interior of the restaurant was pretty dated and plain, but there was plenty of seating and the vibe was warm and welcoming. I loved their house dipping sauce (which was their only sauce option), but I can understand how others may find it limiting. Service was quick and we received our food minutes after we ordered. The beef was mediocre in quality, but they offered a wide selection of other items including seafood, dumplings, fish balls, veggies, and noodles. Our favorites were the Fuzhou fish balls, cuttlefish balls, beef tendon, fish cakes, and enoki mushrooms. I would definitely come back for the quick service, reasonable AYCE price, and good variety of hot pot menu items. read more

This was my first experience with hot pot, and luckily I was with a "regular" who knew what to do. Everything was delicious, and seemed fresh. We did have to flag down a server a few times for more food, but it was delivered quickly and the staff was polite. I'm excited to try it again. read more

This place is slowly becoming one of my favorite places for AYCE hot pot. I've never waited to be seated here and the service is super fast. I love how there's a good variety of seafood and there's no extra charge for it. There's no sauce bar, but the barbeque sauce that they do provide is pretty good. I always make sure to ask for a side of garlic and cilantro. I also like getting the mala soup as well as the house special for the broths. Can't wait til the next time I'm back! read more

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Easily one of the most underrated spots in Boston. I've been to many hotpot restaurants, and this establishment is hard to beat for the price!!! It is $27 without tax/tip for AYCE hotpot (yes - that's including meat) and the quality is really good as well. The staff is very friendly and they were always keeping an eye out for refills of water and for soup base refills. Reservations are not needed - this place is HUGE. They also have a AYCE BBQ section upstairs which I have tried on several locations. Their AYCE BBQ is good however, I always tend to like their hotpot a lot more. Definitely do not miss out - other hotpot restaurants are great as well but this place definitely has a mom/pop vibe and the food is so good. read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Mala (left) and chinese herbal (right) soup base - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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The food was okay. It wasn't as spicy as it used to be. The restaurant wasn't too noisy or crowded which is definitely a plus. The price did increase by about $2, so be mindful when you go. My table ordered soju and we were asked for our ID's which is definitely another plus. Overall, I'll keep my previous rating of 3/5 stars because their beverage options are expensive and you can't bring outside food. read more

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All you can meat??? Say less, Imma be there soon haha. Everyone knows that Hot Pot Buffet is the only hot pot place in Boston that's worth your every penny! I will be honest, because it's "all you can eat" hot pot place, the quality of the meat/seafood isn't the greatest but compared to the price that I am paying, I am still happy to go there multiple times :) They have a variety of meat, veggies, seafood, and rice/noodles to choose from but the servers never failed to deliver or miss any of my orders because they offer a paper that has all the ingredients that the customers can fill out with a pencil. (Speaking of servers, all of the servers I have encountered at Hot Pot Buffet were all hard-working and genuinely nice that I greatly appreciated their services!) However, please be aware that it takes quite a while for them to deliver your order so I recommend filling out the paper in the middle of your first round of hot pot so that you don't have to wait a long time for your second round. + Oh just a tip, if you want spam in your hot pot, don't go during lunchtime because spam is only offered during dinner time. + Also, I recommend their beef tongue! I took my friends who have never tried beef tongue before and they love Hot Pot Buffet's beef tongue now and can't stop talking about them! + Their broth is REALLY good! Especially their regular broth that might seem bland but isn't at all in real life! Definitely one of my favorite broth of all time!!!! + Their hot pot sauce is EPIC! THE BEST HOT POT SAUCE out there in the world. I would genuinely buy their hot pot sauce if they sold it separately because I always miss their sauce whenever I am at other hot pot places. I need to know their recipe!!!!! They also have KBBQ & hot pot buffet section as well, but I would recommend only taking advantage of the hot pot buffet section. The KBBQ they had didn't meet my expectations due to the quality of the meat but if you want to take advantage of "all you can eat KBBQ," please be my guest! Also, I would not recommend ordering boba from this place. It has a strong artificial scent/ taste that I wasn't able to handle. If you want boba, just drop by other boba places in Chinatown afterwards! Even though I have said some negative things about this place, I genuinely love Hot Pot Buffet and appreciate their existence in Boston. I will keep on visiting this place as long as I stay in Boston! read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Really good hot pot app you can eat it was good service they had lots of options the dumplings were really good

All you can eat hot pot... they give you a great amount of meat! That's awesome! Also the staff is super nice! Lost star ratings because the herb broth was pretty much flavorless. Seems like the only kind of broth you can order is 1-2 herb based soups and 4 spicy one. No medium. We also had to ask for a soup spoon, as they didn't bring one for us in the first place. Ordered 2 types of noodles, both were bland -- we need spices! The only sauce they give you is their house bbq sauce. Basically our whole meal was flavorless. Paid $60 for both people. Also my husbands tea has a bug in it. PROS: big pot of broth, lots of meat, super nice staff CONS: flavorless, lack of sauces, cricket/bug in hot tea, bland noodles read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Little bug in tea - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Worst buffet experience I've been to in Boston (coming from someone Chinese). They only offer one sauce that's very curated towards the traditional Chinese, it's something only my dad would eat. Meat doesn't come out in great quality, soup is not spicy enough, interior isn't the cleanest. Also, many reviews mention that they're cheap and a bang for your buck?? Don't see how this is possible because the bill came out to be the same as Happy Lamb... would much rather preferred to gone to Happy Lamb instead. read more

My friend and I were craving hot pot on this cold christmas day so we came here bc ayce is life. Service - slower than my turtle if i had one. our waiter just stared at the customers and took f o r e v e r to bring us our water and additional paper to order more stuff.. Food - its aiight.. its $26 for ayce hot pot. i like that you can choose two broths ( i wouldnt drink the broths - its quite oily ). the spicy broth (forgot what its called) was pretty good. we ordered tendons and there were 2, not 1, TWO eyelashes on the tendons. idk if they were eyelashes or arm hair but im definitely sure they came from a human. that disgusted me and i cant get that out of my head even as im writing this. i also ordered some other beef stuff.. meat quality isnt very fresh but its aiight.. Overall - probs wouldnt come back here again... id rather go to another hot pot place. i think i just cant get over the hair... read more

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I would have given this place 0 stars if I could. Read bullet # 4 first! Multiple reasons: 1) waiter's did not bring soup to refill my pot, instead they let the soup run super low where I couldn't even cook the food. I think they do this on purpose so you can't order more food or it slows down how fast you can reorder. Mind me, I've only ordered once since I've been there. This was for a party of two. And no I did not order like crazy at the beginning. 2) waiter's turning a blind eye even though I raised my hand a couple of times to get their attention. Again, acting like I wasn't there. This may seem harsh, but this is the truth. 3) I wasn't done eating and they hand me my check. I would say this is ok if no one in my party was eating, but I was constantly putting food in my mouth. Only been there for a good hour on a Friday night. Additionally, I know Fridays are usually packed for most restaurants which is why i went there a little past 6 PM. Not saying this is a good time to go, but it's the calm before a wave of people shows up. 4) BEWARE, they've charged me extra $$ on my credit card bill. I was lucky to have taken a picture of my receipt before I left because they DID NOT provide me with a receipt. The receipt was clearly and legibly written so there shouldn't have been confusion. They should be happy that I even tipped them farely given the lack of service. I do not have high expectations for those to criticize, I only ask that you serve me and that's all. To summarize, take a picture of your reciept or ask for one. read more

PROS: - Huge place so you never have to worry about too long of a wait. - I love how many different sauces they have. Their selection is not on the menu but definitely ask the waiter. Warning - their spicy sauce is REALLY spicy. - The food is fresh and there's a wide variety to select from for the price that you pay. - I like that the meat section is included in the price. Some places count it as a separate pay-per-plate thing. Usually comes out as ~$30 per person with everything included. - Huge place so this is my go-to whenever we have a big group or don't want to wait too long. CONS: - None that I can think of! Just wish the soup base had a little more of an herby kick to it. OVERVIEW: Would definitely come here again, just for the sauces alone. Fresh food and lots of different kinds to choose from. read more

The sauce is what makes this place. This hot pot you just can't beat! All you can eat for around $34-36 for lunch/dinner. I've been going here the past 7 years & I will continue I love it here. read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Nothing like it for the price. Incredible service and nice ambiance. Quality of food may not be top, top class but for the buck it's up there. read more

I wonder how to put 4 and 1/2 for the star ratings but here it goes! Boyfriend wants to grab some pho and it's already 12 midnight! I guess he wanted to get some soup so we ended up here. Wasn't that packed but we went upstairs. Our server was really nice and friendly. I know him too. I just don't know his name but he's familiar cause the take the train with him when I used to live in quincy. We got the half spicy and half regular broth this time cause my bf wants some spicy stuff but I'm not a fan so I got something and the server was very suggestive about it so it's pretty good. We had good food and some drinks and we head home after that. Would go back sometime with my friends. read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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It is a good place for all-you-can-eat hot pot. I have to say that this place is not the best if you have high standards for food quality. I would rate their food quality as mediocre. I went there on a Friday at 2pm with another friend for a late lunch. The service was quick. The meat and the vegetables was generally fine, but the seafood was below expectations. read more

I have been here countless times. It's one of the only places that has AYCE hot pot that includes meats. I'm a huge hot pot meat eater so the AYCE option is always worth it for me here than going somewhere else. Also I absolutely love the sauce they provide. I do like making my own dipping sauces, but something about the Hot Pot Buffet sauce is like crack. You can get two different types of broth in a split pot. They offer a lot of items to select from. From seafood, meats, veggies and noodles. Some of my favorite items to order are: Seafood - shrimp, scallops, mussels, crab Meat - Choice + Rib Eye Others - dumplings, fish balls Noodles - Udon + Vermicelli Veggies - bok choy, enoki, mushrooms The service is usually pretty quick, especially when a lot of people are working. But they're usually pretty good about refilling waters and the soup broth. Upstairs usually has faster service than downstairs but it always varies. Overall most of the workers are friendly and mind their business. On one occasion some bug did come out of the wall...luckily it was towards the end of our visit. But it was still pretty gross. This may not be the cleanest place, but hey it's China Town and I've seen much worse. read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Hot Pot - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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So hot pot buffet just recently added a seafood boil buffet. which you would probably never hear anywhere in the world. Honestly my expectations were incredibly low because their crappy "korean bbq" that was taken over by it. So was it good? Surprisingly..... not bad. You can switch up sauces every order you make. I prefer mala and cajun. lemon pepper was awfully bland. Mala was pretty spicy in their "spicy" level and has the standard mala flavors. Cajun was just okay. Definitely not the best ever but its good enough but not so spicy. I would probably pick the "on fire" option for that. You would think the people from hot pot buffet would notice what's popular right now and try to make their own version of that because it seems like a money pit. cut corners like.... idk, use hot dogs instead of sausages? but honestly, no, they didnt stoop this low. It actually seems legitimate and did their best efforts to make classic cajun seafood. As for the items itself, the quality is much better than i thought. The quality is probably the same, if not, better than the common seafood boil places people probably been to. Take a look at the menu, quite a selection. My favorite was the top clams, green mussels, shrimp and quail eggs. They also have other items that arent so common like beef tendon, tripe, pork skin and more. Service seems average, staff just doing their job. It looked like there's only 1 cook so we might of waited a bit longer in between orders but not awfully long. Only complaint is that ordering seasonal mussels, we came across tainted ones. but found maybe 3/10? Not worth a huge fuss because no one ever knows how seafood comes in when shipped. Is this the best seafood boil ever? not even close but it would definitely satisfy any seafood craving and as a buffet, this is more than worth it and best bang for your buck. read more

Personally for the price point it wasn't worth it. The broth felt bland. There's limited choice for sauces. The food was fresh enough I guess? My biggest pet peeve tho was that shrimps are NOT deveined. In 2021 it is $30 per person for dinner. read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Buffet - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Been coming here for years and today will most definitely be our last. I'm upset because it has always been our to go to hot pot spot. We have seen a mice run around, snail on our watercress, spider in our veggies, but that didn't stop us and we would still pay full price w/ tip. Until today, today was the last straw. What disappointed me was how RUDE they were after we saw a LIVE cockroach on our table, right next to our food. $15 discount w/ a "oh sorry for what happened". Nope, we left w/o paying and leaving any tip. It should of been free, but I had to threaten to call the police. Best of luck w/ your restaurant. I'm pretty sure you'll still get a lot of customer, but you just need to clean your business up. read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

If you're looking for cheap hotpot, this is the place to go. I've been here quite a few times for outings and celebrations and depending on the time you go, it can either be full or have a few people but I've rarely seen it empty. They seat you pretty quickly and take reservations for a large amount of people easily so if you're planning something, they're willing to accommodate. The service is pretty good no matter what size your party is and they take birthday cakes as well for surprises. The quality of the food is decent and it's a good price for what you're getting, honestly. For all you can eat, I'm always satisfied every time I go and whole the staff may appear indifferent at times, they get the job done and I end up happy and full at the end of each of my meals. read more

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This is an amazing place for hot pot. The unlimited supply of veggies and meats make it such a great deal. The five different broths as a base are delicious. The spicy broth gets hotter and hotter as it cooks. It is very good but becomes too hot for me after it cooks. The mild chicken broth was as good as I have had. The staff is very attentive to you needs and very friendly. For the price Hot Pot is highly recommended. read more

My date and I have not had hot pot buffet in over a year and were so happy to see that their fatty beef and menus were still such high quality. There's seafood amongst a sea of options haha, and the hard worker Wei refilled our soup at the best times, brought out the ingredients with neat presentation, and cleared away empty plates very promptly. Additionally, Wei provided the best recommendations for their Angus sirloin, soup bases and quail eggs. This place is our new go-to! read more

I always enjoy a good ol' hot pot buffet, but I would rather go somewhere else than here if I'm craving hot pot. The quality of the food was low and the price wasn't cheap either compared to other places with better quality. The soup provided by the hot place place was very bland. We were only given one type of sauce and the sauce tasted a bit weird. I really like spicy food so I asked if they had any other sauce that was spicier. They did have one, but the sauce tasted so bad, I had to use the original sauce. The one pro was the wide array of ingredients they offered for the buffet. The waiters were also nice. Overall, I would not come here again and I would recommend others to try out other hot pot places. read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

I've been here a few times! They disappointed me. The service was really bad. The things I wanted on menu didn't come out. Even though I order it a few times. We had to ask the waitress and waiter a few times for our items. But yet we did not get our items. Their excuses were that the kitchen only had two chef and it's rush hour! read more

Major tip when eating here is be cautious of your food!!! There was one time where my friends and I were here and we ordered the fish paste and my friend found a spider in it just right before she was about to bite into it. When we notified the workers they just used an empty clam shell we had to pick up the fish paste ball with the spider in it and left.... But other than that this was one of my all time favorite hot pot places in Boston that's ayce. I love that it's open late and their hot pot sauce is sooooo good. Pretty affordable and have a lot of choices to choose from. Some stuff are a hit or miss based on freshness especially the seafood. For seafood I usually only get the shrimp bc I've never had a problem before. The salmon is a hit or miss bc sometimes you can see that it's not that fresh and it comes out pretty dark in color. The meat is okay, I usually get the choice rib eye (fatty beef) and beef tongue back which is also a hit or miss bc sometimes you can get a super tender part or a super chewy part. Another reason I like this place is bc they offer the fried bean curd sheets which tastes so good when eaten with the meats. Other places offer the roll version which I'm not a fan of. Service is okay, easy to get their attention. They also offer a seafood boil option now with lots of choices but I'm not sure if I would try it since their seafood isn't always the freshest. read more

a staple in my life. i can always count on fat cow hotpot buffet. my favorite is house special broth and beef tongue. i have so many memories here. shout out to the waiters who work there, they are gassed. read more

Hot Pot Buffet - spicy mala and house special - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

It's an All You Can Eat Hot Pot, not a buffet with it. We got the house special broth. It's good and very refreshing broth. They gave us a side sauce and chili sauce. Good choice of meat and vegetables. We enjoyed it but wish it was a buffet style with other sides. read more

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All vegetables here No need to wash it .The employee said it fresh no need to wash .do you like to eat it without washing it? read more

Hot Pot Buffet - From from the farm no need to wash it. - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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TLDR: all you can eat hot pot for around $32 with tip. Nice little Chinatown place, we came on Monday evening and had no wait. Ordering was easy with a little slip of paper that you mark what you want. Service was attentive and good and easy for this non mandarin/Cantonese speaking party. Quality of the meats was ok, but honestly for all you can eat not surprising. Broths were excellent and I'd definitely come again. Wine, beer and sake are all available. read more

This review is for the new Korean BBQ on the 3rd floor. Awful, just truly awful and a waste of time and money. If you've ever been to the hot pot section you know that Hot Pot Buffet has the poorest quality of food across the many different hot pot places like Shabu Zen, Royal, etc.. It's $28 a person which is a rip off considering the hot pot side is $23 for the same exact food. The "Korean BBQ" is grilled hot pot. You get a check off sheet as usual, nothing new or innovative. The meat was thick and long, when you put it on the grill it took about 35% of the grill space. The marination on the scallops and flounder fillet was gross. Everything also severely lacked flavor. I felt like I was eating plastic the entire time. Service was w/e as my group was the only people there. If you think about having the Korean BBQ, please don't. Your taste buds will hate you after. Food wise, one the worst meals I've ever had. read more

Hot Pot Buffet - Chinese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts