When Hot Spot first opened it definitely was 5 star quality. Having frequented several times over the years I've noticed the food and service has declined. Pros: Variety of selection Proteins and vegetables were fresh Waitstaff consistently nice Food brought out fast Great condiments and sauces bar! Cons: -The host was rude and disgusting! We were met with annoyance and asked "what do you need?" I responded "party of two", he didn't hear and asked again, I repeated but louder. Then he PICKED HIS EAR!! With his finger, right in front of us, Ewwww WTF! Thank goodness he wasn't a waitstaff. (This was on Sat 4/9/2016 at around 3:30pm). -Found a small bug in my veggies. Maybe they need to be washed better. -Clams did not open up despite being in hot pot for over 30mins. Probably wasn't fresh. -Several of the condiments were empty and needed to be refilled. read more

Hot Spot - Sample of some selections. - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Absolutely wonderful I will not lie. Went there about two weeks ago and it was so good, our server was so nice. Although I can't remember her name she was so nice and I'm definitely bringing all my friends here :) read more

I really like this place. ALL YOU CAN EAT. I love unlimited food :) You need to call ahead for reservations because it is packed on friday and saturday nights. The place is poppin. I've been here 3x and I loved it every time. Everyone gets their own mini pot, unless you sit at a big table then they have a bigger pot that you share. I like having my own pot, you get to pick your own broth too! I like the spicy one, it's like mildly spicy. I would take out the chili pepper though that is in the spicy broth because you might accidentally bite into it and that is just bad news bear. You can order what meat and hot pot sides you want. I would order a bunch of orders per meat because it is very small portions. I love love love the fatty brisket!!! I love the tripe, fishballs, noodes, shrimp, egg, clams. It's small portions so you can order something just to try it if you have like 2-3 people. You get to also make your own sauce!!! SO GOOD! I like the sauce station here. Everything is clean in here too. They have soju and beer here too if you want to pregame while eating before you head out on the weekends. The butter beer is no bueno just fyi. It's kind of far from DC (30-35 min) but I am having it. read more

I cannot sing enough praises of the Hottest of Spots. My friends and I used to come here religiously on Thursdays before I started working full time. Parking may be a struggle and the wait may be a little long at times, but trust me, it's totally worth it here. Hot Spot offers AYCE hot pot with a full bar. Customers have two options: family style or individual broths. Each individual broth comes with its own sterno flame that burns (almost) forever. I've done both but I personally prefer individual hot pots to avoid the trouble of losing and fishing for your food in the family style pots. Once you decide which style of service you want, you then mark on the menu sheets the type of broth, proteins, vegetables, carbs, and fixins you want brought to the table. The menu spans from lamb to scallops, udon noodles to a few different types of mushrooms (bookmark this place NOW if this excites you). Towards the back of the restaurant, you can find a sauce bar where you can mix and customize your own dipping sauces. My favorite sauce is the "You Can't Beat This" and then I omit or add a few ingredients here and there to fit my taste. Service here is great. All of the servers are very attentive but not overbearing. Broth refills are offered way before they're even needed, which is appreciated. Protips: call in ahead for a reservation if you have a party bigger than 3-4 people. Leave your jacket in the car to avoid smelling like an amalgam of broths. Take full advantage of the happy hour. When the weather is nice, opt to sit outside on the patio. Price per person (lunch or dinner) is about $22-23, not including drinks or tip. For all you can eat soup and seafood, I can't complain. read more

Yuuuummmm all you can eat hot pot!!! I like how you can do family style (share the broth pot with others, with the split in case you want to pick different broths) or individual pots! Options are a good variety of meats, veggies, seafoods, noodles and unlimited! Altho if u put u want 4 plates of something, they don't give it. Makes sense because they don't want food to be wasted! You pay for wasted food!) I like the shabu broth. And I reallly like how they have a make your own sauce station (extra cilantro please!) Place gets packed so make reservation if you have a big party (better to not go in big groups)! And expect to sit for a long time as well as smelling like food after wards! Service was good (we had a trainee learning so he did well at being attentive!) Look for groupon deals for this place! read more

Tom yum sauce was delicious. Wide selection of ingredients to choose from, but portions came out were limiting and not as much. Still a great place to enjoy hot pot. read more

This place was AWESOME! I came here for my farewell dinner, and was very happy with the selections of food here. I was MOST IMPRESSED with the CUSTOMER SERVICE here. On any typical night, they are super swamped, but the waiters and waitresses that served us were always smiling and quick to help us. I was very amazed at this, and will come back again because of that. This location they provide a lot of different types of meats, veggies, SEAFOOD, tofu, and broths. For the All-you-can-eat, its around $22. (Our group was able to use the GROUPON for a limited time, which made it all the more better.) They provide different types of drinks (friend ordered soju), and had a SAUCE BAR, with many different types of options. I would completely go here again. They can house parties up to 20 people (they have a large seating in the middle), and can seat many people on the sides. read more

Hot Spot - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Came here on Friday for a late night dinner and ordered the family style with the Kimchi and Spicy broth. The Kimchi broth was great, flavorful, and complimented the protein and vegetable selections nicely. The Spicy broth was unfortunately quite bad. I would say that the particular spices were far too pungent to enjoy the actual soup itself. I'm not sure what particular types of spices were used but it literally coated my mouth with an unsavory numbing sensation. I am sad to say I completely lost my appetite after eating a small portion of the spicy broth. Despite that, I did really enjoy the selection of spices from the spice bar as well as the great choices from the protein/vegetable menu. Furthermore, all of our servers were extremely friendly and efficient. I would come back to try a different combination of broths and to experiment with the spices. Oh, and if this is your first time take advantage of the free tasting of the different broths. I wish I had remembered to do this before ordering a huge vat of it! read more

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All you can eat for 24 bucks a person plus tip...yea, I think I found my new hot spot...*ba dun ch* I found this place with a Groupon and decided to give it a try. We came to this at around 6:45 and were a little surprised to not only see it packed, but it had a freaking 1 hour long wait! Thats always a good sign of a great restaurant, so we decided to sit at the bar where there was room. Basically, you order plates of raw food (as much as you want), pay a flat fee of 24 bucks, plus drinks and tip, and then cook your food in a pot of broth that you pick and there's a sauce bar. It's cheap, it's good, and the bar plays FX movies and the food comes out quick. What more could you ask for? I'm not going to stop coming for a very long time. Such a great place! read more

Hot Spot - So much food...at such little cost! - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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*3.5 Stars* After my second time here, the novelty of this place has kind of worn off for me. I'm still a fan and the service is excellent, but I realized that there's only so much boiled food I can eat. Eventually, my taste buds just crave texture and flavor that you can't always get from boiled meat and seafood. The scallops, ribeye, dumplings, and enoki mushrooms are my favorites, but I definitely can't eat them without the dipping sauces (I really like the house sesame) - they're bland on their own even after being cooked in the broth. Well... not the dumplings. Those little meat dumplings are delicious by themselves! I do love the unique drink menu here. The grapefruit beer is sooo refreshing, and I'm wondering if the watermelon and blueberry beer are as tasty. I wouldn't mind coming here just for happy hour one day. Despite my inner fat girl needing something salty and fried, I'd consider this place to be pretty solid. I'd say it's great for groups or for anyone who's never been to a hot pot restaurant as the experience is fun and interactive. I recommend setting aside an hour or two though - the food takes some time to cook! read more

Hot Spot - Delicious - tastes like Fresca soda and beer! - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

I came here with two of my close friends and it was a good dining experience. This was actually my first hot pot/shabu shabu experience. You come in and the server gives you a pencil and a checklist. You get to check a few meats/veggies and what type of broth you want and you give the card to the server. You get up and go to the sauce section and you can make your own dipping sauce with a variety of flavorings. There is a helpful guide on the wall on how to make favorite dipping sauces. I think you end up paying close to $30 plus tip. read more

I've been to a few hot pot places and this place had certainly "hit the spot." HOT SPOT has all the sides you can possibly think of---fishes, seafood, beef, chicken, veggies, tofus, noodles etc. Another bonus is that you can choose from four different broth flavors and get up to two and eat an unlimited amount of food. Hey, I'm a girl with an enormous appetite and I certainly tried every side on their menu and more. The most incredible thing about this hot pot joint is that it's ALL YOU CAN EAT. That's right guys, you don't have to pay for your sides. You just pay for yourself and just eat your heart out. I also had some warm sake with the hot pot---perfect combo for a cold November night. I just wish they had a better selection of sakes. Other than the food, service was on par, waiters kept the food flowing out as soon as we were out or ready to order. I had a great time. Definitely a great place to hang out with friends or even family =) read more

Hot Spot - Mmmm. - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Went here Friday night do it was crazy busy. My friends are regulars so they said it was worth the hour or so wait. We waited nearby (at bar) and they called us when a table was ready. We got a large hot pot which was half Tom Yum and half Shabu Shabu. The sauces were varied and you can either create your own or follow recipes on the board. I tried the house special and Suzy's sauce. They ended up being almost the same. We tried a lot, from thinly shaved chicken and beef brisket and marinated pork, to seafood and shrimp balls, scallops and and dumplings. We also got taro, puffed tofu (not as great as we thought) and udon noodles. Only thing is don't forget your items in the pot! This happened a few times and it was quite confusing. The food was very filling, didn't have to reorder much. We were seated behind a wall but near the door, which made it hard to find each other as we arrived seperately.... But the hot smoke and the cold outside kinda cancelled each other out. read more

Hot Spot - Items for the pot - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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I've been here 2 times already and have been really impressed with the service. The waiters and waitresses are really attentive and patient when explaining the whole process. 1. Select what type of pot you want: individual or group (split into two halves). I recommend individual because you can have your soup all to yourself instead of sharing a pot that gets crowded with three other people. The only downside of the individual pots are they take a little longer to heat up and do not get as hot. 2. Select the soup base. I would go with either herbal or spicy. The spicy is not even that spicy. I did not like the kimchi and shabu shabu as much because they were a bit blander. 3. Order the ingredients you want. I would go ahead and order one of everything unless you are sure you don't want anything. 4. They will continue to add more broth to your soup when the level gets too low and bring you more order sheets to continue to request ingredients. remember it's all-you-can-eat (AYCE). I like how the two owners are always there behind the bar. Show they care about the consistency of their business. When I brought my family, the older people did not like the loud music so please keep this in mind. read more

In my experience, when it comes to Chinese food, the grungier the place, the better the food. Which is why I was pretty wary of Hot Spot when I first walked in. This place is too cool for school. There's hipster paintings on the wall, modern furniture, indie electronic music blasting, the works. But the product at this place is pretty good, though I had a few minor complaints. My friend and I got family style: one side chicken broth, the other side spicy broth. The chicken broth was good but I don't think I would get the spicy broth again. The waitress even warned me about the peppercorns in the spicy broth, but I did not take heed. The problem is if you're not super intentional about filtering out the peppercorns when you're fishing out your food, you'll get it in your bowl. And biting into one of those will destroy the flavor of whatever else you just ate. As for the food, we ordered pretty much everything. The fatty brisket, prime ribeye beef, scallops, fish cakes, and king oyster mushrooms were my favorite. I would order a little bit of everything on your first round and then stick to what you like in subsequent rounds. (It took my friend and I four rounds before we were waving the white flag.) I would stay away from the claims/mussels, I think a couple of mine had sand in them. The rice noodle also wasn't what I was hoping for, they are the frozen kind and not the soft kind you normally see in Asia. Lastly, be very cautious with the sauces you pick. Since you'll be dipping all your food in the sauce, you have to make sure you find a combo that works for you. For me, most of the flavors were too strong and overpowered the food. Similar to when you order your food, for the sauces, try a little of everything before you commit. I know I nitpicked a lot but I do want to acknowledge that for the most part, it was a pleasant experience and I would go back. There aren't a lot of hot pot options in Northern Virginia and I'm glad this place goes a good job. read more

I love Hot Spot! Been here a few times and always had a good time. $25 dollars for unlimited food per person is a good deal. There's a 2 hours limit, and they strictly enforce that during weekends when it's busy. Be prepared to wait, it gets very busy during weekends. The last time we went, the wait was long, so we checked in and they ask for your cell phone number and will text you when a table is ready. We went a few doors down to enjoy a drink at the bar while waiting. While we were at the bar, got a text saying a table was ready, so we paid for our drinks and headed to the Hot Spot. When we got to our table, it was a family style pot but we had wanted individual pots, they told us the wait for individual pots would be a little longer, so when you check in make sure you tell them you want individual pots. I have done individual pots before and you get to pick your own broth so I would choose that over family style. This time we got family style for the 3 of us and that was fine too since we agreed on what type of broths we wanted. An order sheet is given to the table and you just mark what items you want. You can order as many times as you want, unlimited times during the 2 hour time frame. Once you get your ordered food items, you just start your cooking! The also have a sauce bar which is pretty awesome. You can mix and match any sauce to your liking. This time I went was on a Saturday night and it was busy, our server came to inform us about our 2 hour time so paid and left. We were having great conversations over food that we didn't even realize that it had been 2 hours. This is great place on a cold, rainy day! read more

Hot Spot - Family style hot pot! - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

3 stars but mainly for service. The food is still good and the all-you-can-eat is absolutely a great catch for the hungry! The perfect place to bring your appetite on the cold days ahead of us. Food rating, I will still leave at a 4. Now onto service: my bf and I came at about 5:45PM just before the rush of people came in. We were seated and our server Robert came by to take our drink orders and food order. We were missing a pair of chopsticks, I didn't see anyone walking around so I had to get up and ask for a pair. A gentleman had gloves on and was working on the soda dispenser and tried to ask another person for help. I understood he had gloves on and didn't want to touch the utensils. however the person that he tried to get to get me chopsticks, just stood there, with a drink in his hands, laughing and couldn't figure out how to pick up a pair of chopsticks. the guy with he gloves was telling him to use a clean napkin to pick up chopsticks to hand to me. It wasn't until someone else came out and was told I needed chopsticks did I get them. Our assortment of meat and veggies came out, and to my surprise, no tongs came out with them. I was fine picking veggies up with the chopsticks, but for raw meat? No, thanks. Had to track down our server again. And I ordered a diet coke, and received a sprite. Normally, after placing a food order, we get another order sheet left on the table for when we are ready to order more, I had to find the guy again to get me a menu. After we were done eating, we sat for about 10 minutes until we found someone to bring us the check. We don't always have below average service, so maybe it was just a fluke night. We will be back for sure and Im hoping it won't be the same service. read more

This restaurant is jam packed. It's usually about a 30-45 min wait during dinner time but it's well worth it for the experience and music that gets played at the restaurant. Let me go into further detail about the music played. The Hot Spot waiters/waitresses know how to jam because they have the most recent trap mix or edm song on their playlist. It's the perfect, hype ambiance that I'm going for when I dip meat and vegetables into a hot pot and wait for it to cook. Hot Spot is all you can eat. It'll run you back around $30 bucks for the meal including tip but everything here is delicious. You can either sit at the bar, which is usually a shorter wait and you get big screen TV's in front of you to watch sports or you can wait for a little longer for a table for your party. If you're sitting at the bar you get your own little pot and hot plate to cook everything in so no one is dipping in your business. But the fun part of hot pot is sharing so that's basically taking all the fun away. Make sure to get the beef brisket, the skinny white mushrooms, and shrimp. Those were my favorite from the list of things that were offered. But I ended up ordering almost 1 of everything from the menu anyway because I came in with a big appetite. The sauces are make your own. So you can create your own little frankenstein sauce to dip in. I keep mine real simple; peanut sauce, hot sauce, and green onions. I don't want to mask the taste of the meal and broth. It's a very pleasant experience and a fun vibe to be at the restaurant. It's not a stuffy classy sit down restaurant so you can feel free to walk in with t-shirt and sweatpants. Actually it's better to walk in that way. I would go here again and again and again. read more

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This is a long overdue review as I only got my Yelp password reset in August. Dinner at Hotspot was a great choice on a chilly Spring evening in April. The place was packed as they offer an a la carte buffet for USD29.99 per adult. Though most of the ingredients were frozen instead of chilled, they were of a fairly decent quality and the Herbal Broth was flavourful. Packed with families, college students & working adults, this place seems to appeal to diners across various market segments. Open for lunch & dinner. PS: If you do visit Singapore, check out Hai Di Lao Huo Guo 海底捞火锅 or Beauty in A Pot or Imperial Treasure Steamboat at Ion Orchard. read more

Hot Spot - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Coming from a very hotpot loving family, I was excited to see what Virginia has to offer! I've ate at many hotpot spots near home in CA and also tried local spots in Taiwan and Shanghai and I admit that I was very impressed with Hot Spot! From the do it yourself sauce bat with a nice variety of goodies, to the tasty broths, to the abundant array of veggies, meats and seafood. The price of $22.90 really is worth it since it is all you can eat. *Broth: Half spicy half herbal- both delicious in their own way. The spicy looks intimidating with that red slick across the top and the floating chili peppers, but its great for cooking your food in if you want a good flavor. I intentionally didn't add more chili to my sauce but the broth really didn't make the meat/seafood that spicy so I ended up added more chili to my sauce. However, be careful if you want to drink the broth or when eating veggies that really soak use that flavor because the spice comes out more! My mother in law got the herbal broth and she absolutely loved it! I think she ended up drinking about 4 bowls of the soup! It's flavored with chicken broth and ginger. * Sauce bar: Fun fun fun! For those who hotpot at home, this is as close to that home feeling where you can concoct your own magical sauce. They had all the essentials from the mandatory chinese BBQ sauce to sesame paste, cilantro, different vinegars, etc... * Yummies to cook: Meats: a good variety of beef (and beef tongue), chicken, pork, lamb etc... Never had marinated meat in my hotpot but it was absolutely delicious!! The marinated flavor maintains in the meat even after boiling in the broth, and the meat tastes even more tender! Try it! Veggies: lots to choose from- tofu, Napa, many different mushrooms, spinach, watercress, cabbage, etc... Seafood: I was pretty impressed with the seafood selection- 2 types of fish (yum!), scallops, shrimp, mussels, clams, crawfish... The restaurant feels hip with nicely spaced out seating (with some communal tables/bar area), trendy decor, and a great overall energy. I'll definitely be back when I'm in town! read more

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Hot pot is the cure for all things chilly and brings together a bountiful of flavors and delicious soup bases. Be prepared to have your taste buds explode and experience something awesome. Bustling crowd (but not too rowdy). Check Possible hour wait at peak times. Check Edm/dance music blasting. Check Awesome AYCE hot pot selection big CHECK AYCE $22.99 per person. Don't let the price deter you from coming. The protein options, excellent service, and awesome overall food experience is definitely worth it. I got the Traditional Shabu Broth and my gf got the Kimchi broth both were pretty flavorful and was filled with more soup base when we needed it. We both had our own hot pot and we sample all of the proteins in both hot pots so it's definitively a food sharing experience. Meat options are plenty including: ribeye, brisket, Chicken pork, marinated house pork special, tripe and as for the seafood: Scallops, clams, JUMBO skrimps, Squid, and two types of fish: flounder/cod. There are also several starch options like noodles/rice/clear noodle and a vegetable selection that had more than 15 options. All of the protein we tried was very fresh and tasted great. The first round of ordering we did we mis judged the portion sizes because it was very little.. BUT that helps with limiting waste and also lets you try other options on the menu as well so we actually appreciated that. Our server, Lauren(?) was awesome! She was almost there when we needed her and thoroughly explained the menu to us and really knew her stuff. There is also a ridiculously awesome make your own sauce bar! I had trouble deciding on which sauces so luckily Lauren made a few house specials for us and also created some on her own that she thought we would like! We loved ALL the sauces she made; they were very tasty and ranged from salty/spicy to mild and sweet. There's a 2 hour limit here but I don't think most people stay that long.. We drove I think 30 minutes from where we were to try this place and it was very well worth it. read more

Lunch on a Saturday required no wait, and the ambiance was not too noisy at all! It's a "homey", yet somewhat trendy environment. I would say it reminds me of some Taiwanese cafes, even though it's technically Korean-owned. Noise level is decent and doesn't ring in your ears--you can eat your hotpot in relative peace. Remember--Saturday lunch hour. Having been to Taiwan and had shabu-shabu, I'd say this is a good place to try and have that kind of experience. You can chose, for no extra charge, a large pot split into two (and try 2 diff broths, or just split it with a friend), OR you can opt for your own little pot. You choose a broth and check off ingredients. And once your pot gets bubbling you can create your own sauce mixes at the very cool sauce bar in the back. And just keep reordering ingredients if you want, keep getting broth refills...until your stomach bulges. I liked it a lot and would want to go again. I've already had hotpot 2 times this week and I'm already dreaming about my next hotpot sauce concoction.... read more

For $23 for adults, all you can eat is hard to beat. I wouldn't recommend it for little kids, lot of hot surfaces and things get bit crazy in there. Service was amazing, the wait staff was responsive and helpful when picking your selection. I would highly recommend sticking to the meat and veggies to start. Add seafood last because it does change the broth quite a bit. But personally, I would stick with the red meat. I would also recommend doing a family style pot, they can split two different types of broth at the same time and makes cooking much easier. Consider adding some water about half way through once the broth gets a bit salty as it cooks down. read more

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This place is great. All you can eat delicious hot pot for 2 hours. The ingredients are great quality and they provide a wide selection of sauces...at least for me. Now for the downside. With many great food establishments there is usually a wait. You can make reservations for parties more than 6, but anything less be prepared to wait more than 1 hour if you want to go on a Friday or Saturday night. They will text you when your table is ready, and you can enjoy some pre-dinner desserts next door. Even with a wait this place is worth it. Use those delicious 2 hours folks! read more

All you can eat hot pot! I think it's a super idea... but something fell just a bit short. While I definitely enjoyed my meal and made sure to get all the bang I could for my buck, I give Hot Spot three stars because I don't feel a burning desire to go back again tomorrow. I might go back to take someone who hasn't been there before for the fun of it, but I won't be dreaming about it tonight. We got half tom yum and half herbal broth. I love tom yum, but this tom yum broth was lacking some punch. Maybe a strategic thing because it already seemed to be a waste of flavor as it is because in the end you end up doing your meats and veggies in the variety of dipping sauces from the sauce bar. The herbal broth was great - added subtle flavor while also nicely handling the extra flavors from the sauce. We tried prime rib and beef tongue and dumplings as well as multiple seafoods. We first finished our beef before transitioning to seafood I must say that I couldn't tell the difference between the beef meats. Nor did any one of the beef meats have a significant flavor or contribute to the broth. The dumplings though we're great! I don't know what may the filing was, but I know they were cute (mini-dumplings) and tasty. I recommend going straight to the seafood rather than wasting previous stomach space on beef. We had clams, scallops, shrimp, and squid. You could identify the seafood flavors much better than you could the beef, and they added a lovely richness to the broths. Veggie-wise, get as much as you can! But don't let them sit in the broth too long. The hot plate is in the whole time so your broth is at a constant simmer, potentially leading to melted bok choy if you wait too long. In the end, it was fun, exciting, and novel. But when I take a minute to think about the flavors, I couldn't say it changed my life. It is a great deal though, and something that would be expensive and a pain in the bum to replicate at home. read more

Hot Spot - Tom yum, herbal broth, prime rib, beef tongue, seafood, veggies, puffed tofu, clear noodles - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Had dinner with a coworker recently. Unclean table, hair in bowl, ice water cup dirty, slow service and the bathroom a mess. Also, pounding stomach ache the next day. Disappointment is an understatement. Never going to this place again. read more

Cheap all you can eat hot pot with so many choices of meats, carbs, and veggies. There's also about 20 different kind of sauces you can get, buffet style. I got the herbal soup broth and it was fantastic! I love the taro, rice cakes, crawfish, and clams! The beef was great, too! All of us left super stuffed! My only criticism was that my margarita tasted terrible- it felt very watered down. read more

Hot Spot - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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I would rate Hot Spot a solid 3.5 stars, but because Yelp has forced me to choose, I need to go down to 3. Here's why: I came as part of a party of 10 on Friday night around 9:00. We were seated immediately, which was great! We sat at the bar in the middle, which looks like fun, but I was barely seated all night. The stools are uncomfortable and slippery. Also, one of the chairs didn't stay up, which was funny, yet awkward, and there is not a bar on the island to rest your feet on. If there was a bar attached to the table, this would have made for a much more pleasant experience! The drinks were great. One of the drink specials was a watermelon soju, served in a watermelon. Quite tasty and $20. Get your selfie-sticks ready: this is the kind of thing selfies are made for. The food was good. As someone who is a big fan of dumplings, I got really excited when I saw photos of the menu online that listed a few different kinds of dumplings. I was so disappointed that there were no dumplings on the menus we were given! I shed a tear just now thinking about it. The menu selections were good, and the portions were perfect for us. I found it challenging to de-shell and de-vein the shrimp. If you prefer to remove these before eating, I would suggest you bring a knife or not order these. The sauce bar was excellent and has all the makings for a tasty experience. Ponzu sauce, sesame seeds, garlic, and green onions--these are a few of my favorite things! Overall, the food was good and I would come back, but I wouldn't sit at the bar or order shrimp without a knife. read more

The food is very good, menu has lots of variety! Servers have always been very friendly and accommodating. Will be my go to hotpot place until I find another spot that tops Hot Spot! read more

I always had hot pot at home with either my family or my boyfriend's family and never had it at a restaurant, but let me tell you, it was an amazing experience! We got the Tom Yum and Herbal broth and definitely took advantage of the unlimited choices of meats and seafood. Also, LOVED the sauce bar. 10/10 would recommend. read more

Hot Spot - tom yum / herbal broth - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

This is one of the hot pot places in NoVa that I frequently go to! They have two locations now (chantilly and fairfax) so Im glad to see that they are doing well ;) the environment is always lively and fun - the fact that it's AYCE (all you can eat) makes them ten times better. They are always pretty consistent with their broths and ingredients. I recommend spicing up the menu a bit and maybe offer a seasonal broth (i.e bone, chicken or tonkotsu broth) to make things more exciting. Same thing with the toppings - it would be great if they offered fried tofu fish cakes or consider having a special topping that isn't always on the menu. The sauce bar is plentiful and there is a satisfying amount of flavors and options to choose from. Expect a wait on the weekends. They usually always offer a groupon deal during the summer time. read more

This was just what the doctor ordered. :) I had a ball here. The atmosphere was buzzing and the soup bowls were in abundance. Sharing is caring and the soups were just delicious. I love that you have an option of ordering just about anything on the menu, throwing it into the pot and enjoying every sip of the soup. We had the Herbal broth and the Kim-chi broth. Definitely enjoyed the kim-chi broth a bit more. It's a spicy/tangy flavor, but very delicious. The herbal was just too plain and it wasn't as enjoyable. We had a variation of vegetables and meats that we threw into the soups and it all tasted wonderful. I'd like to recommend visiting the sauce bar if you'd like to have additional flavoring for your meat. I had the duck sauce with their spicy house sauce mix, it was sweet and spicy at the same time, but very enjoyable. I'd recommend this place for a winters evening or a cool fall evening. It certainly warms you up inside! read more

Hot Spot - Oh yeah!! - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

This is a welcome change from the usual restaurant routine. It was packed on a Wednesday evening, so I can only imagine that weekends bring long waits, and I understand why. They don't take reservations for parties smaller than 6, so bring your friends to avoid a wait. I had a fantastic experience here, from the food to the servers. Highly recommend. read more

Hot Spot - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

One of my favorite restaurants year round! Especially during the autumn/winter months. I'll brave the heat during the summer, but still enjoy it! In most Asian cultures there is some form of hot pot and HotSpot has done a good job incorporating a variety of flavors in a fun dining experience. As you sit, you'll be given a menu with choices of broth. Depending on what you prefer in serving style, you can choose individual pots (which give you the freedom of putting whatever you want into the broth) or sharing pots (choice of two broths in a bigger bowl that separates the choices of broth). Individual pots helps with those who have specific food allergies, or just preferences. The bigger pots create a more intimate dining experience at the table and you get two choices of broth. I've noticed from multiple dining experiences that the individual pots have better flavoring vs. the bigger, shared pots. (My favorite is "Spicy" and requesting it to be super spicy (because I enjoy food to its spiciest.), Kimchi is a close second, followed by Tom Yum. If you are torn, ask for samples of the broth. You can always switch it out for a small fee. You'll then be given choices of meat, veggies, carbs, and seafood. Most of the veggies are fresh and meats/seafood tend to be frozen, but for all you can eat - I think the quality is on par. My go to choices tend to be the fatty brisket, ribeye, tripe, clams, egg, potatoes, napa, watercress, udon, clear noodles, and varieties of mushrooms. I like letting the potatoes sit in the broth and absorb all the goodness and flavor while they get softer. You'll be given a new menu to order more when they take the one your already marked up. A sauce bar is also a highlight! You can either choose from their housemade sauces, or follow recipes that they have written on the wall, infront of all the ingredients. There's an option of making your own dipping sauces - which I thoroughly enjoy. They have HH's and a variety of drinks to choose from. Later in the evening and on the weekends, the music is turned up louder to bring trendy, hip vibes. Its harder to talk to your eating mates, but I'm busy eating to really mind. Service is usually fast and friendly. It can get spotty at times, but that usually comes with a busy venue. Reservations are for parties 6 or more. Try going during the week since its not as busy. The weekend can have waits up to an hour+. If you have some time to spare, put your name down and grab a drink at BonChon's bar next door. I want HotSpot as I write this review :( read more

3.5 stars for food, but overall experience was 4 stars. I was here yesterday on a Friday night with my friends and this place was super packed. Luckily, they had a table open up within 10minutes. The concept is pretty simple. Everyone gets an individual hotpot with your choice of broth. My favorite broth is tom yum which has a Thai flavor to it. There's a hint of spiciness to it which I like a lot. Once you have your broth, you get an order sheet that allows you to mark all the food items you want to cook in your broth. This is an all you can eat concept. They will give you another order sheet each time they take your order. My favorite is the scallop, rib eye, all the balls (shrimp, beef, fish) and enoki mushrooms. The sauce bar allows you to get creative and make your own sauces as well. Vibe here is more casual and laid back...caution - floors are pretty slippery. read more

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Except the wait before dinner rush or general wait that they have is insane. Broth was very clean and not greasy at all. Service was wonderful. We never had to chase down our server or ask to get more ingredients for our soups because they were on top of picking up the order slip and dropping off the orders in time for the next patch. I really like the individuals because you get to create "your own" pot. If you have a lot in common with the person/people you come with maybe you can get the family pot. But i typically recommend the individual pots. Mixed drinks came out good. Nothing significant about it, but it tasted fresh. I love their sauce bar. You get to create your own sauce along with squashed garlic, onions, and cut green onions. Really adds flavor to your soups or as dipping sauce to your "meat." read more

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Everything about hotspot is a win in my book! Sat down right away at 5:30, had amazing service (cute staff too!), and delicious food! I have never been to a place with individual pots. I loved this concept! And they had tom yum flavor which is unique! It's AYCE so I was shocked to find how many items there were and how freely we could order. Everything was amazing: from meat, clams, mussels, dumplings (so cute and little!), clear noodles, veggies. This might be one of my go to spots every time I come home to visit! read more

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This location has always been okay, very mediocre. I would recommend going to the Chantilly location where the employees are way more respectful and there is more space in Chantilly! Even though the Fairfax location is closer, I would make the drive to the Chantilly location just for the service. Employees here are young and really do not care. They will ignore you and do their very most to avoid helping you. I believe this happened to me because I had inconvenienced one of their employees while trying to figure out my party's situation and it all went down hill from there. We got seated and they made us sit around and would not take our order. It was a weekday evening and was not even busy. We ended up leaving because of this experience. Quite disappointing overall. read more

Had a good experience here. Would definitely recommend putting yourself on the Yelp waitlist before heading over especially on the weekends. They were out a few vegetables but overall good qualify read more

My girlfriend and I love hot pot. We were in the mood for something different than our usual place. The atmosphere at Hot Spot is awesome. The service is grand and prompt. The aesthetics makes it photo worthy. Our waitress was amazing as well as the manger. Most definitely a 10/10. Thank you for having us!!! read more