We had a great experience! Good food and great service, we were always asked how we are doing and if we wanted anything else which was nice. We really enjoyed the spicy selection of the broths and wide selection of meats, sauces, and vegetables to choose from. The enoki mushrooms were a wonderful add to the menu. We also really enjoyed the fatty brisket and ribeye. The marinated pork was a little sweet, which was interesting! We would also order the beef balls again but probably wouldn't get the shrimp balls again (I enjoy shrimp but the shrimp balls were a bit overwhelmingly fishy tasting). The scallops were very tasty. We were a little disappointed that they didn't have the dumplings, but there were plenty of other options so we didn't miss them too much. Overall, we found the AYCE price worth it! read more

After searching high and low for hot pot restaurants I finally settled on this spot because of the reviews and because it was AYCE. It was my first time being here and my server explained everything. He was ver descriptive and patient with me due to the fact that it was my first time. He told me about the sauce bar in the back where you make your own sauces for your meats and veggies. Which I thought was a great concept because I haven't really seen many hot pot places do that. So I decided to get the spicy broth with tons of proteins and enoki mushrooms. Those mushrooms are my favorite and I can't believe I can eat as much as I want. LOL Also, my server told me to try the dumplings and he raved that people actually call just to see if they have them. So I ordered that as well. My o my was he right, those dumplings were delicious! For about $23 you get all you can eat and you can't go wrong. This is a must if you're looking for a hot pot restaurant. I just wish Maryland had more options because the drive is about an hour but its well worth it. read more

Hot Spot - All the fixings - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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Called and they said last call was 11:15. Arrived at 10:30 (15 minutes later) and was told the kitchen was closed. Close whenever you'd like, but be consistent on that time between on the phone and in person. Way better hot pot places (like Oh My Hotpot and 9292 Shabu) only chose this place because they were open late, but they lied on the phone, lmao. Never coming back. read more

I'll be back soon! Food was great! Service was even better! Plenty of offerings to choose from!

No idea why this place has four stars... The people are nice there and it's not awful but the food is bad and atmosphere. It's just as expensive as other hot pot places but they don't have rice or kimchi or most things other places have, which is super disappointing. There's also a bunch of little kids there? Not sure they why it's like that but for some reason it seems like a bunch of families like to go there. Overall just please go to another one, because there's a lot of other places that are better for the same price. read more

Came here around 7pm on a Thursday. Our crew sat at the bar for HH which lasts until 7:30! Wine bottles are half off and so are the cocktails. My friends ordered bottles of wine (which you can take home and are very reasonably priced) as well as some sort of tea cocktail which was a bit sweet but nonetheless delicious! We then sat down at our table (note: make reservations in advance). We each got individual pots. I highly recommend the tom yum soup! It ha so much flavor, I didn't really need dipping sauce as well. We then ordered a tonnnn of everything as it's AYCE for only 23 bucks. My favorites were fatty brisket, scallops, squid, octopus, the dumplings (so mini and cute), and all the green veggies. Shrimp is good too just a pain in the ass to eat. We stayed there for a bit under two hours and we became friends with our server Joon and our bartender sam. They are wonderful and so attentive! And fun guys to talk to. Be warned that you will smell like hotpot afterward. Only complaint is everything was a bit salty, so I felt the need to chug gallons of water. Overall highly recommend! read more

MEH - My daughters and I went to celebrate one taking a job in FL and getting out of the cold. We've never done a Hot Pot (last one I did was at a place in DC in the '90's - you know, when everything was better). The parking is tough (Bon Chon closed so its easier to get a space). The decor, with the exception of the one wall with all the ingredients and attributes is pretty sparse. I'm certain they mean it to be contemporary but its like college lounge dining tables with electric plates. Service was okay, attentive and they worked hard to make certain we had what we wanted/needed (as well as pushing for maybe another round, maybe dessert - standard stuff.) The food was okay; the broths were not exemplary as bases and we know that the materials you add make the soup but that's where it floored me. If I had known this was just pulling ingredients from HMart and flopping them down I could have done it at home. Instant ramen and frozen udon noodles (sound familiar) frozen beef tongue, beef brisket, dumplings, beef balls, nothing I don't buy at any oriental supermarket. Won't be going back. read more

Went with the girlfriends for lunch, we each did the individual pots. I had the Tom yum broth, the friends had Kim chi and spicy broth. I didn't really taste a strong Tom yum flavor but it was good enough for dipping. This place is not skimpy on toppings, I ordered 1 order of shrimps and got 5-6 pieces, I just hate how they don't remove the shells prior. I also dislike how they walk around to refill your pot with boiling water, that just dilute the flavor of the broth that was originally in the pot. Overall the price is not bad for all you can eat, we definitely will come back for more!! read more

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AN EXPERIENCE. I had a wonderful date night here. Technically kids under 6 eat free, but there's kind of a lot going on here (boiling liquid, raw meats) so we figured it'd be best not to bring our little girl. This is a pay per person, all you can eat experience. It's a good deal and you can keep asking for more orders of meat, veggies, dumplings, tofu, seafood and just about anything you can imagine to put in the soup. There are a few different broth flavors (I got spicy and it was that Szechuan numbing spicy that I love) and a sauce bar (I loved the house sauce) with endless options. Happy hour is also a plus. I got a delicious hand-crafted lychee-tini for very cheap. This is a slow food. Take your time. After reading one book on the topic, I'd even call it hygge. It's not a food you can rush. (But don't take toooo long, either:there's a two hour limit to prevent people from trying any kind of insane shit) There's a small fee for changing your broth or leaving an unreasonable amount uneaten, so all you Picky Princesses can stay home. read more

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Great Food Great Service Mixed drinks festive suggest cranberry margarita Great variety of food read more

Still my favorite hot pot place! Love their mala broth, and the ingredients are always super fresh and delicious. It can get busy, so we try to avoid peak times read more

I actually love this place. I have been coming here for years now and sometimes multiple times a week. My reasons for a 2 star rating is not necessarily due to their quality of food or taste but for the reasons of dissapointment in how they dealt with an issue. My wife found not one but two flies in her food. One on the cabbage and the other floating on her soup. We promptly showed our server (he was great btw) and he went to notify the manager. It took her 5-10 mins to come out. She apologized for the flies, asked my wife if she wanted her broth changed (wife was done eating by then so she declined) and said, "thank you for being cool about it and we gave you a discount" and left the check on the table. We are also in the service industry so we understand that things like this happen. I always try to react in a way I hope my customers would if faced with a similar situation. What bothered us is that, despite of having found 2 flies, the discount we received was an "employee discount" of 30%. I honestly would have been less insulted if there were no discount than receiving a 30% employee discount. If this situation occured at any of our businesses, comping the meal would have been automatic and would have given meal vouchers for the future. I hardly give any negative reviews but this needed to be addressed. I have pictures of the flies but won't post it. I am sure i will come back but won't advocate for this place as i have done in the past. read more

Hot Spot - Found 2 flies in our food and we got an "employee discount". - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Great service! Janiesha was amazing and very attentive, super friendly and made the experience so much more enjoyable. There was no dessert on the menu but Tim was so helpful and although we're picky helped us with choosing the soju flight it was delicious and fruity, he also advised us to get the Jell-O shot and it was such a delicious alternative! The meat and vegetables are so good and the Tom Yum broth is my favorite as it's not too plain and has some flavor to it. Overall amazing service all around and delicious food!! read more

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EAT HERE. Really that's all you need from a review perspective. But, since I'm here, let me write more words. Have been coming here (and the sister restaurant in Chantilly) for several years now. Unlike more traditional shabu shabu places (like that place at the Pan Am shopping center or at the Eden Center), you make your own dipping sauce(es) before the meal with a WIDE assortment of ingredients from soy sauce, ponzu, sugar, salt, spring onions, cilantro, bbq, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, etc, etc, etc. Several sauce recipes to choose from or make your own. Equipped with your sauce(s), head back to your table where your lychee martini has no doubt arrived already (you did order one, didn't you?) and before you say can "man, this lychee is delicious" your broth will start boiling. Which broth, you ask? Well, at this point I go with 100% spicy broth. That said, if it's your first time here that might be a bit of a bold move. Try perhaps the traditional shabu shabu broth or the flavorful kimchi broth. The family pots come with a divider so you can try two different broths at once. Win-win! Right, so back to the meal. The vegetables and meat are arriving now. Great, let's throw in some of those mushrooms... king oyster, enoki, yeah yeah... that's the ticket. Toss in some daikon too. Baby corn. Bamboo shoots. Yeah that's it. Those take a while to cook anyway. We'll save the leafy things for a sec. As the broth starts to return to a boil you can turn down the heat and start whisking the meats into the mix. Surely you got some of the lamb (it can be a little dry if you cook it too long), the fatty brisket, and prime ribeye, perhaps some marinated pork and some scallops. Yeah that's the ticket. Oh, better toss in those dumplings now. They have a high tolerance for being overcooked so when you remember at the end of the meal that you forgot them they're perfect. Right now we'll dip these things into the sauce and mmmmmmmm. delicious. Oh! Before we forget, let's toss in those leafy greens. Yeah, now we can alternate between the meat and leafy greens. Perfect. Next up: noodles. Maybe some ramen or udon noodles. I'm gonna grab the slotted spoon and cook them *just long enough* that they begin to fall apart and then quickly move them to my bowl and pour hot broth over them to finish cooking them. Wait too long and you'll be fishing out noodles individually till tomorrow morning. Good luck with that. Right, back to the meat and veggies and -- oh, can I get another lychee martini? Perfect, thanks. Having finished round 2 of the vegetables and meat at this point, probably time to polish off some of this broth-as-a-soup. Great way to round out the meal. It occurs to me that I've perhaps lost the plot a bit. Anyway, point being this place is amazing, the food is delicious, and it's a great place to hang out and nosh with good friends or family. When you're done, maybe head over to Revolution across the street and play some darts and pool? read more

Great service & you cook your own food. 10/10 would highly recommend! Ambiance is nice and friendly. read more

This place is hands-down the best hotpot restaurant with many different options for food and sauces with an open bar at an affordable price. Came here on a wednesday night and was greeted by the manager, who was extremely friendly towards me and my friend. We were 6th in the queue for a table but he offered us an opportunity to jump the line by sitting at the bar instead, which was cool. The interior itself seems spacious and very clean. Despite dining in while it was a full-house, it did not feel cramped at all. There's a lot of noise here due to the many tables talking over one another but that's not an issue to me at all. I ordered the shabu broth which is usually my go-to in terms of broth but i've heard many good things about the other broth The service was okay, but probably because our server seemed extremely busy as it was a full house. We were still attended to often and got refills on our drinks but we had to call our server over for attention. Overall great experience and delicious food which could have been made better if it wasn't so busy that the service quality went down. read more

Hot Spot - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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We found a fly in one of our pots. The service was terrible, I asked for bok choy 4 times and never got it. Also asked for oyster mushroom multiple times and never got it. The guy that was taking our order never wrote any of our orders down, he took our order and went to another table to take their orders thinking he would remember it. read more

Hot Spot - Found a fly in one of our pots. - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Takes cash and credit card. Tons of free parking and does get somewhat busy on weekends. Normally, this place has lines out the door on weekends. However, this recent visit, we noticed a lesser crowd. This is a clear sign that business has plateau and something is off. This place has gotten a make over since my last review. It appears management has changed as much of the table setting and other areas have changed. Normally, I would see the owner / manager here. However, it appears this may have changed. They also use infrared cooktops rather than using gas (previous ownership). All seafood is frozen and all meats appear frozen as well. Most veggies are refrigerated. Meats are okay quality. Veggies are fresh. We came here on a weekend with a larger party. They sat us at a table that can accommodate 2 large communal hotpots which are run by electronic cooktops. The ordering style has changed. Rather than ordering on a paper slip, the servers will write down what meats veggies and starch to order. Therefore, there will be talking between you and the server. This is time consuming for the staff as it will cause a lot of stress and takes a lot of time. Their broth is okay. Nothing out of the ordinary. Their sauce bar has changed as well. Now, they have larger labels and do not have recommended sauce templates for newbies to try. The front staff are polite, but could not accommodate with their cooktop issue. The issue discovered was that the infrared cooktop we were using did not heat up the pot to boiling temperature. Meaning, we sat at a table with a broken cooktop. So we were cooking our food in lukewarm water. The staff said that the temperature switch needs to be turned down in order to boil the water. This logic makes NO sense. Reducing heat does not quickly raise the temperature of water. This is also a huge health matter. How can you expect your customers to eat raw seafood and still be fine. We had to resort to only eat certain raw items such as veggies and tofu. If you added seafood and other cold meats, the water temp would drop. We asked if the restaurant would provide us with a gas burner since the current cooking method does not work, the staff told us they cannot allow that. Therefore, we had to ask the server to take our pot and move it to another table to heat. So basically our experience is not fun and interactive. The restaurant staff did not notify us of the faulty cooking cooktop. They clearly tried not to admit this. They also did not apologize or even give us a discount since we clearly could not eat much. It's embarrassing to constantly ask the server to move our pot to another table to cook, then have them bring it back once the water has boiled. You can seriously harm your customers by serving them food that is raw and cannot be adequately cooked in their cooktop. The staff said to lower the temperature on the cooktop to boil your food. This makes no sense. The water throughout the meal did not go into boiling temperature. The staff here realized this, but did not fix the matter. This place resulted in my party only ordering refills one time. Given the long time to get our orders in and the lack of boiling temperature, you are better off going elsewhere to get faster service and better quality food. I've come here multiple times over the years, but I am confident to say that this Hot Spot is NOT worth the trip. Quality control needs to improve as some cooktops are NOT working effectively and will NOT boil to appropriate temps. The staff here are polite, but were unable to help us when it comes to a faulty cooktop. Overall, this is a 1.5star review. Wish it could have been better. read more

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A good place. Most times the meat is perfect, sometimes not good at all. Good luck. Recommend read more

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Stopped by here for an early Saturday dinner with a friend. We got the spicy broth and variety of different proteins and vegetables that were delicious once cooked in the broth. The service was good, our server actually made a sauce for us which was great. The ambiance is cool too. read more

Hot Spot Fairfax is a place to go if you're craving for some good food, drinks and ambience. The manager and servers checked on our table to make sure that we have everything we need. Definitely coming back, thank you! read more

Hot Spot - Food and watermelon soju - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

I've been to both hot spot locations over multiple times over the years with friends, family, and coworkers. I've never been there on my own volition, and the reason is simple - the service. The food isn't bad. I'd feel pretty comfortable saying it's better than average. However, when you have to order your next round of food as soon as you get your previous order so you don't wait 15 minutes for raw sliced meat, that's not good enough. I've also had multiple instances where the fire under my individual pot died out or became very weak less than an hour into my meal, which ruins the dining experience. I don't know if hot spot completely switched over to electric now, but weak/dead fire is unacceptable even if Hot Spot wasn't an AYCE restaurant that times you. read more

So yummy, the Tom Yum broth especially good. Our server Amanda was the highlight of the evening, she was hysterical and sweet and made sure we had everything we need. We had a great time! read more

I've had this place bookmarked for-everrr and finally got the chance to go when one of my best friends was in town visiting and craved Asian food. Pretty nice setup inside but I would say that the tables do make you feel claustrophobic because everything is pretty tightly squeezed together. Add in boiling broth and it is a bit of a dangerous situation? They have many different types of broth to choose from. Since it was our first time at this location, our server was more than patient with our group to help us get started and offer recommendations. We just so happened to be there during happy hour so we took advantage of the drink deals! The lychee martini was definitely unique and a good choice. They also definitely enforce the 2 hour dining time limit but you will be very full by the time your dining limit is up. read more

This restaurant definitely lives up to its name because they have the spotlight for their whole block. I will be one of the many to say that it's worth all the hype. The first thing you'd have to decide is between family style (one big pot for everyone in the party and individual. My friends and I didn't mind the family style but if you want more control over your broth and toppings, definitely get the individual option. You also have to go to the back and put together your own sauces. My personal favorite is the peanut sauce. For the broth, you can choose two options and we went with the shabu shabu and spicy. I'm a big fan of the fatty brisket so that was the first meat we tried and the quality was decent. Overall good fat to meat ratio. There was one batch that was literally all fat but after you dip it in the broth, it's not that bad. If you want to make your broth more flavorful, the vegetables and seafood are key. Save all the starch options, like noodles, towards the end because the meat is where all the money is at. One thing I also want to mention is the service. Big shoutout to our server! I'm not sure why but she was bartending while serving our table at the same time. Maybe they were short staffed but I know for a fact that it's difficult to do both simultaneously. She kept providing meat one after the other and we were well taken care of. read more

Hot Spot - Fatty beef brisket! - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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Went to Hot Spot because of Groupon. Note that it is one coupon per table, not per person, as Groupon would lead you to believe. Read the fine print. Gom Shabu is relatively close by and a much better establishment all the way around; that being said, Hot Spot is ok. Review your receipt CAREFULLY; weird accounting is going on. For example, we were charged a 25 percent tip on the total bill, not the coupon reduced rate, and AFTER tax. I did not agree to that tip amount. I get they don't want the wait staff to get stiffed, but this was ridiculous. The waitress looked at me with a blank deer-in-the-headlight stare until I pressed on to have it recalculated. The difference being + $20. The meat quality varies widely between servings. The beef tongue was very tough, I thought. My friend liked it, so we ordered a second serving. That was very tender. So the quality varies. The vegetables are many, varied, and good. Hard to screw that up. The 'crab' was a mini crab about the size of a half dollar. Not worth trying to get into the legs, and the body was a taste size. It seemed a bit of a waste that the little guy gave up his life for basically somebody sucking on it for the juice and a sliver of meat. Service was good and prompt but lagged in the middle of the meal. It wasn't like it was crowded - three tables. But when you did get the attention of the wait staff, it was prompt, and the food was delivered quickly. To this point, I smelled burning and it was because the soup broth had boiled down to the bottom. The server didn't notice, and now things had a burned taste and smell. At Gom Shabu this never would have happened as they check on you regularly. They also know when the broth has boiled down a refill accordingly. Ok selection of condiments, the basics. The placed filled up after our arrival with a waiting line. The "Mix-up" on the bill was annoying and seemed intentional rather than a mistake. Service was good, but some key gaps occurred to mar the experience. The two big star rating deductions was the bill and groupon mix-up, and the broth burning in the pot because it wasn't being watched by staff - could have been avoided. I wouldn't avoid the restaurat because of it, but something to be aware. read more

This is a very long overdue review for how often I come here. I love my hot pots and this place hits the spot every time. I love the ACYE concept for hot pot. They aren't stingy with portion sizes, and if you want more of something, they are more than happy to bring it. The broths are all good but my favorite is the tom yum. Just drop your items in, chit chat a bit and it's ready to eat. Yummmm! The best part is the DIY sauce bar! The favorite recipes are there for you in plain view. I like to make my own. Sometimes I fail but whatever, just make another. But Annie's sauce is for sure my go to if I'm lazy. They have a decent happy hour if you want drinks to go along with your team. Parking is plenty but it does get packed during peak dinner hours, especially in the winter time. They only seat you if your entire party is there. read more

We decided to revisit Hot Spot. We enjoyed the first lunch we had with them and craved for a warm bowl of soup on a cold day. We went to Hot Spot on a weekday to avoid the crowds. We were the only diners for the first 30 minutes. The food was good but service was not stellar. They didn't provide enough utensils when we began to eat and forgot to bring out our entire order. They rarely checked on us and we had to constantly get out of our table to walk to a waiter (who was standing around with 2 others, all of them in their phone) to ask for various things. At the end of our meal an hour later there were about 3 other tables eating so I didn't understand why the service was slow and poor. The other issue was how disgusting the restroom area was. The sink area outside of the restrooms smelled like sewage and the restroom itself was unclean. I avoided touching anything because it looked that dirty. The restroom area was unsanitary and not what a diner wants to see when trying to enjoy a meal. I would probably not eat here again. There are other Asian restaurants that are cleaner, provide better service, and less costly. read more

First time here, all you can eat. Amazing atmosphere and food. Great place, no rsvp allowed. First come, first serve; busy place but great food! read more

I've been here a few times and normally I love this place. But recently we came here for lunch on the weekend and it was such a disappointment. The table they sat us at was dirty and had to request a cleaning spray be used to clean it. My cup of water was also dirty but I just got tired of requesting anything from the staff so I shared a cup with my husband. The service was good but ingredients were messed up and we had to request our bowls and utensils since they were never given to us. The food tastes good but honestly the cleanliness of this place has gone down. We used to come here because of this and I won't be returning. read more

Servers seem a bit overworked but the options, quality, and price are fantastic! Highly recommend the kimchi soup base!

It's a great place to do hot pot. The food and sauce bar is great. Inside is a bit cramped but nice atmosphere and cozy. Main reason it's not 5 stars is the price. It's appears to be the most expensive in the area. You can certainly find less expensive options not too far away. That said, it was a good dining experience. My family certainly enjoyed themselves. read more

My goto spot. I'll drive from Baltimore to ffx anyway just for hot spot. Can never disappoint.

Let's just recognize the Hot Spot for what it really is. A Spa World for really delicious meats and veggies. It's a way of getting them to relax in hot tubs of broth before we eat them so they are more tender. Hot Spot is a one of my new favorite AYCE style places. As a warning, the first trip is completely overwhelming, but once you get the hang of it, it's amazing. The staff is friendly and will try to give you the lay of the land before you order, but staring at a menu with loads of different broths and meats and veggies, and having to make your own sauce from a variety of condiments at the sauce bar is a daunting experience for every newcomer, so here are some steps to guide you: Step 1: Pick your broth. Shabu Shabu is very mild and the Spicy Broth is not very spicy imo, but they warn you not to eat the szechuan peppers (small black balls) in the broth and say it gives a numbing effect. I managed to eat three of them, with no effect. I believe I have an immunity due to the number of times I either accidentally pepper sprayed myself or other innocent parties. The spicy broth is not my favorite however, because after a while it kind of leaves an oily feeling in your mouth. Step 2: Pick your meats, veggies and/or noodles. The brisket is VERY VERY good. We ordered it nearly three times over. They offer seafood as well with an assortment of shrimp, mussels, squid,scallops and baby octopus. The scallops were merely ok, and small in size, the octopus come in full octopus form, so either is fun or disconcerting to eat them. The dumplings are fantastic. The udon noodles are also not to be missed. I could do without ordering rice noodles, they were thin and hard to dredge out of the broth. Step 3: Make your own sauce. This was the worst part. You are presented with this whole sauce bar to make your own sauce (green onion, garlic, soy sauce, vinegars, oils, peppers etc) but it's hard to decide what goes with what. I ended up making two sauces that were the exact same, and this is the most important part of the whole hot pot experience. I wish they offered recipe cards. If I had more than two hours to eat (btw, it's a two hour limit for AYCE) I would have experimented more. I recommend looking at Cathy H's review and using her recipe for crack sauce ( I didn't think of it at that time). 4. Cook the veggies, meats and noodles, this is a trial and error to find out how long to cook each item. Basically it's just about cooking till you find the right texture. You are your own chef, which is fun and scary at the same time. 5. Dip Away-During this time your server will mention that they offer unlimited refills on sodas. Don't fall for this. They're trying to distract you from ordering more delicious meats but filling up your tummy with sugars and liquid. Eat all the meats, drink later. 6. Keep an eye on the broth level and try not to overheat the pan, apparently when think you smell something burning, it might very well be your table. Hypothetically speaking that is.Not saying this happened or anything. 7. Enjoy yourself and stuff your face. But keep in mind you only have two hours to do so. For $22.99, I would say this was time well spent. read more

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**NOTE:You can look up their Health Inspection report that's for public viewing on the VDH; they seem to constantly get CRITICAL VIOLATIONS!!! After our last incident, we found out that they had received 2 critical violations and 1 non-critical violation (including one where the DATE of the last shellstock from the container being sold/served is not recorded; having a damaged chest freezer; and, employees not washing their hands before food preparation!!!)** My husband and I came to Hot Spot as we were in the area. Our experiences here have always been pretty okay. Our server was Richard, who seemed like a real nice guy; Hot Spot is doing this thing where if you want your server, you just SHOUT out their name, and the rest of the serving staff calls that name out in unison to get them to your table. I am thinking that maybe patrons have complained in the past of not being able to find their server, or that the restaurant gets extremely loud and chaotic, so they're doing this tactic for better service. We got our usual; the kimchi broth, the prime beef, the fatty brisket, udon noodles, dumplings (larger than usual as they ran out of the mini ones), fishcake, enoki mushrooms (slightly old), and napa cabbage. Richard also made his 'favorite' sauce for us that was more on the sweeter side that went well with the beef (sans the cilantro), which I thought was pretty nice of him. I was extremely weirded out as some of the beef actually turned bold red in color after a long time in boiling action; when we questioned this, Richard (after a pause) stated that it was because it was in the broth for so long, but I remember it actually not turning that color the last few times we dined there - only the color brown, the color of it being cooked through. Hmmm... We stopped eating immediately. Later that night, we both got extremely/crazy crazy crazy/insanely sick from food poisoning and ended up in the ER - me, much worse than my husband; we figured out that the meats were far from being fresh (the oddness of the color change, which had been confirmed by several docs that it was indeed due to the meat being rotten/spoiled), and that there was cross-contamination going on when being served. :( It's pretty safe to say that we won't be back! +cross contamination/spoiled meats T___T read more

"Sooo good." That's what we kept saying after each bite. We do hot pot at home, so it took me awhile to check this place out. So glad we did! Right off the bat you should know that the wait is ridiculous. We came Friday night and the line continuously formed out the door. It was 7 pm and the hostess said the wait would be 1 hour and 30 mins. Yes, and we waited that long. The hostess Gia is super sweet and helpful. Our server Stephanie was awesome! Super friendly and informative. At 10 pm, there was still a line (a bit smaller). Restrooms are in the back, super cute cow decals on the door. They even have an extra two hand-washing stations, so you can clean yourself up without having to occupy a restroom. It's all you can eat hot pot with a 2 hour limit. Watch the time, because it goes by fast. There is a sauce bar in the back of the restaurant, you can help yourself to as much as you want. Get creative :) They offer individual hot pots and family style. If you are new to hot pot, it's similar to fondue. You can choose from 6 different soup bases. We tried the Spicy and Shabu Shabu, both were incredibly delicious. You can tell they take time on their soup bases. You are given a list of meats, veggies, seafood, noodles, etc to choose from. For the 4 of us, we would ask for 2 orders of a meat or veggies. As for the noodles, we asked for 4 orders because the serving is a bit smaller. Though it's all you can eat, don't waste. You will be charged if you waste food. Everything we tried was excellent. They washed the vegetables well and the meats were of good quality. They also sell butter beer (like in Harry Potter). It's awesome! I've had butter beer at Universal Studios and theirs is just as good. I'd come back just for that :P It's a non-alcoholic drink by the way, tastes a lot like cream soda. We all enjoyed ourselves and I can't wait to come back! read more

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Three and a half stars, rounding up as better value than Uncle Liu's and Mala Tang. AYCE hot pot options are individual pots for everyone or a shared split pot for the table. We tried the kimchi and extra spicy broths, but you could hardly taste anything in the first one. I eyeballed the beers and watermelon soju but eventually settled for hot barley tea; second batch was less watery than the initial pour. Decor and sound track runs a bit hipster. Staff members were nice. We definitely lingered past the declared two-hour mark, but it was only moderately busy on a Sunday afternoon. The pounds of ingredients we powered through were pleasantly fresh. It helps if you're familiar with how to actually cook the ingredients, since you only have yourself to blame if you under/overcook them. I'll definitely be back next time my appetite is raring to go. read more

Hot Spot - First batch of barley tea. - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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FINALLY, I'm trying this place out for my first time. I definitely needed it, since I was recovering from a cold. Soup soothes the throat, am I right? I've heard this place gets packed very quickly so my boyfriend and I planned to visit when lunch time was almost over. We were seated right away and given the menu. We chose the AYCE for 22.99 per person. You first pick your base soup, following your meat and veggies. When we were ready, a lady placed our pot on a stove with both of our base soups and it was divided in the middle just so our toppings won't get mixed. You also get to control the heat of the soup too. When the soup started to boil, we placed our toppings in the soup. After the meat and veggies are cooked, it's time to eat! Everything tasted great and the soup really did sooth my throat. I must of drank too much of the soup though. My throat started to get worse and I couldn't eat anymore. I had to stop eating when my stomach was not feeling well. The reason for the 3 stars was not only the aftermath but the service wasn't as great. We weren't checked up as often and I think it was because the place was about to close soon, so they were more focused on getting the place cleaned for dinner that night. It also felt like were getting rushed too. I'll come back again soon to try it out and see if my experience will change! read more

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I've tried hot spot about three times and I think it gets worse every time I go.. I initially liked it the first time. Clean, cute, hip, new.. When I went the first time I feel like they had lots of options for meat and veggies.. I tried the cow tongue for the first time at hot spot and thought it was okay.. I tried it because my friend said it was pretty good and it wasn't bad The most recent time I went we had to wait for 1.5 hours and it's not too bad cus dessert story is next door so we got bubble tea and hung out while we waited for our table.. anyway as soon as you go in it's very humid and muggy.. when I left my hair had a lot more moisture.. and it makes sense in some ways cus the steam and all that.. anyway.. We sat down and on the way to the table the floors were super slippery so we were all careful when we got up to make our sauce and idk it threw me off cus it doesn't make sense for the floors to be slippery.. anyway We ordered one serving of beef tongue cus I wanted my sister and friend to try it. We also ordered 1 order of prime rib or beef and 3 fatty briskets.. however, our plate looked like we ordered one of each beef and 3 orders of tongue.. so it didn't start out well. Then we later ordered more beef and that verified that they put in our orders incorrectly because we ordered 3 more servings of fatty brisket and it was way more that what they first gave us Anyway when ordered I felt like there wasn't a lot to choose from and they had no dumplings and didn't mention it to us when they gave us the order paper. The first order paper had it crossed out but the other ones didn't so when it didn't come out I had to ask and they said they didn't have it. Idk it just wasn't as good as the first time I went and I feel like I've been to better hot spot places around the DMV area.. also if you sit at the table with the hot stove or whatever you cannot order separate broths. You must get the family style bowl and it is a lot more broth but you don't get your own Service wasn't bad but it wasn't great. My sister was annoyed because we asked 3 times for more broth and we shouldn't have asked 3 times. We get that it's busy but having to wait about 20 mins to get more broth bothered her I don't think it's worth the drive to va to eat at hot spot. It's located in a small shopping center so there are parking spots. It is hard to find spots right in front but very possible :) it's next to dessert story and bonchon read more

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HOLY CRAP. Five stars. Hands down. One of the absolute most awesome places I have ever been to. The location is unfortunately hidden away on Old Pickett Road (across from the Home Depot in Fairfax), but what a hidden gem! It works like this -- 1. Check off broth type (spicy, veggie, kimchi, etc.). 2. Check off meats (as many as you want of about a dozen animals). 3. Check off veggies (same as 2). 4. Check off any 'extras' such as dumplings, meatballs, etc. I'm probably forgetting a step... but they turn your broth pot on, it gets really hot, and you then get brought huge plates of your meats and veggies. Oh, and starches! I knew I forgot a step! (Udon, rice, etc.) Throw everything along with whatever spice and additional sauce combos you want into the pot. Wait a minute or two, and bam! It's all cooked and ready to be spooned back out into your bowl. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. It is only $22 a head (they charge by the head) -- all you can eat. So if your pot runs dry and you need more of something? Fill out another checklist! We checked off so much stuff the first time though that we got our money's worth and ended up really full. I loved being able to have so many delicious flavors all in one meal for such a reasonable price. In case you're wondering, I had the following meats: 1) Shrimp 2) Squid 3) Octopus 4) Scallops 5) Crawfish 6) Marinated beef 7) Lamb 8) Chicken 9) Pork (I think, in the dumplings) Do mushrooms count as a meat? Almost, I think, because I had the oyster mushrooms (one of about three types they have on the menu). Don't eat meat? Don't worry, this place is definitely still for you! The veggie list is huge and diverse as well. Our server, Robert, was great. He explaining everything really well and was attentive when necessary. The whole place seemed very clean, well-run and interesting/vibrant. For those who seek a good range of Asian drinks, there is also a pretty robust menu of sakes, sojus, meads and the like. I personally enjoyed a European sparkling water that was divine over fresh lemon. I will not hesitate to go back to Hot Spot. It's totally #1 on my list right now. My kind of place. It's like taking the Genghis Grill concept to a whole new level with 1,000x the quality ingredients and class. read more

Hot Spot - Everything!!! - Asian Fusion Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia