Chong Qing Lao Zao is a never-to-be-forgotten absolutely amazing hot pot restaurant…read more I will offer my own extensive comments at the end ... But the Eater review of Chong Qing Lao Zao absolutely nails it. * * * Eater sez: Fans start lining up well before the wooden doors swing open at noon, eventually to walk through corridors that lead them to a bi-level dining area that evokes an old Chinese village, complete with a water wheel, koi, and a faux fire at the foot of each table. One private section is elevated on stilts. Chongqing Lao Zao stands out from the high concentration of nearby hot pot spots -- Hai Di Lao, Liuyishou, 99 Favor Taste. * * * Samuel C sez: a) Like many hot pot restaurants, there are lots of exotic ingredients including all parts of many animals. I did lots of those included thousand layer tripe and beef liver coated in egg. At this restaurant, simple is actually better than exotic. The most famous boiling oil (there are nine to choose from) is a scorchingly hot Chongqing drowning in hot peppers concoction. The oil is hot as blazes in both senses of the word. The simpler the ingredient we put in the oil, the better the results were. Plain old Chinese Cabbage was to die for. Plain old ramen noodles and plain old fish cake became superstars in the hot oil. Thousand layer tripe, not so much. b) Shiitakes are not such a plain ingredient. They become ultimate gourmet delights in the hot oil. c) All the tables around us were ordering some form of Wagyu beef roll. Or rather all the Chinese tables were ordering Wagyu beef rolls. The Anglos were more random. I suspect the Chinese customers were on to something. d) It is tempting to order tons and tons and tons of ingredients for your hotpot because they look so damm good. In practice, three hot pot dipping items per person plus a side dish for the table will leave you waddling out of the restaurant barely able to walk. If that means you just have to come here multiple times to get all the good stuff, Well ... multiple times is not such a dumb idea. e) You definitely want at least one side dish. We ordered a Fried Sesame Bread with Chinese green onions inside. That was the best thing on the table ... On a day when there were a zillion amazing things on the table. The Chinese tables often ordered a fried rice with spicy organs inside. I strongly suspect that fried rice is well worth doing as well. f) They make their own rice wine which is sweet and very milky. They sell it by the jar. You want a whole jar of it. If your table has sake lovers in multiple, you will want several jars of it. g) The room decoration is magical between the sturdy oaken village-gate door, to the waterwheel inside to the stairs and levels and platforms which make you feel like you are in a mountain village. The room would have made this a destination experience even if the food had been mediocre. That the raw ingredients, the prepared dishes, the wine and the boiling oil were amazing sends Chong Qing Lao Zao over the top. * * * Does Yelp offer an eight star rating? If it starts one, Chong Qing Lao Zao would be first in line to get the eight star rating. Even with all the amazing restaurants in Flushing's Chinatown, This is one experience you do not want to miss.

They don't take reservations. You need to go and get on the wait list. The text they send you says…read morethat when your called, you have 3 hours to show up... after waiting an hour, we didn't want to risk losing the resy. We choose to sit on the tatami mats, so shoes come off. The tell you to go get your sauces, but don't tell you that there's a $2 charge for them. We got the meeting spicy broth and the mushroom broth. The spicy broth was covered completely in dried red peppers. It definitely infused the food with spice. The broth themselves weren't amazing. They were fine. Their homemade rice wine on the other hand is absolutely delicious. I would go back for that alone. Their snacks, the fried broad beans, and seeds were very good. The cabbage was also delicious and fresh. The duck tongue was absolutely delicious, as were the beef balls. All the mushrooms were very good. The beef tongue was eh... the premium lamb was better. The taro balls took a very long time to cook.. the glass noodles disintegrated in the broth. Overall, the ambiance is what made the meal great, it was cozy and pretty. The broth, the meat were okay. Glad I tried it, but there are better spots for the food hot pot... just not as good of an ambiance as here.

The food at Haidilao was amazing! My friends and I came to flushing, and once we arrived the…read moreservice immediately helped us out once we arrived.

Great service, served by Iris who is nice and sweet! Food was delicious as well, carefully taught…read moreon how to order and usage, thank you!

AYCE is unbeatable I try to come once a month when I'm…read morefeeling hotpot. Come on weekdays for the deal, I would say a la carte is not worth Servers cant speak english so just point and order from the screen

Food: Da Long Yi is one of my favorite hot pot places, and I was sad when they closed their…read moreManhattan Chinatown location. I decided to give the LIC location a try while I was in the area and was pleasantly surprised to see the menu was AYCE. Currently, their menu is AYCE for $36.99 (Monday through Thursday from 4:30pm - 10:30pm) which includes the broth, many hot pot items, and soft drinks. The broth here is excellent and one of my favorite broths out of all hot pot restaurants; I had the spicy beef tallow and tomato. I would also recommend getting their handmade shrimp paste. Food items were generally good, but some items weren't the freshest such as the scallops (very fishy and not edible). Service: Service was phenomenal. Staff members were very attentive and friendly. My empty dishes were constantly being cleared, and they came to refill my broth many times throughout the meal. They are also always circling to see if you need anything. Ambiance: There wasn't anything special about the ambiance. Seating was comfortable and spacious. Cushions on the seats were very worn out and peeling. Overall, I would recommend this hot pot restaurant!

The food was excellent, the staff was excellent, and even the little mini food side quests were…read moreexcellent. The ambiance was adorable and made the whole experience even better. Special shoutout to our waiter -- we absolutely loved him! He made the visit feel extra welcoming and fun. 100% worth having the Chubby membership if you come here or to any Chubby restaurant Coming back soon!

Good value if you have the membership. You save on pricing and can earn points with each meal,…read moreredeemable for rewards like a free drink or specialty dish. If you get the membership (currently $28/year), it pays off after 2 visits and you get 3000 points (worth a free meal) on your birthday. I got the Gold menu (the middle option), which was enough variety for me. Honestly after a few plates of meat, they all start to taste the same so it doesn't matter what cut of wagyu you're eating. There is a buffet of vegetables and side dishes that you can help yourself to, along with a soda machine and a watered-down tea machine. Nothing too impressive here. Overall, worth visiting if you have the membership and you really know your different cuts of wagyu. Otherwise, if you just want AYCE hot pot, there are plenty of other places in Flushing.

its such a cute and quaint spot, very cozy. The food is absolutely delicious. i genuinely cannot…read moreget enough. I dined here twice in a week one time cause of how good it was. The food comes out very quickly as well and any dirty plates and dishes get removed from the table just as fast. Joypot has become my comfort food and ill be coming back often

I generally avoid ordering any mala soup base but tried JoyPot's spicy beef tallow version and…read morethought it was delicious! Be warned - it is very spicy so I recommend ordering a different broth with it. My boyfriend and I also surprisingly loved the tilapia here! The texture was perfect after being cooked in the broth. Soda is also all you can drink so that was a nice plus! I would definitely come back if I'm in the area!

It's a place that's always delicious, even when you come just to eat I always eat it deliciously…read moreThe food is excellent for the price, and the servers are always friendly. The service is very good!! Today, the server called ' Gage ' was especially kind and took care of us thoughtfully It was a very satisfying experience

Great Value! Love this place! They have a fantastic variety…read moreof selections at a great price. On top of that, Marcos provided excellent service. Highly recommend!

I was looking for a hot pot restaurant that has an AYCE option in Flushing and found Liuyishou…read more - Three-Flavor Soup Base -- we chose 1/3 premium beef tallow at medium spice level for me + 1/3 mild spice level without beef tallow + 1/3 pork bone broth for my friend I was surprised that the price of the broth is additional to the AYCE price. The broth at medium spice level was flavorful and they had a good selection of meat, seafood and vegetables. Overall, the food and service were good.

The soup base is nice as are the veggies but as others have noted the meat cuts aren't great. Felt…read morelike very cheap cuts of meat. Also the place is a bit dirty as other reviews have noted. The price is reasonable but it sort of feels overpriced for what you get. My wife and I have visited two other locations of this chain. The one in Princeton, NJ is great but this one and the one in Ottawa, Ontario are just so-so. I asked my wife what she would rate this one. She said "3 and no more Liuyishou Hotpot. Done with them." Wife is from Chongqing and LOVES hot pot, so take that for what it is worth.

This is probably my favorite hot pot spot - you order everything on a tablet, can choose up to 3…read moredifferent soup bases. And as someone who doesn't eat much red meat, they have a lot of seafood and vegetarian options. They have a mushroom set which I was hesitant to try, but they were actually all so interesting texture wise! If you sign up for their membership and put money in your account, you get membership pricing for everything you order and various discounts (last time I went I got 50% off soup!). I love their cold bar which you can mix up your own sauces, cold veggie appetizers, as well as a dessert bar with herbal jelly and silken tofu which you can mix with coconut milk or milk tea. The cold/dessert bar is a flat fee that is charged per person. Seating is nice and spacious.

Love this place! The cute décor and panda pillows on the chairs make the dining experience fun and…read morecozy. The soup broth is delicious and full of flavor. The staff is attentive and provides great service. We also loved the dessert bar with its variety of sweet treats. The only downside is that the food portions are a bit small for the price. Other than that, it's a great spot for hot pot, and we'd definitely come back.

price - pay for what you eat!…read more food - 5/5 service - 5/5 ambiance - 5/5 I had the chance to check out shoo Loong Kan as I was checking out the store in tangram mall and Im so glad that I did! once I stepped into the restaurant, the workers were so friendly and welcoming. they brought us to our table and even gave a toy to our baby on the house! I love how attentive they were! the foods were also super yummy. I can tell that all of their dishes were of really high quality, especially the meats! I can definitely taste and feel the meat flavors just melting in my mouth. the ambiance inside was so amazing as well! it feels like I just stepped inside modern day china and dined like them too! definitely check this place out when you have the chance!

Literally felt like I walked into China. I like the historical decor…read more Food: Fresh scallops, fresh meat, and assorted side dishes. I like the idea of unlimited side dishes and desserts (with an additional price). The service was okay, the waitresses were able to answer our questions about price ranges. But, 1. Why am I asked to wait before seating when I made a reservation? 2. Workers didn't pay much attention to our table, especially when we needed to more soup base. Probably because we didn't order as much food. ‍ (Additional info: this place is not ACYE, therefore, you pay by the price of each item)

It's perfectly 3 star -- price, service, etc…read more Good is the self-service offering of dessert. Also the options and quality is decent. Good place for a group / not crowded

Located in the old Dolar shop location, Nan hot pot offers chongqing style hot pot. We opted to do…read morethe yin yang pot and picked f mala soup base for one side and pork broth for the other. We asked for less spicy and it was still above what we could handle so we scooped out some of the spicy oil. For the menu, you can order off the iPad. We got an assortment of beef, veggies, shrimp paste and some hot items like fried chicken cartilage and fried pork. Typical to your hot pot restaurants, there's a sauce bar and also apps, fruits and dessert. Service here is top notch. Very attentive.