Apparently, this used to be a sh*tty hot pot restaurant, but now it's had its post-divorce, Kelly Clarkson glow-up, and it no longer sucks. In fact, it's very good--an authentic pan-Chinese spot happily frequented by the rich Chinese denizens of Jersey City. Here's what you should get: - Silky Tofu w. Century Egg: If you like your garlicky chili oil loaded with umami as only the Chinese can do, you'll love this. Think cold mapo tofu with tons of chewy century egg slices - Stir Fried Parsley Beef: A pretty decent noodle soup, though the beef was a bit too chewy and lacked the promised parsley from the menu. However, the broth was complex and satisfying - Peppercorn Beef: A lovely spicy dish if you want a dry noodle dish While English is spoken by the staff, you'll definitely endear yourself and get some extra small favors if you can speak Mandarin (e.g. getting extra bowls and plates for sharing, which aren't provided). With prices in the teens, this is probably the cheapest flavorful meal you'll find in the heart of Grove St. That is, until the newest outpost of Zhangliang around the corner figures out its capacity issues. read more

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@foodie_starry Jersey City finally has a noodle shop worth talking about! Hulah has replaced the old spot but kept some old favorites on the menu, including the incredible Hunan Fresh Fish Noodles that I just can't get enough of. Hulah (By The Old Spot) 523 Jersey Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07302 The Silky Melon & Fried Fresh Fish Noodles ($16.5) were the star of my meal--served in a milky, rich broth with perfectly smooth noodles and the fresh zing of sponge gourd. Watch out for the bones though, they can slow you down a bit! Add their secret Homemade Chili for an extra kick, and don't forget to try their lush, Spicy Braised Beef Tripe and the unbelievably Chili Pig Feet Noodles! The ambiance is clean and bright, the food is hearty and wallet-friendly, and the service is top-notch. It's the perfect spot for solo diners or groups. And for those busy office days? Grab one of their microwave-ready bento boxes for an easy, delicious lunch. If you're in Jersey City and craving some authentic, comforting noodles, you've got to check out Hulah. You won't be disappointed! read more

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This place is empty for a reason. When my friend and I walked in, we figured it was late afternoon, and most folks were either at work or ordering takeout if they were hungry. The guy at the counter boasted about their authentic dishes, which definitely piqued my friend's interest since she's from China. The menu looked tempting, so we decided to order a few dishes to share, making sure to check if any contained sesame, peanuts, or peanut oil After paying and leaving a decent tip, we settled in to wait for our food. The first dish that came out was squid and noodles, loaded with sesame seeds. I asked the server to switch it out. It took a while for him to come back, and when he did, he didn't bring a replacement. After just a few spoonfuls of the broth, my lips and tongue started swelling up. We quickly called the server over, and he assured us there were no peanuts in the dish, just peanut oil. Can you believe that? My friend tried a few spoonfuls too and confirmed that the broth not only had peanut oil but it seemed like the oil had gone bad. There were no apologies from the server, and he didn't offer to replace the dishes or take them off the bill. We ended up leaving most of our food untouched. If you have allergies, steer clear of this place. Actually, we suggest you just stay away, a lot of people seem to be doing that. read more

The Old Spot - Empty restaurant and a menu. - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

The service here is incredibly friendly. I was kindly accommodated. I was shocked to see that no one else was here. The broth was delicious and rich. I got the circle of life, which was much bigger than expected, but incredibly worth it. A cozy and intimate spot for date night or a night out with a group of friends or be like me and dine alone - haha. I highly recommend the Old Spot. It was truly a great meal and I'm STUFFED with leftover soup to take home. I will absolutely be returning. People badmouthing this place in any of the other reviews, personally I don't understand it. They were wonderful from start to finish. read more

Avoid at all cost. Can't believe this place still exists. We went there when it first opened as a hotpot place and initially it was OK, but a few years later during COVID, we went again and man that was a nightmare. Nobody was in the restaurant but us during lunch time, red flag no1. Then their bathroom sink had this huge piece of raw bok choy in it, red flag no. 2 (somebody from the kitchen probably washed their veggies in the customers bathroom sink which was beyond disgusting). This place was the dirtiest I've ever seen. Everywhere was greasy, and there were particles floating in the ice water. Also when we asked about dipping sauce, the "waitress" just went back to the kitchen with the whole bottle that was sticky on the outside, red flag no3. Then there was someone coughing constantly without mask in the kitchen (and we could even hear him spitting in there), cuz he came out and kept coughing and spitting, red flag no4. The food was so unfresh and dirty that I had fear eating it, so we ended up leaving asap after. Since then, I had never visited the spot and tried to avoid it forever. read more

WOULD NEVER COME BACK 1. We explained our order to the waiter but this waiter got it wrong and ended up adding one more ingredient to our dish. After the owner of the restaurant (seems like it) was made aware, he try to PIN this on us saying "you ordered it and you did have it in the dish". Very bad attitude. And after I talked back to him pointing out the mistake is theirs, this owner walked into the kitchen area and start yelling to the waiter in a very loud voice. The yelling lasted for about 5 mins and the entire restaurant can hear it. 2, An old lady came to me with a POS machine in her hand for payment. I put in my card, paid and then on this POS it moved to the next session which is TIP. I was hesitating how much I should pay given what happened but this old lady immediately told me "You CANNOT refuse to pay tip". In my face. The POS was showing "18%" "20%" "25" and "no tip". I was forced to choose the 18% one with her staring right next to me and the owner standing in kitchen area shouting. It was very ugly and we immediately decided to leave. 3. "Small Spicy" is actually very spicy. And don't know why they offered white rice long before we have our dishes. Rice was all cold when our dishes finally arrived. read more

I ordered a braised pork set lunch special. There was a good balance between pork belly, cabbage, fried tofu, and rice. Flavor was overall pretty good, though I would have preferred a little more color on the pork and a hint more sweetness. 3.5 stars read more

Could've sworn I've reviewed this place before, but guess not. I went here with my partner about a year ago. We didn't understand what the difference between the mini and regular hot pot were, and after asking the server we were told there was no difference. Okay, cool! We went ahead and ordered a bunch of items, and began our wait. We got a few dishes, but after 30+ min of nothing else coming out, I asked the waiter what was taking so long. I was told some of the items I ordered weren't available with the mini pot.... okay, but I ASKED what the difference was before ordering and they told me there was no difference. They could've explained this to me when they saw my order sheet. I then asked if I could upgrade to the full pot so I could get the other items, and they told me I couldn't upgrade. For the service, quality, and quantity, there are much better options available. My partner and I now uber to Fort Lee every week to get hot pot. Yes, we pay $40-60 to uber to Fort Lee for hot pot, but its well worth the money (and actually works out to be cheaper than eating here). read more

I've ordered takeouts from this place since the beginning of the pandemic and actually have never dined in before. And I've only ordered their rice sets and cold dishes so I can't speak of their hotpot. For their rice sets, they are packaged well in those bento style boxes and always come with a small black sugar jelly as dessert. I did think their chef might have changed at some point in 2021 cuz my once favorite hot pepper chicken tasted quite different and not as good as before. I still order from them a lot as I think they do taste authentic. My favorites now are the scallion marinated beef cold dish 葱拌牛肉 (tasted very authentic), stewed beef brisket with radish 萝卜炖牛腩 (tender beef and flavorful) and then lastly once my favorite but no longer but still not bad green pepper stew chicken. The marinated egg now is more just like plain boiled egg. Veggie is always cabbages. read more

The Old Spot - 番茄鸡蛋套饭 + 青椒焖鸡套饭 - yumm - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

The food is amazing ！ trust me you won't regret picking this spot. Coooooooommmmmmmmeeeeee

Stay away and think twice if you ever decide to go to this place. Seriously, do your research, especially if you're not familiar with Chinese Hot Pot. This place a way overpriced hot pot with meh quality. Here are the few things to help you with your decision: 1/ They fricking charged for the DIPPING SAUCE!!! I mean, can you name a single place other than this place that charge for dipping sauce? See the attached receipt for yourself. 2/ They changed $10 for a single frozen BLUE CRAB!!! I get it's a restaurant so the price is marked up, but you can find fresh crab much cheaper in any hot pot place in Manhattan. And this is Jersey City. 3/ All you can eat is only available Mon-Thu, and they closed on Tuesday. Do your research before going, and good luck going on weekend. 4/ Unlike other hot pot places in Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens, this place has absolutely no ventilator, so you and your clothes will smell like hot pot as soon as you step in. 5/ Each item on the menu has two different prices: Member and Regular. But the owner told us that Member signup is not available. Look at my photos and see for yourself. We made a mistake of giving them money once. Never again. read more

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good option for hot pot and BBQ! Great environment and service. Authentic flavor for spicy hotpot. read more

The Old Spot - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

WORST service I have ever seen! I made an order via HungryPanda (this is a terrible app with fake reviews!) at 12pm. I went to the restaurant to pick up my order later. But I was told that they were not even opened and were not accepting any order! They said that they cannot cancel my order on their side. I then reached to HungryPanda's customer service. But there was no responding. Later the app showed that my order was ready to pick up. It was 6pm so I went to the restaurant, thinking I can still have a dinner. When I reached to the restaurant, they told me that they are still working on my order, which should be ready in 10min. But after 10min they said my order was still not prepared. Later they said that they did not see my order! And I still did not get my money back! read more

We had a great meal there. We chosen the least spicy option but still was pretty spicy but enjoyable. Very flavourful broth! read more

The Old Spot - a hot pot of soup with various ingredients - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

We came here looking to get some skewers but they are only offering their hotpot right now. So I couldn't give it five stars. When you go to a restaurant expecting what they are advertising, and it's not available is a bit misleading. However, after trying the hot pot, we were pleasantly surprised. I'm not sure why other reviews were complaining about the portions. The portions of meat and sides were quite average compared to many other places. They were also very fresh. The service was good and the restaurant looked clean. It was nice and cool on a hot day. We ordered a premium lamb, grass land lamb, shrimp paste, frozen tofu, and some veggies. We chose a split pot with spicy and mushroom. I don't do spicy and usually do a tomato broth. I had to try the mushroom broth because it was different. It was very flavorful. We made our own sauce from the sauce bar but the only thing missing was leek sauce. We'd definitely come here again. It's convenient in downtown and very authentic. I hope we will get to see the skewers back soon so I can give it five stars. read more

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I've ordered delivery food a couple of times from there, and I don't know exactly about their dine-in service and anything else. One thing I have to say is their food is authentic for sure. The fish rice noodles are awesomely delicious! (But don't order it if you can't handle fish bones) Will definitely try more of their food set in the future. 湖南鲜鱼米线真的太香了 推荐给所有爱吃米线的朋友们！ read more

We were actually walking to a different restaurant and saw this one. We are Hot Pot lovers and this is by far one of the best we have ever eaten. Great portions, friendly staff and the broth was AMAZING. We chose their house broth (regular and spicy). The spicy is SPICY so I would go for medium spice. read more

Ordered pickup at 6:10 pm and got there 6:30 thinking that my food would be ready by then. But it wasn't and I ended up waiting for 30 more minutes until I got my food. I dont understand why it took so long to make a RICE COMBO and the waiter's attitude was terrible straight walking away from me when I asked him the third time when would my food be ready. Would not go back to this place. read more

The old spot can be your choice if you'd like to have Chinese bbq and hotpot in Jersey City. I lived in Jersey City area for 4 years, and visited this restaurant since it opened. I wouldn't say this is my favorite places for BBQ and Hotpot, but I'm so glad it is a descent place if I don't want to go manhattan. I was so shocked that so many negative reviews about this place. Come on! Almost all the hot pot places charge for sauce. If you are saying that as your evidence, I would doubt if you have ever been in a hot pot restaurant. The old spot is one of our limited choices for dinner. Be nice to it. I have no opinion on the place, but really doubt the motivation about those negative review. I would say give it try but not too critical about it. read more

Had diarrhea after dinner. Will not go back ever! Utensils and plates/bowls were dirty. read more

Pros : if you live around that area, that should be a place for you if you dont wanna go to Manhattan. Broth is quite unique and the pot does look fancy. $23 all you can eat is not a bad price if you come by the weekday Cons: unfortunately we came by at weekend and have to pay for dishes we had. It's insanely rip off. They even charge the DIPPING SAUCE which is not mentioned in the menu, and what's more shocking is the $10 for A FROZEN CRAB, yes it's complete frozen and they didn't bother to defrost it before bringing it out. Definitely WOULD NOT RECOMMEND this place for weekend if you dont bother to have a hotpot place that have a Tang/ Xiang hotpot price but the quality is barely near 99 favor taste. Updated: pls read the owner comment! That's so unacceptable attitude from the food & beverage service. Have i said anything sound like "i expect to have ayce"? I'm willing to pay more than that if your food quality and service is on par with price. was it? Absolutely not. This place , once again, only worth if you go for ayce as i mentioned as "pros" part. But weekend price ? Sorry, pass! And now with the attitude of manager, i even never bother to go back on weekday! Thank you, next!!! read more

The Old Spot - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

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First of all I would like to point out about the fact that they offer 10% off of your bill once you give them a 5 star review. Therefore I'd say most of the positive reviews posted here are fake. I can give you a million reasons and here it comes: The waiter they we had was very unprofessional. We wrote down everything we wanted on the menu and when he came collecting it, he didn't even check with us. Instead he took the menu from our hands and placed the order right away, causing wrong dishes were sent to us. We ordered the house special spicy pot with beef oil, and the tomato soup pot. The flavor of the spicy pot is mediocre and I didn't get to taste any of the spices in there. The tomato pot was just HORRIBLE. If you mix ketchup with water and a little bit of chicken stock and that's what you get. The pot alone costs $25 and honestly, you can get better soup base from chinese grocery stores and do it yourself. The overall food quality of this place is also mediocre, especially when you see the prices. The beef we ordered were very fatty, and was very oily after it was cooked. The red clam we ordered were precooked garbage and has no flavor whatsoever. The texture feels like maxi pad and if you're reading this, don't even think about getting those. A matter of fact don't even think about getting into this place, it's a disgrace to Chinese hotpots. But let me finish my review first, I have more to write. The bill was $130 something without the "10% discount" and it is absolutely outrageous! I would rather travel to the city or flushing to have hotpot. You can get way better quality of food for a much cheaper price. I understand that this might be the only hotpot place in Newport, but for the love of god just go somewhere else. This place will leave you nothing but regret because you're going to pay a lot of money for a belly full of garbage. Thank me later. Dear business owner: Don't you dare contacting me. read more

This place is VERY dirty!!! I cannot recommend to anyone, especially those with weak stomachs. Our sauce trays were not washed and there was a BUG in the vegetable tray. There were blotched stains on the chairs and the table was not wiped. Even the water had particles floating in it. It is one thing to have bad service and high prices. It is a totally different thing to put the population at risk. Children and elderly stay beware!!! read more

**NEW MANAGEMENT REVIEW** I went back to The Old Spot since I saw it was under new management (the old management was not very good, hence it closed). Unfortunately, it didn't hook me like I was praying it would. Summary: Awful service, laughably overpriced, small portions, decent flavor. This place has the potential to be booked solid every weekend with a wait out the door if it gets more realistic about its prices and portions, and actually trains its staff. Flavors are all on point. My heart is with them because I'm dying for a decent hot pot restaurant in Jersey City, but it's not quite there yet. New Decor: Great. Looks MUCH better than it used to, so props for that. Service: Non-existent. One person working up front for weekend dinner hours. He didn't speak the entire 70 minutes we were there. Just stared, took menus, took orders, and nodded. Didn't check on us once, didn't really DO anything except stand there and eventually check the kitchen to see if what we ordered was ready. All of our plates of food came out BEFORE the soup pot came out (soup came out 15 minutes after ordering). This was a first for me in any hot pot restaurant. A LOT of room for improvement. Price: Ridiculously, laughably overpriced. The portions are tiny. Notice that other reviews saying the portions are huge and everything is wonderful has 0 friends and 1 review? (reviews left by staff, family or friends who have been asked to review it; not real.) The SOUP BASE WAS $18. I'll say, the soup base tastes great, truly, by any hot pot standard, but $18? Get real guys. We ordered soup, 2 beef, 3 vegetables and no drinks and the bill was $60. $5 for a tiny plate of vegetables, $8 for 3oz of fatty beef. It's cheaper for me to take the PATH into NYC and get hot pot there than it is to walk down the street to this place, and I'd still be able to order twice as much food for the same price. 太贵了。 Flavor: I'll be fair, everything tasted good. I ordered the spiciest possible house-made spicy broth and it was very, very good. The only broth I've had that was better was 海底捞 in Beijing. My wife ordered the beef and mushroom broth and she thought hers was great, too (我的老婆是中国人). The "silky beef" was worth the $12. I'd gladly order it again and pay $12 for that. The regular sliced beef was a very tiny portion for $8, maybe 2-3oz, and tasted OK. We ordered enoki mushroom, Chinese lettuce and taro root and all were fine. These came in decent portion, but for $5 each; more than double what every other hot pot restaurant charges while not charging $18 for broth. read more

By far the worst hot pot I've ever had in my life. We got seated pretty fast and I must say the place was beautifully decorated. However, looks are definitely very deceiving with this place. read more

The quality of meat they use for skewers is quite poor, their sauce tastes quite bad and salty. As a skewers place they even went cheap on cumin and hot pepper. For what it worth, I wouldn't bother writing a review if I didn't have stomach problem the whole day next day. Stay away! read more

The place fills up pretty quickly but we were able to grab a table with no issue sans reservations. I had never been to this location but had been to a similar restaurant prior. The staff was very helpful and suggested different things to try for first timers. I wish they advised that mixing or taking hot sauce would result in a charge on the bill but you live and learn. Portions are large and the spicy broth is great! Parking is limited in the area so be prepared to walk especially on weekends. read more

Legit Good Hotpot! Ingredients are really fresh. SERVICE IS GREAT. The broth is really rich, the house special spicy is a must have. 10/10 would recommend. Best hotpot in JC. read more

The Old Spot - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

This is our regular place to taste authentic Szechuan-style hotpot. Food is fresh and delicious. Service is good. read more

The Old Spot - Dining room - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

great service and attention to new comers. Willing to answer questions and give advice on in which order you should eat ordered food. They have a neat spin game to wine free drinks and food and of course the delicious probiotic yogurt shots. Highly recommend! read more

The Old Spot - New updated restraurant really nice and good food! - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

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I don't really go to JC often, came here for a casual lunch. It was not that busy by the time we arrived, only two tables were seated. We looked at the menu and decided to try both bbq skewer and hotpot. It seems that nobody ordered bbq skewers before us, as the waiter said they need to prepare the grill... fine. For the hotpot, we ordered the tomato soup base, bamboo shoots, corn, a variety of chinese vegetables, beef, luncheon meat etc. You can get the sauce from the sauce station, surprisingly there were not as many options at the sauce station. Most of the containers were empty , they only had approximately 6 options, no scallions or sesame even, kinda disappointing... The vegetables were decent, beef was ok but the luncheon meat tastes stale. After we started our hot pot for a while, the skewers were finally served. I'd say mediocre, they did not even put peppers on it. They charged $1.5/each for the sauce, I paid 96 bucks for two of us, definitely pretty overpriced, not sure if I would come back again, but I guess there are limited options of hotpot in the neighborhood. read more

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Came here with my cousins and we loved it! Service was great! Super glad this is super close to home too! We will def come back!! Our server was great too. Very friendly and approachable! So glad we tried this place out! read more

The Old Spot - Hot pot - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

Great atmosphere and friendly staff we love all the fresh ingredients and homemade noodles. read more

The Old Spot - Beef with chicken broth! - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

If it was a year ago, I would have given this place a 5 star. It started as a pretty authentic Chinese skewers, tapas and hotpot place. We used to order takeout often, and even made nice acquaintance with the young owner who delivers in person. But that's the good old days. Now this place has really bad service, not sure if the owner had changed. One takeaway order can be delayed for one hour, probably they just forgot to make it. Many times we are trying to give this place a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th chance, it screws up all of them by either bad services, or careless mistakes in the order, or one time, they served dough spot soup with no DOUGH and crawfish fired rice with NO CRAWFISH. The reason why I still give them 2 star is because they are trying to come up some new menu items still, up to now. But it really needs to improve services and start caring about your customers. read more

Probably the only authentic hotpot place in jersey city. Good meat and good service. Had an great time and left with full belly. Lol. read more

The Old Spot - Meat combos - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

Service was absolutely TERRIBLE. Not here to spread lies or talk negatively about any place without REAL REASON. Sat at our table for about an hr just to have a bootlegged "grill" "stove" placed in front us with a little candle placed underneath. The meat itself took a good 30 min to come out which I don't understand why because it was supposed to come out raw anyways. Even then our entire food didn't come out. The waiter barely came around the table, barely acknowledged us. Edamame was cold and just all around terrible. Eventually we gave up on waiting and asked to cancel the whole meal and the waiter didn't hesitate and let us know that we didn't have to pay for my coke or the edamame. I was really looking forward to eating here and I'm incredibly disappointed with the outcome. Never going back again. EVER AGAIN. DO BETTER. read more

Best Chinese BBQ in town. Meats are marinated and cut into chunks - you get the best flavor out of them.

Love this spot (hehe). Went there a few times pre-Rona and they are just as good now! Very good staff, don't rush you, and you get to have delicious soup. I went recently to celebrate my husband passing a work certification and it was exactly the way we remembered. Hot Pot isn't a thing you can order in so I'm glad we go to enjoy the amazing food. Will be going back there soon I hope! read more

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!! I found a hair in my hotpot soup and the owner rejected to replace my soup. DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!i will never go back! Never!!!!!!!! read more

The Old Spot - WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!! I found a hair in my hotpot soup and the owner rejected to replace my soup. DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!! - Chinese Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

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Overpriced hot pot! Over changed for frozen seafood! Do your research, then set up pricing. read more