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| - Chine is a clean, spacious restaurant for hot pot with solid fresh ingredients.
I came to Chine for lunch as I've been burned a couple of times by the inconsistent opening hours of their popular competitor, Celebrity Hot Pot. Apparently Chine is a huge chain from China, which I wasn't aware of initially.
Like other hot pot restaurants, this place is all you can eat. You're given a sheet of paper and you just check off what you like.
There's a few options for broth. I tasted the "legendary" spicy broth (mild) and the corn and taro broth. The former, even though it's mild, has quite the kick. The spiciness intensifies as the broth boils off. It's perfect for those who like the tongue-numbing action of Szechuan peppercorn. The corn and taro broth, on the other hand, was inoffensive.
There's a decent selection of sauces to choose from. My only comparison is Celebrity Hot Pot which has more peanut and sesame-based options. Nevertheless, there's still a decent number of sauces though no raw eggs.
The menu's pretty extensive with some interesting pre-marinated options for meat. Granted, when the food comes, you're quickly overwhelmed by what's on your table, it's hard to keep track of what's what.
Service was good. I never had to ask for my broth to be re-filled and food came out promptly. There were a few items that we ordered that never came, but the 95% of what we ordered arrived.
Finally, two negatives:
1) there's no drink fountain but it wasn't a big deal for me. You can still get water or tea at your table
2) my slight raw meat germ phobia wishes there were separate tongs for cooking, though you can always ask for an extra pair of chopsticks.
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