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| - IN LOVE.
This is currently my fave meal of 2016 and given how much I eat out, it's a pretty decent compliment.
Chine is a very well-priced AYCE hot pot alternative in Chinatown. It's a clean space, and everyone gets their own hot pot with choice of broth ($3-4 each) - be warned, suicide and killer are LEGIT spicy. Once broth is picked, the pigging out can begin. Everything is done via an order sheet (similar to dim sum places and AYCE sushi) and you get two rounds - so no need to go super crazy the first time! You also get to make your own sauce at a station so tweak to your liking using seafood sauce, hot sauce, sesame paste and much more.
The variety of food here is great, you have your typical beef, lamb slices (and there are several variations), as well as seafood (octopus, shrimp, mussles etc.), veggies (spinach, watercress, etc.), carbs (vermicelli, udon, etc.). In addition, they have a few great desserts such as the golden fried bun dipped in condensed milk. Pure deliciousness. The thing that put Chine at a solid five stars for me is the lovely service - everyone was super friendly and made some solid recommendations. As well, when our first order was not processed through due to a technical glitch, we received both several apologies and immediate action to ensure our food came out in the next couple minutes. Water/tea and soup broth was refilled constantly without asking.
I walked out prob several lbs heavier from this meal (but definitely zero regrets).
Note: on a weekend evening Chine was very busy so if you have a smaller group, you may need to share a table with other groups to curb the wait. Chine also accepts reservations for groups of 6 or more.
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