| rev:text
| - first, the highlights:
very nice and attentive staff. my water and tea never went empty. they refilled my sauces many times without being annoyed. they replenished our broth after it reduced a little too much for hot pot.
the decor is nice. very trendy but not ridiculously so. the muted colors and wood tables with spot lighting really enhanced the feeling that gives hot pot its entertainment appeal: the food is the show.
really nice bathrooms. i know that this is a weird thing to discuss but, a nice bathroom really helps to make you feel comfortable wherever you are. a nasty bathroom can make you lose your appetite and will muddy your outlook on the entire experience at a restaurant. but no need to worry about that here.
presentation of the food was lovely. the crisp and clean veggies were generously piled high. the sliced meats were rolled which, not only looked nice, but keeps the individual pieces from sticking to each other as well as making it easier to grasp one piece at a time. the plates and bowls used were modern and simple.
so, why only 2 stars? well...
smell. although the restaurant LOOKS really pleasing, they do not have enough ventilation in place to handle the copious vapors emanating from all the hot pots in action. end result = smells like dirty cat litter. or, garbage? i can't quite place the smell but it's really off-putting, making everything you eat taste like a hint of... whatever it is.
cost. hot pot costs pennies to make. they inflated the prices SO much that i could not bear to enjoy my meal. $2 for a TINY bowl of rice?! not even your typically-sized rice bowl, but a mini-version of that for $2!!! insane. the protein selections are also portioned for infants but priced for their rich parents. the whole time i was staring at the menu, all i could think was, "i could get all these things at the market for a fraction of the price!"
so what did i do? i went to mekong plaza and bought an electric burner for $15. then, i bought veggies and sliced meats for a total of $15. i went home, made a pot of rice, some sauces, and a soup base. then i put the pot of soup base on the little electric burner on the dining table. TADA! hotpot at home for me, my husband and my brother for $15 startup costs and $15 consumables. by the way, my husband and brother eat like animals. and we STILL had leftovers. wow.
so thank you Tien Wong, for pissing me off to the point of making hot pot myself and discovering that it's much cheaper and easier to do at home than i realized. all this talk about hot pot makes me want to eat it for dinner tonight. and i will... AT HOME!!!
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