We decided to try Double 10 Mini Hot Pot for an early dinner this past weekend. We had heard good things about Double 10 so were excited to visit. I was pleased that it exceeded all my expectations.
The location is in a strip mall on Park Street. Once inside, the restaurant is open, airy, and pretty plain. We were greeted immediately, welcomed, ushered to a table, and asked if we had had Hot Pot previously. Although my partner and I have, my sister and her husband had not. Our hostess explained how to order and said they would walk us through it when ready. We all ordered a combination platter and selected our protein and broth. There were I think around ten broths to choose from. Our hostess checked with each of us to see what spiciness level we wanted.
While our plates were being prepared, we checked out the sauce bar. It includes various prepared sauces as well as ingredients like garlic, cilantro, and chilis which you can add to each sauce. Valuable to us, it included a recipe for a dipping sauce which was fantastic! Coming up with my own sauce was daunting. Following the recipe to make this delicious sauce was awesome. There were also eggs, noodles, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice noodles which you could add to your hot-pot. Strainers were available which you could use to help lift your food out of your hot-pot.
Soon our hot-pots were delivered to our table. Each person has their own hot-pot and burner. Our host set our hot-pots to heat, explained what each ingredient in our combination plate was and offered tips on how long to cook each item.
The ingredients were all fresh and plentiful. The flavor in my szechwan broth was delicious and the perfect spice level. (I drank quite a bit of the broth when I was done w/my meal.) As I mentioned before the dipping sauce was outstanding.The noodles were hard to pull out of the broth and I didn't care for my partner's coconut broth which I found bland, but other than that is was a fun and delicious meal.
I've been to other hot-pot restaurants and the service and quality of this experience really set it apart. Our host and hostess checked up on us multiple times, they explained what to do and answered questions and made suggestions. Everything we needed was there. This was a great experience and I can't wait to go back and do it again.