Hot pot

Tasty Pot Allston

August 31, 2018 by Rich 16 Comments

[4.38/5] I would be one wealthy dude if I got a dollar for all the times I’ve passed Tasty Pot waiting for them to open. So many “hot pot” themed restaurants in the area, yet all offering their own take on it. This one may just be the one to stand out.

Review #043
Restaurant Type: Casual Dining.
My short summary sentence: Tasty Pot has got it going on!

Food (65%)
Taste to price 4.5/5
Quality to price 4.5/5
Portion to price 4.5/5
Average = 4.5

Service (20%)
Friendliness 4/5
Promptness 4.5/5
Average = 4.25

Cleanliness (15%)
Bathroom 3.5/5
Dining area 4.5/5
Kitchen area 4/5
Average = 4

Overall Score = [F(.65)]+[S(.20)]+C(.15)]
= [2.93]+[0.85]+[0.6]
= 4.38

The Pluses…
+ The wait was worth it. How can this restaurant with the most unsuspecting exterior be so drastically different inside. When you walk in, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know how much effort was put in building the space. I mean, they got brand new furniture, brick busting dragons on the wall, and an open kitchen right in the middle as you enter. That’s when I knew this place was serious.
+ I ordered the TAIWANESE SUPREME SPICY HOT SOUP which is their flagship entree. At $17.99 split between 2 people, that is a steal!
+ Portion sizes are out of this world. Just look at the pictures, they look they’re on steroids.
+ I chose the FLAMING SPICY option which is the spiciest of them all. I have to warn you that when they say its the spiciest, they really mean it. They don’t hold back and my tolerance is pretty high. Just something for you to consider.
+ Food came out lightning quick. Thor must have been cookin’ in the back.
+ Waiters were everywhere waiting to service you.
+ Definitely a place worth repeating for me.

The Negs…
– No major negatives here.

The Neutrals…
o The baby octopus was not really baby octopus. They were more like College Freshman 15 sized 🙂
o My GF likes their soundtrack. We suspect the owner came from the same generation. Lots of Jay Chou and JJ Lin 😛

In Conclusion…
Tasty Pot is for real. If they keep up and maintain the quality of their soft opening, I can see them escaping with the crown for best hot pot in Allston/Brighton. I’ll be back. Chow!

Happy Lamb Hot Pot Cambridge

August 27, 2018 by Rich 17 Comments

[4.11/5] I was getting tired of my usual hot pot stops and wanted to try something different for once. Happy Lamb, you guys have great reviews and I happen to be in the area so, why not?

Review #039
Restaurant Type: Casual Dining.
My short summary sentence: Keep the lambs happy and you’ll keep me around.

Food (65%)
Taste to price 4/5
Quality to price 4/5
Portion to price 4.5/5
Average = 4.17

Service (20%)
Friendliness 4/5
Promptness 4/5
Average = 4

Cleanliness (15%)
Bathroom n/a
Dining area 4/5
Kitchen area 4/5
Average = 4

Overall Score = [F(.65)]+[S(.20)]+C(.15)]
= [2.71]+[0.8]+[0.6]
= 4.11

The Pluses…
+ Great Lunch Menu at approx. $13!
+ You get to choose a protein, broth, and comes with a set of veggies.
+ The variety of veggies is pretty good.
+ Large selection of meats and veggies.
+ Great portion sizes. Not too much and not too little.
+ The slices of the meat was nice. Not overly frozen like some places.
+ Friendly waiter and a clean kitchen.
+ Broth was full of flavor :). Lot of herbs and spices most notably cumin.
+ Delicious Lamb Skewers! They were perfectly tender and hot! They should make a Chili Powder option. I would have loved it sprinkled all over.

The Negatives…
– No major negatives here.

The Neutral…
o Broth was a little salty which make sense since dipping sauce is not encouraged.
o I repeat, this is not the place for dipping! In case you absolutely need to dippity-dip, they have Sesame oil, Sesame Sauce, Minced Garlic, and Chili.
o Despite having only one waiter (who was also, strangely, the host) for the whole restaurant, he was pretty efficient. I don’t recall needing to find the waiter to get my water filled or something else. He always came before I needed anything.

Shabu Zen Allston

July 31, 2018 by Rich

The OG of Boston Hot Pot.

Having grown up in Boston when I think of Hot Pot, Shabu Zen immediately comes to mind mainly because of them being the first hot pot restaurant in Chinatown. Then came Kaze and a whole slew of hot pot focused businesses in the early 2000’s. This Allston location is their second and it appears a new generation of hot pot restaurants are either on the way or have opened within the last year to Allston. So how does the OG compare to their younger and hipper brethren?

Restaurant Type: Casual Dining.

Food (65%)
Taste to price 4/5
Quality to price 4/5
Portion to price 4/5
Average = 4

Service (20%)
Friendliness 4/5
Promptness 4/5
Average = 4

Cleanliness (15%)
Bathroom 4/5
Dining area 4/5
Kitchen area 4/5
Average = 4

Overall Score = [F(.65)]+[S(.20)]+C(.15)]
= [2.6]+[0.8]+[0.6]
= 4

What else to know: To answer my question, they are still holding it down after almost 2 decades! This is still the hot pot restaurant to go to. The quality is there. Sure, portion sizes have decreased and prices inflated but one would expect that with the changing times. My biggest surprise is how they’ve managed to stay consistent all these years. For some time, it felt like Spring Shabu Shabu would have threatened their business but I haven’t seen any difference. If anything, the competition is keeping Shabu Zen on it’s toes. With a Mala Kung Fu Hot Pot and another one down Harvard Ave opening before the end of this year, hot pot is heating up some more (pun intended). As customers we’ve got to kick back and enjoy this second golden era of hot pots. What a time it is, to be alive for hot potheads.

Koi Japanese Cuisine

June 11, 2018 by Rich 13 Comments

If you want to try something different, want to go somewhere “foreign”, and love spicy hot pot, I strongly recommend this place. It’s a small ma and pa type of restaurant. My GF and I have been going here for almost 2 years now!

Food: See pic (65%)
Taste to price 5/5
Quality to price 4.5/5
Portion to price 2.5/5
Average = 4

Service (20%)
Friendliness 4/5
Promptness 4/5
Average = 4

Cleanliness (15%)
Bathroom 3.5/5
Dining area 5/5
Kitchen area 4/5
Average = 4.17

Overall Score = [F(.65)]+[S(.20)]+C(.15)]
= [2.6]+[0.8]+[0.63]
= 4.03

What else to know: Be ready. The prices here seems to be getting more expensive. After the price of the broth and a few items, it can easily become expensive so monitor your orders. Besides that, this is my favorite place to get hot pot. They have some things in their menu you just cannot find anywhere else in Boston. They also have a self-serve mini sauce bar (similar to Spring Shabu Shabu) that’s got to be taken advantage of. My go-to sauce mix is minced garlic, chili peppers, scallions, sesame oil, soy sauce, red vinegar, and a bunch of cilantro. You can also ignore the word “sushi” in their name because there’s nothing sushi about it. They actually removed their sushi menu because their customers only go there for one thing, Spicy Hot Pot!

Pot Bar

April 24, 2018 by Rich 41 Comments

This placed was once a Hookah Bar, then it became a “Pot” Bar… I thought to myself, “Wow, this is a Boston first.”

Food: See pic (65%)
Taste to price 4/5
Quality to price 3/5
Portion to price 3.5/5
Average = 3.5

Service (20%)
Friendliness 3.5/5
Promptness 2/5
Average = 2.75

Cleanliness (15%)
Bathroom 5/5
Dining area 5/5
Kitchen area 5/5
Average = 5

Overall Score = [F(.65)]+[S(.20)]+C(.15)]
= [2.28]+[0.55]+[0.75]
= 3.58

What else to know: I was sort of right on the first pot bar thing but wrong on so many levels of my imagination :$ This place is a Hot Pot Full Service Restaurant. Something was lost in translation from Chinese to English.

I actually came here on their soft opening back in March so I will have to come back for another review. I’m sure they’ve streamlined their processes and changed menu items since then. This place is a little bit of a different twist to your typical hot pot. Instead of throwing the veggies and meat yourself into your pot, they bring the pot to you already mixed. In otherwords, DIY hot pot became DIFM hot pot. I ordered the House Special Hot Pot which took quite some time to arrive. I will give them the benefit of doubt and label this a soft opening hiccup. As for the soup, it was pretty tasty considering I’m a fan of mala flavored foods but I did notice the price. At $12.95 with the selected veggies and meat, it was a little steep factoring in the portion and time of the day as I came in during lunch hours. Could a lunch menu be in development 🙂 ? I think it would help them a lot. I conclude by wishing this place best of luck and I look forward to my second visit. Good luck guys.

House Special
Fried Fermented Tofu

Hot pot

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