Big Way Hot Pot (Burnaby) — Restaurant in Burnaby

*VERY DISAPPOINTED * I left a 5-star review for this location 8 months ago because I had a great experience back then. But unfortunately, things have changed—and not for the better.

*Visit 1 – April I returned in April and ordered the Signature Mala (medium level) to-go.
However, the taste was extremely bland, and there was barely any soup. It was a disappointing experience compared to my previous visit. Still, I gave them the benefit of the doubt—maybe it was just an off day, or a different staff member was cooking.

*Visit 2 – Yesterday (after 4 months) I decided to give them another chance.
We visited before 6 PM, and the restaurant wasn’t busy—probably due to the summer season. We ordered the Signature Mala (hot level) to-go. They told us they would call us when the order was ready, so we waited outside. We noticed a take-out bag sitting on the counter with two drinks next to it. We assumed it wasn’t ours, possibly an Uber Eats order. But eventually, I went inside to check. The staff member looked at the bag and asked me to confirm the phone number—it was ours! That bag had been sitting there for nearly 20 minutes, and no one called us, as promised. I mentioned this, but the woman at the counter possibly a supervisor (different uniform)—just looked confused. She wasn’t rude, but it was clear she lacked proper training or communication skills.

When we got home, we expected at least a decent taste. But it was even worse than before. We ordered HOT level, but it wasn’t spicy at all. The broth was just chili oil with water—no umami, no depth, no flavor. Are you using the same amount of sauce no matter how many ingredients customers choose? Don’t skimp on the sauce! It’s the heart of mala soup. To make things worse, I felt something strange in my mouth while eating—when I spat it out, it was a piece of cut plastic. Later that night, I suffered from: Stomach pain Vomiting (twice) Diarrhea multiple times Zero sleep This experience was unacceptable.
From poor communication to flavorless food and even a foreign object in my meal this is not the quality or safety customers expect.
I sincerely hope the management addresses these...

Big Way Hot Pot is a build your own hotpot restaurant that is unlike any other hotpot restaurant we've tried before. Choose your ingredients, put it into a pot, the kitchen will cook it up for you and bring it out to you in a bowl. They charge by weight, so be forewarned: the cost of your meal could end up being quite pricey, depending on how much you put into your bowl. I got a bit overexcited with all the choices in front of me and the number on my scale ended up being nearly twice the amount shown on my husband 's scale. (Ooops!) That however led us to an interesting discovery. They are equipped with larger size bowls to serve people like me who get carried away and pile a bit more than the average person into their pot!

The selection of foods at Big Way Hot Pot is unparalleled. With unique offerings such as Grilled Cheese Fish Ball and Purple Yam noodles, Big Way Hot Pot is a 5 star experience you don't want to miss out on! They have an incredible variety of meat, seafood and vegetarian options, so whatever your dietary preference may be, they're sure to have you covered. Meat eater or not, I highly recommend the Vegan Mushroom broth.

Their spiked boba is a "must try" but I also recommend ordering an unspiked Sparkling Lychee drink. To my absolute delight, it came with boba poppers in it, and I actually prefer boba poppers over the pearls that are more commonly used in bubble tea drinks. I love the juicy sensation of the poppers bursting open in my mouth. You'll also want to make sure that you leave room in your tummy for the complimentary soft serve ice cream cone. Ours was Matcha green tea ice cream and it was simply delish!

Service: Excellent ( They cleaned our table and refilled our water; when I alerted them to the fact that a noodle I had chosen was missing from my bowl, they remedied the situation right away by offering me a free drink and cooking up the noodle for me to take home. I was extra impressed when the noodle came to me in a reusable cloth bag with the restaurant's name printed upon it.) Parking: Paid parking on the street. Location: Corner of Kingsway...

I have never, ever, in my entire life, imagined myself to be disappointed by a Hot pot/ Ma La Tang, but Big Way Hot Pot was truly one of a kind experience: it refreshed my understanding of hot pot, that it can somehow, miraculously, actually be BAD. I ordered the Szechuan dry mix and my sister the Szechuan pepper pot, both came out to be ~33dollars before tax. My pot was super super salty and tasted like preservative seasoning (also not spicy at all), while my sister's broth tasted bland. No clear broth was provided to help dilute the miserable taste. (I guess this is how they trick you to pay 2.50 extra for white rice.)This is the first time I wish I had just plain water as "broth", so I could at least enjoy the food with sauces, except the sauce station was also unfortunately infested with small flies. The restaurant has really questionable layout that it forces people to keep walking by the tables it was seriously annoying. The one star rating is for your fresh garnish and friendly staff. This place is a prime example of how Google ratings of chain restaurants in lower mainland BC cannot be trusted. As a matter of fact, my sister only invited me to dine here today because she kept seeing ads of it on social media (despite her Chinese friends told her it is terrible). We both agreed that her friends are correct and neither of us would come back. Good job on the advertising, you got us good. I have had my fair share of sussy Ma La Tang but they were at least satisfying and dirt cheap. Big Way hot pot somehow manages to taste worse and be expensive. Here in Burnaby, you can literally pay less for a personal hot pot that tastes miles better and has bigger portion, or you can pay the same price to go to mid-tier AYCE, or pay 15 bucks more for high-tier AYCE with premium quality ingredients. The actual good moment I had today was when we finally stepped outside the restaurant and I smelt the BBQ next door lol. I had to edit my rating for other similar restaurant cause Big Way Hot Pot drops the bar...