Boiling Point — Restaurant in Burnaby

Boiling Point has completely and utterly let me down.

Since 2018, when I was a freshman in university, I had been a regular at Boiling Point. My weekends were often spent here with classmates enjoying hotpot. Some of my friends even worked here. It used to be a beloved part of my university life, and up until I moved to Australia in 2022, the food and service were excellent—staff were friendly and welcoming.

However, when I returned to Vancouver in 2024, things had drastically changed. Service quality has plummeted. Every visit since 2024 has been disappointing. The staff consistently appear impatient and indifferent. Even if it's a busy period, it shouldn’t feel like I’m burdening them just by being there. On top of that, prices have increased from $16.95 to $21.95—a nearly 30% jump. I understand the impact of inflation and COVID, but it still doesn’t justify what happened during my recent visit. This latest experience crossed the line:

1 The server who took our order spoke very quietly through a mask, and with the loud echoing noise in the restaurant, I could barely hear her. I had to lean in just to understand her.

2 The kitchen noise was unbearable. We kept hearing what sounded like dishes and pots being slammed hard. It was so loud I thought there might have been a fight in the back.

3 I ordered the classic beef hotpot but received a different one with a sour taste. I thought maybe the recipe had changed, but later saw on the bill that the server had placed the wrong order.

4 Both my girlfriend and I received our hotpots at the same time, but only mine was lit. Hers sat unheated for over 5 minutes. She stared at her raw ingredients while we tried calling for help—but no one responded until someone brought our drinks and realized the mistake.

5 * And then came the most upsetting moment: we both ordered the same Hokkaido milk tea. One of the cups looked different but tasted similar, so we didn’t think too much of it. A few minutes later, two staff came over, looked at the drink in my girlfriend's hand, said it was a mistake, and took it away without a word—no explanation, no apology. It felt like a stranger walking up to you on the street and snatching your drink from your hand.

We were both stunned. It was one of the most disrespectful customer service experiences I’ve ever had. They later brought the correct drink, but the server slammed it down on the table so hard that the dipping sauce dish jumped and landed on my girlfriend’s phone, cracking her screen protector. Thankfully, she wasn’t hurt. If she had been, I would have taken serious action.

A friend who used to work here once told me the management is extremely harsh and even takes tips meant for the staff. Perhaps that’s why the employees seem so unhappy. Thank you for reading this long review. Regardless of how things may change, I will not be returning to Boiling Point again. If you're a new or returning customer, I urge you to think twice. After a long, tiring day, do you really want to add more frustration by being...

I use to love this place because of the convenience, the price and service but a lot of it took a turn when an incident happened recently at this place which made it even clearer that i would never come back to this place ever again.

My mother ordered the green soup to try because they highly Advertised it on their menu and it really looked appealing. On the other hand, i just ordered the regular beef soup.

When the green soup arrived, the first thing my mom did was sipped the soup and then instantly she had a weird after taste- very bitter and grainy. She asked me if i should taste the soup and so i did and it tasted the same as described. She wanted to brush it off and give it another try (IT WAS ONLY ONE BITE) - but she couldn’t shake off the fact that there was the bitter after taste. I told her to replace and get a new dish. We asked a server to kindly return the dish so we can get a new one because it tasted bitter. The first things that came out of the servers mouth was (sorry, but the policy states if you were to return the dish and get a different dish you would have to pay for the green soup and also pay for the new picked soup)/ she also stated that because she ate the soup she wont be able to take it back…. Theres just a few worst things that a restaurant can say to you is this would be it. Policies are for your workers not for your customers. The lack of customer service is just so profound. Huge disrespect. Me and my mother we wanted to walk out but the server said that she would lock us in and call the cops if we decided to leave without pay.

Im sorry but we are customers who did not appreciate the food and wanted to get a new type of dish. We are not willing to pay for the meal that we are not satisfied with. Its just infuriating when the so called manager is so close to your face and threaten you with cops and locking us in. Its quite un called for. This whole incident did not have to turn out like this.

A few moments later because the amount of exhaustion i had prior coming to this restaurant we just decided to purchase the soup and take it home. What they could have done was make a recommendation to better assist us on making the dish better by adding more broth, or remake the dish etc… GIVE US SOME GOOD SERVICE. Like c’mon, we are willing to pay for the dishes we are happy with but not like this.

I placed a complaint on their website and all they did was give me $10. Okay, thats not even worth anything…. Own up the fact that your policy is horrible. I also told them that i had a massive diarrhea the next morning and all they said was “sorry go to your nearest hospital”… what the Fudge, is this. Imagine someone having an allergic reaction or any medical emergency and all they say is this..

Just a huge let down. I dont think showing up to this place is worth it anymore. Just the lack of respect.

The two pictures posted on here is what i found when i drained the broth, full of dirt and every bite that i took when i got home from the soup was full of dirt and had to spit out the rocks...

Extremely disappointing experience – health and hygiene concerns, poor customer service

I had one of the most unpleasant dining experiences at this Taiwanese hotpot restaurant in Vancouver.

I ordered the seafood tofu hotpot. A few minutes into the meal, I took a sip of the soup and was immediately overwhelmed by a strong, chemical-like smell and taste, resembling disinfectant or dirty cleaning rags. The taste was extremely foul and made me nauseous.

I asked my boyfriend to help confirm, and he didn’t even taste it — the smell alone was enough to make him frown. We called over the server and explained the issue. After taking the soup away for inspection, the staff returned and said the soup was “fine”, and blamed the spoon, claiming it had “just come out of the disinfection cabinet.”

Frankly, that explanation makes no sense. If a spoon has truly been sanitized properly, it should be clean, odorless, and safe to use. This one clearly had a very strong and unpleasant smell, possibly from being left uncleaned for too long or not rinsed after soaking in chemicals. The most disturbing part is I had already ingested a spoonful of soup using that spoon.

Their solution? Simply to give me another spoon. I tried the soup again, and while the smell was less intense, the off-putting flavor was still there — clearly, the contamination had already spread to the soup.

What’s worse is the lack of genuine concern or accountability. The server was dismissive, saying they were “too busy” when we first raised the issue. No one apologized sincerely. Eventually, they agreed to comp my hotpot — only after I insisted. No compensation was offered for the overall ruined dining experience, and they treated the situation as if it wasn’t a big deal.

Also, when we were placing our order earlier, we asked a basic question about spice level. The server responded with an unfriendly and condescending tone, which already set a bad tone for the visit.

In summary: ❌ Potential hygiene issue — strong chemical odor from eating utensil ❌ Poor handling of customer complaint ❌ No sincere apology or proactive resolution ❌ Rude attitude from staff

I left the restaurant feeling nauseous and deeply disappointed. I do not recommend this place, and I sincerely hope the management takes hygiene and customer service more seriously...