Chili Hot Pot Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Greater Strathcona

This was our second time trying this place out and we were very disappointed to say the least.

The first time we came and the reason we hadn't been back was because the dining area was in a complete state, lacking cleanliness, and space-wise, we had felt like sardines in a tin can. Our hope was that this was going to be different for our second-go around but that was hardly the case.

The most disappointing piece about our experience was the customer service. It was quite busy when we arrived but we were given a table right away (which we appreciated). It took over 10 mins for them to bring us a menu and it got to the point where we had to track down one of the servers to get us one. After we wrote down what we wanted, it took another 15 mins before we submitted it because nobody came and checked in with us nor did they make sure we knew what to do with ordering. The food we ordered came out sporadically and half of what we ordered never actually made it to our table. The worst part was that they didn't even bring us the soup to cook the food so we had all these raw foods sitting out for close to 20 mins. Finally the Manager noticed we were sitting there without soup and came over to tell us that we had to tell the server what soup base we wanted instead of marking it on the order form which had a spot to order the soup. The server didn't explain any of this to us nor did they ask what soup base we wanted, so we wasted the last 45 mins. I understand the food service industry can be busy but it shouldn't be our responsibility to chase down staff in order to make an order let alone be sitting there for 45 mins without anyone bothering to check in with us. It's unacceptable business practice and there isn't any excuse for that. When they did bring the soup base to us finally, the server who brought them tried turning on the stove unit, realized it wasn't lit up or turned on, shrugged their shoulders and walked away without a word. We had to wait another 5 to 10 mins before I was able to track down that same server to help us. It turns out it wasn't even plugged in and he was fine with it. I honestly couldn't believe the customer service here. I don't like to give bad reviews, I really want to give my best to places that deserve it but this has been the worst customer service experience I have ever had in my life.

The last thing I'll mention is the space. As a tall man, standing at 6'5", I felt super uncomfortable. I was barely able to fit at the table and there is just hardly any room to enjoy yourself. My anxiety started kicking in, couple that with the lack of customer service, I can never see myself coming back nor recommending this place to anyone. It's super upsetting to leave this review because the variety at this hot pot looked to be so amazing but it was incredibly disappointing.

TLDR: Customer service was non-existent and it was the first time in my life I didn't leave a tip. The food was lackluster and you barely have enough space to breathe. Save yourself the +$30 and go to Chinese Hot Pot down the road for $18 for late night hot pot. Much better option with far greater customer...

The woman working tried to assist to make me feel better but I was not having it. I felt embarrassed and uncomfortable. We called to see if you needed. Reservation or could just go, she asked how many (2) and when? I said within 30 minutes. She said yes, okay come down. We left parked down the side street and went in. She said it would be another 10 minutes they had a table just finishing up to go sit by the back door. We sat there, she brought by the menus so we could start picking what we wanted. 5 ish minutes later she came and said she could seat us. We sat down she provided water, for our pops and told us to go and get our sauces. Another friendly lady served us our sauces with the new Covid protocols. The first woman stood between our table and the table to our left that was against the wall. Her and the person at the other table spoke in their language, she moved our table over hitting my knee and apologized. They again exchanged words and she pushed our table over to the pillar pinching my knee between the table and my chair while my partner was attempting to move their chair. Again she apologized. They spoke again as a waiter brought over our soup bases. She leaned in and said I’m sorry he doesn’t like that you guys are still too close I need you to go back and sit by the door again until someone else is done so we can seat you. Then she looked up and said the table in font of us should be done soon. She said he called so she would like us to wait. I retorted with the same words we called as well and were told to come. So we took our pops and went and sat back the back door, and the server took our soup bases to the back and our sauces we had chosen. The waitress said she would not charge us for our pop (neat). We waited another 5-10 minutes until an alternate table left so she could seat us. I expressed my concern and that I felt embarrassed and that we shouldn’t have had to move. She said well it’s not my fault either. She brought us over lemonade ice tea type drink and again stated all the drinks on me. They brought the food out fast since I assume they started making what we ordered when they sat us the first time. I needed a minute to cool off so I sat there while my partner started to eat. She came over and hugged me from the side and rubbed my arm and told me to eat that I’m hungry and should eat. (Neat, thank you for hugging me during social distancing). She did try by being light and trying to laugh it off, but I was not having any of it or in the mood at that point. She did reduce the bill to the after 9pm charge. We paid and left. We walked back to car which again annoyed me as the people that didn’t want us to sit next to them were parked in the Lexus behind my car, so we were there first and had called before coming but had to leave our table wait and be re seated while our soup base got to sit. They don’t have good food choices and the bases are tasty. It was just a sour taste...

I would not recommend this restaurant.

The service staff was not very nice. A few of the older ladies were, but my waitress was not. When I first arrived, my waitress put me in a table right next to another, which was uncomfortable. She asked me what soup I wanted before even giving me a menu showing me the flavours. She asked if I wanted anything to drink, but did not give me a drink menu. I ended up asking what kind of tea they had and they only had Jasmine Tea, so I ordered that, but never got it. It was my first time eating here and they did not give me any explanation of how their restaurant works. The menu has a few instructions, which is helpful, but I didn't see a pencil on the table so I figured I couldn't fill it out. I waited a long time for my waitress to come back to my table, I thought about leaving several times as I was quite hungry and I had to wait a long time not knowing how to even order. When my waitress returned and saw my empty menu, she laughed at me, which I did not appreciate. The service staff were also much nicer to the customers with Asian appearance than the other customers, so if you are a person of Asian decent, it is possible you won't have the service staff same issues I had.

They have a sauce bar, which was completely hidden from view from my table and my server never told me about it so the first half of my meal was quite unseasoned until I noticed other tables leaving empty handed and returning with tasty sauces.

Another huge issue is the portions. The menu does not give a clue as to the size of portions. I ordered 1 portion of watercress for my soup and got a basket big enough for four-five soups. I also ordered 1 potion of fresh mushrooms but only got 1 single mushroom cut into quarters. I ordered sliced pork and got 20 slices of pork. I find this extremely wasteful, especially of the meat products. I ate alone and I do not understand how they could have expected me to eat 20 slices of pork even if that was the only thing I was eating in my soup. I saw there were many other tables who had the same portion control issues.

I will give this restaurant one star for the cat robot server! Such a cute and happy experience! Love that little robot and I would love to see more of them. The other star for the food since it was...