Kim Tao Hot Pot 金稻 — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

(For those unfamiliar with hot pot, I've included a description at the end of my review.)

Cheap food, cheap service, cheap prices. I don't mean this in a bad way, though; I think this restaurant is very honest and upfront about where it places itself on the quality scale. Don't come here for atmosphere or pampering, but if you want a filling meal at a great price, this is your place.

Food: typical of Asian buffets, they will never bring you everything you order. But you can always order more. There is almost no English spoken here, ordering is done through marking things down on a printed sheet of paper (with bad English translations). About a third of the menu is not actually on those sheets either, so there's pretty much no way to get them if you don't speak Chinese. Individual servings are small, some of the meat was freezer burnt, the vegetables aren't chopped (the seaweed comes in sheets that are inches long, the melons aren't skinned). BUT, there is a huge variety in choice and everything does taste great once cooked.

Service: its not that the service here is bad, more like nonexistent. There's no real service, because no one takes your order. Servers are really bussers. Even if you speak Chinese, they won't be any more helpful or patient. The staff are highly overworked and stressed all the time. They're not intentionally being rude, just too tired to care.

Price: it's about $25 per adult, a few dollars more with seafood (it's a pretty good deal - you get one serving per person of each kind of seafood, such as scallops shrimp squid and mussels). There's a late night special for $23, not including seafood, after 10pm. This place is open 4pm to 2am every day, last call 1am.

For those wondering what hot pot is: it's a style of cooking favoured by the northern Chinese. A pot of water, with flavourants (herbs, vegetables, sauces), is boiled. You are served raw ingredients, boil them in the pot, and eat them as soon as they are ready. There's a plethora of seasonings that can be used on the cooked items. There's something uniquely satisfying about the huge variety and small serving sizes of piping steaming hot food. You can experience an entire world of flavour, and nothing will fill and warm you quite...

Smiling emoji] Recently in Toronto, I found this super hidden Jindao Hot Pot place. It looks so ordinary on the outside, real low - key. But when I walked in, I was totally shocked! 😳 The environment is spacious and bright ✨ and the menu is super rich 🥹. The best part is it's ayce for only [3 bucks per person! Me and my friends stuffed ourselves so much we could barely walk out 💥 It's an absolute steal!

[Shy emoji] The satay soup base: It's the highlight of Cantonese hot pot. The rich aroma just hits you. Pair it with their sesame sauce and satay sauce, and one bite will make you fly with joy.

[Wow emoji] All kinds of hand - made meatballs: You can really taste the bounce of the handmade ones. The beef and pork balls are especially good.

[Drinking emoji] Hand - made chives and pork dumplings: One bite and there's so much juicy meat inside. It's so satisfying.

[Smirk emoji] Fried food: I gotta share the deep - fried scallops, fried eggplant, fried milk, fried pork intestines, and brown sugar glutinous rice cakes... Every single one is so good it'll make you cry. The combination of sweet and savory is so addictive.

[Kissy emoji] Watercress and crown daisy: They give you a huge bowl. Cooking them in the hot pot makes them so fragrant.

[Thumbs - up emoji] Stir - fried sticky rice: It's that warm, freshly - cooked sticky rice with that amazing wok flavor. It's so good you'll want to take it home.

[Waiting for more emoji] Desserts: They have mung bean soup, red bean soup, coconut sago... Having a bowl after the meal is so blissful.

[Buy emoji] Plum juice: It's free refills. It's the ultimate grease - fighting drink. I'm sold.

[Laughing emoji] Even though the place doesn't look like much from the outside, the waiters are super friendly. They'll add soup and clear the plates on their own. The atmosphere is also great.

✅ Super high cost - performance ✅ Authentic Cantonese flavor ✅ A wide and substantial selection of dishes ✅ Clean environment and great service

[Heart - eyes emoji] Stop going to just those trendy hot pot places. You gotta check out this kind of authentic and down - to - earth hidden gem. We were so full and it only cost 30...

The experience was kind of bad

First off, the broth we got on that day was so watery with 2 pieces of tomatoes floating on there, I tasted absolutely nothing

The meat was also not fresh, cut too thick and hard to chew, I will not comment on if it’s artificial meat, but the meat quality from the review years ago is gone. The pig intestine smelled and although we ordered only one portion, it arrived a full plate, the squid balls were literally stinking and all of us tasted it and said it’s not fresh and have probably been kept out for a few days. The owner came to us and told us that the squid balls we’re suppose to stink because he “marinate” it, but ewww brother eww you can’t fool nobody because I can tell if it’s marinated or down left in the tray for a day

The fried food was also mediocre, the fried tofu was cold in the middle with uncooked fillings, I’m so astonished at what to expect next that I didn’t even remember to take sample or pictures, but a wise word from me, don’t try your luck in getting a meal quality similar to reviews from 1-4years ago, the quality have changed and no one is a fool

In the end we paid $46 per person, the service fee is a mandatory 13% which I find absolutely unreasonable given the low quality of food, the 13% tax was also not removed even though a restraunt I went to yesterday didn’t charge me food tax due to the consumer tax policy

Cheap meat, cheap service, and worst of all, not admitting the fact that they are serving low quality food and making excuses for their short coming, while charging us almost $50 bucks, which I would prefer to go to Daimaru or any other AYCE hotpot

It’s...