老九门火锅旗舰店laojiumen hotpot 9 — Restaurant in Toronto

We dropped in here for lunch around 1pm. You have to park next door and the restaurant validates your parking when leaving. You have you use the elevator and get off on the ground floor. When leaving the parking lot put in the yellow validated receipt. And when we first went to the restaurant we sat at the bench tables with the burners. There was no place to hang your coats. We asked to move to table with the large hotpot. You can control your own temperature. You have to scan the QR code with your phone and put how many people $35 each and what soup base you want $10 each. You can get 2 soup bases for $20. We got the Tom Yum soup base and I found it too salty. I should have gotten the tomato base. Something simple. I don’t understand why it’s not a base price of $45. Instead of $35 and $10 for the soup. It was confusing. We then checked off the different meats. And they give lots of meat. After that we went to the appetizer station and it was all in Chinese. Here you mix your own dipping sauce and there was some fruits, boiled eggs, chicken wings. Then you go to the food station to get the stuff to put in the broth- like vegetables, noodles and seafood. Here they have the Chinese and English signs.There were some already fried foods like spring rolls, french fries and onion rings. There was a large selection of food to put in the broth.They also give a pitcher of water but it was warm. And there is a deal going on now where the soft drinks are free. The dessert is 3 different melona bar flavours. I love the decor of this restaurant. It felt very Asian. With lanterns, Chinese statues, bonsai tree and everything in red. The servers were very helpful. It if wasn’t for them we would have been so lost. Also the music was all Chinese songs. We spent one hour and a half here. It was a great experience that I would...

I recently dined at 老九门火锅旗舰店 (Laojiumen Hotpot 9) located in North York with a group of friends on a Friday night. Surprisingly, the restaurant wasn't too busy, even though we had made a reservation. We were promptly seated inside, and I couldn't help but admire the pleasant decor.

This marked my third visit to the restaurant, with my prior experiences dating back to the pre-pandemic era. Laojiumen Hotpot 9 was, for the most part, decent and generally okay. The sauce-making station, a staple of hotpot places, met expectations. It offered a variety of options to customize your dipping sauces.

The restaurant's ambiance was nice, though it could benefit from a little touch-up to freshen things up. The lighting and layout contributed to a comfortable dining experience.

One aspect where Laojiumen Hotpot 9 certainly shined was in the service department. The staff was attentive, and our orders arrived promptly. The food was well-prepared, and the soup bases, although pretty standard, served their purpose. We opted for a spicy soup and a regular one, satisfying our diverse tastes.

On the downside, I wish there was a bit more attention to cleanliness overall. While it didn't mar our experience, a bit more tidiness would have been appreciated.

One standout feature was the complimentary parking. The adjacent parking garage offered free parking for restaurant patrons, which was a great convenience in the busy North York area.

In conclusion, Laojiumen Hotpot 9 provided a decent dining experience. The service was pleasant, and the food was satisfactory. While some minor improvements in ambiance and cleanliness would enhance the overall experience, the free parking was a welcome bonus. I left the restaurant without any major complaints, and it was a decent option for a...

Came here for dinner with a group of 13 on a Sunday. We were seated in a sort of private space, but on 2 different tables. Decor of the entire restaurant is very beautiful. Straight out of an old-time chinese movie. PROS:

1. Menu/Ordering was via website from QR codes on the table legs. The site was synced by QR code scanned. So everyone from the same table could order and see what someone else added without duplicating
2. Sauce section offers lots of variety, as well as mini appetizers available (ie. Edammme, seaweed salad, etc)
3. Parking is validated, which was a nice surprise
4. Food options had a good amount with majority included in the AYCE price and some specialty items that cost above the standard AYCE. Drinks were also not included. Didn't notice the price of AYCE, but our table bill for 7 was $400 after tax and tip and we ordered a good amount of drinks

CONS:

1. Waiters/Waitresses only spoke mandarin. Even when you tell them you don't speak mandarin in English, they just keep speaking it to you because you're Asian. 2)Kitchen did not pay attention to quantity submitted or number of people on table. Regardless if you put an 1 or a 5, you got the same sized plate (ie. We had 7 on our table and put a 3 next to an item, expecting to get enough for everyone. They gave us 2pcs of that item TOTAL)
2. Waitresses are RUDE. After getting tired of re-entering an order 5 times just to get what we ordered in the first order, we asked about the kitchen not giving us the quantity we ordered, explaining to them that we have 7 people and each time, we're only getting 2 of something, her response was "Do you NEED that?"

Needless to say, we will not be returning to this restaurant. Good customer service is vital to the success of a business in the Food...