Grandjoy Hotpot大福骨汤麻辣烫 — Restaurant in Vancouver

This was my first try of build-your-own hotpot. Have been curious to try it for a while, but the lineups at Big Way drive me away. Luckily Grandjoy is just a few doors down from the West End Big Way and had no lineup at dinner time. I haven't tried Big Way so it's not like I know what I'm missing, but thought this was really good! One of the staff members greeted me when I walked in, asked if it was my first time, and explained the process to me. You are given a bowl and tongs to pick the ingredients you want. After picking out your ingredients, you take your bowl to the counter and pay by weight, choose a broth, and also order drinks. Then seat yourself and wait for them to cook your bowl and bring it to you. There's lots to choose from - tons of meat and vegetarian proteins, vegetables, and different types of noodles. The bowl is so big and there was so much that I wanted to try that I loaded up too much and couldn't finish my meal. If I come back I will be aware that the bowl is deceptively large and I don't need to fill it. I chose the mushroom vegan broth for my bowl, and the end result was delicious. My favourite toppings that I added were the waffle-cut tofu (forgot what this was actually called) and the fried cheese ball. I opted for "mild" spice (which is the level between "no spice" and "spicy"), which means they add a "mild" amount of red chilies to the broth. I found that the spice didn't really infuse into the broth, but it was pretty spicy when I happened to get a mouthful of chili. I got a strawberry smoothie with coconut jelly to drink. It was creamy and very tasty. I got less sweet but it still seemed like it was on the sweet side. My drink came with a little stuffed bear attached to it which I was not expecting at all - apparently there's a promo going on where all drinks come with a mini bear. The bear looks cheaply made but it's cute. I also didn't realize free ice cream was included until it was offered after I finished. I was so full from my hotpot that I had to turn down the ice cream. I wish that had been made clear earlier (with signage or verbal adviretisement) so that I could've saved room. My total with the hotpot and drink was about $27, which was more than I wanted to spend, but I think if I had been more reasonable about how much I put in my bowl, I could've spent significantly less and gotten a decent deal with the ice cream included. I thought the quality was very good and there's still more toppings that I would've liked to try, so I'd consider coming back. Note that this place may not be safe for people with food allergies since there's a high possibility of cross-contamination with everyone being given one set of tongs to be used on almost all of the...

I went to this place twice already with some of my friends. We discovered by chance walking by and noticed they just opened recently and we know the other popular brand in town so we were intrigued to try this new one instead and we were very happy we did! The first impression is everything in business and their very warm and welcoming atmosphere made us feel very nice. Each every one of staff is very polite, attentive, friendly and so helpful. I understand when the business just open they put an extra effort but they were quite genuinely that. And not only that, soon later we noticed that very humble nice young gentleman who is actually the owner of the restaurant, Ian, is leading by example working very hard, making sure every customer is satisfied, greeting and talking to them asking if they have anything for them to improve..etc. That is quite an impressive character for an owner himself and I can see he will be very successful in the future. The food is excellent here. All the ingredients on the shelves are fresh and great, so many choices and broth is very tasty. Tastes more natural and I don't feel they use MSG and they told us that they are quite selective and focusing on their original broth which makes this kind of hot pot meal a mile difference. And last but not least, these guys are going extra miles on their amazing service. They not only give you a complimentary iced lemon tea but also they give you an amazing delicious soft serve in a waffle cone as a desert at the end. I asked them if they sell it and apparently that's their treat for the customers for eating there. How generous and nice! I'm even started to be a bit concerned if they can make it being so generous but I have a faith in the owner and the staff if they keep doing what they're doing now, they will shine bright in the end. They are positioned in a very expensive real estate (Robson St) but they will be able to even expand to other locations in the...

Tried this place out because it just opened a few days ago. I love hot pot so I had to come by!

I went with the malatang, since it was recommended and mentioned in most of the early reviews. The broth was thick and flavorful. My friends both got the tonkatsu broth, but it was a bit underwhelming missing that deep, rich bone broth flavor.

Ingredient wise, there were a few missing items and a mislabeled item that I was excited for. Beef TONGUE! but what I got was clearly just thick-cut, tough beef. I love beef tongue and can usually tell the difference, But when it’s rolled up and frozen I couldn't tell.

On the bright side, the drinks were good—they definitely got that part right.

Service was just okay. Understandably, the staff seemed a bit lost—it’s a brand new place, so they’re probably still getting into the hung of things. One guy brought our drinks over but didn’t know which one was which (we all ordered different ones), and just said 'I dunno' before walking off.

I’ll definitely give it another try. New places often need a bit of time to settle in.

(My hotpot photo isn't the best—totally forgot to take a pic before I...