Super Thai Hot Pot 超级泰 — Restaurant in Vancouver

I tried this place for the first time, for Dinner, on Feb. 17, 2025 (It was Family Day holiday) and we arrived around 6:45 pm without reservation. There was only a group of 4 ahead of us. There is a computer tablet on a stand where you can add your name and phone number to the waitlist. We entered our names and only had to wait 5 minutes and were seated. You pick up your container and tong (near the entrance) and choose whatever you like for your meal in the refrigerated section along the wall. Selection was pretty extensive. (Note: I have not eaten at Big Way Hotpot, so can't compare). Because you pay by the weight, I tried to avoid selecting heavy items like corn on the cob. I like a mix of green veggies, fish slices (snake head fish slices were great) shaved beef, lamb, some pork blood, spinach noodles, mushrooms, prawns. I also chose some tofu puffs but they were quite filling so I would probably avoid those in the future. After your selection, you go to the cashier where she will weigh your order and ask you to select your broth. Broths choices are: *Signature Tom Yum Broth (very mild) *Green Pepper broth *Korean Style Kimchi broth *Pork Bone Broth *Mushroom Broth *Hong Kong style Satay broth

I chose the Pork bone soup broth, and my son chose the Signature Tom Yum soup broth.

We also bought two 'winter melon' drinks where were very tasty and refreshing (highly recommend).

Water at table: They also give you water in a pitcher with lemon for free on the table so you don't have to buy a drink if you don't want to.

(FYI, my son's order weighed about $19, and mine was $31 (lol). I was able to finish everything though:) Although this is considered 'self serve' , the waitress do have to attend to you and bring your orders out, take away your trays and serve you dessert, so we did include a tip when we paid at the cashier.

Note: If you don't want broth, you have the option to have your food stir fried with a choice of dry mix. This similar to Sichuan mala style dry stir fry. They offer: *Sweet & sour Dry Mix or *Spicy Dry Mix

Cashier will then give you a number on a pedestal to place on your table for each order. This will enable so waiters delivering your food to identify where you are seated.

Next go to the "Sauce Bar" where they have a variety of condiments, sauces and oils to create your sauce bowl. The container is about a 2" square container (it isn't big but does hold enough sauce to last your entire meal, or you can always get more).

I think we waited for about 15 minutes for our order to come.

The only thing they messed up was our noodles. I had placed green spinach noodles in my container, while my son had placed white vermicelli type noodle . When the waitress delivered our orders, I noticed my green noodles were in his container and his white noodles in my container. So we did our own switch of our noodles to our respective bowls. (we didn't bother to get waitress since they were pretty busy)

After we finished eating, they will take away your tray and bring you a green tea ice cream in a waffle cone for dessert. It was a small but decent size. We were quite full by this time. I wasn't sure if there was any other choices for ice cream since I never thought to ask and they didn't tell me either.

We finished around 8 pm. There were still a few people waiting around for tables, but the turnover is relatively fast depending on how many are in your group. They seem to have lots of 2 seater tables, so if you are 3 + persons, you will need to wait for their tables for 4. I did not notice how many large tables (eg. for 4) there were.

Seating layout was relatively compact. From reviewing previous photos by other reviewers, it looks like they have now placed more 2 seater tables to accommodate more people. They can probably accommodate a wheelchair or stroller depending on where table is located and whether you need a table for 2 or a table for 4.

I highly recommend you give this place a try. It is clean, efficient, modern, upbeat...

Since discovering Super Thai, it’s quickly become a go-to spot for a tasty, filling meal!! 🤍 Many in Vancouver recognize Big Way as the spot for DIY-style hotpot, but I argue Super Thai offers a better experience overall, as the interior is elegant and well-organized, the ingredient options are diverse, and it offers all the same things Big Way does but even better.

Super Thai has its own rewards system that you can sign up for using your phone number, and occasionally, they host monthly events for their in-person customers, with some previous examples being a daily Labubu giveaway and a guaranteed win raffle draw. With the raffle draw, I won free drinks, snacks, and even meal discounts! I’m excited to see what future events may possibly happen, as they make going to Super Thai even more worth it.

Employees are attentive, efficient, and polite, and besides from this one time where there were randomly different noodles in my bowl, all my experiences here have been flawless!

Inside the restaurant, there’s a generous range of seating that can accommodate both smaller and larger groups. Chairs are comfortable and provide back support, and the entire space is kept tidy and wiped down. Pots, tongs, and ingredients are aligned neatly on the left, and after picking out your ingredients, you pay and order any other snacks/drinks at the counter. A sauce bar is located to the right, and along with your pot, you’ll get ice cream at the end of your meal! Ice cream flavours rotate, but I’ve really loved the Vanilla and Chocolate. If you make it for happy hour, you also get an offering between 2 free drinks. I really enjoy their lemon green tea! 🍋

The ingredients truly offer so much- there’s meat rolls, marinated meat, various noodles, seafood, egg, veggies- and along with that, there’s also many broth options and even dry mixes for those who aren’t in the mood for soup! I recommend the beef and lamb rolls, the pan-fried egg, and the egg noodles- they’re an absolute must for me.

I look forward to having more meals at Super Thai! Thank you for the great food, experience, and...

A legit and a contender for the Big Way chain!

This is not Dolar Shop or HaiDiLo hotpot, but if you're looking for a quick eat, fun date night, meetup with a friend, or just solo dining, and not into the frills and want to have a good comfort food, then this is a FANTASTIC addition to the hot pot scene in the greater Vancouver area.

Price - unbeatable. The restaurant is set up nearly identical to Big Way. You pick what you want to eat, the amount, then the soup base. They cook it. I went at around 7:00 pm on a Saturday night - prime time for dining out. I waited maybe 10 minutes for my pot to arrive. They also give a free ice cream, previous reviewers mention a Chapman's individual cup but when I went it was a generous sized cone with yuzu ice yogurt like cold treat.

Flavours - this is where I feel Super Thai Hot pot does BETTER than Big Way. I get tired of the Big Way soup bases after a few bites, because it is likely a lot of artificial flavorings. But the Green Paper soup base and Tomato soup base here so far has been quite good, and more rich than Big Way. I recommend both - and if you can eat spicy, choose the spiciest level for the green pepper soup!

Ingredient choice - very similar to Big Way. It has all my favourites such as frozen tofu, cabbage, various type of seafood balls etc. They don't have a mung bean noodle, nor enoki mushroom which they should consider adding to the lineup.

Service - servers was nice but a bit disorganized. They had some empty tables that require cleaning before they could advance the Queue, and there was a lag from turning over a table to serving the next set of guests. I think this is related to the number of servers though. But all smiles, they are approachable and was responsible when I asked for a spoon.

Overall, I would return...probably more so than to Big Way if quality alone. I hope Super Thai does well and opens more locations to target the west side and downtown populations!

Thank you for...