101 Hot Pot All You Can Eat — Restaurant in Arcadia

I visited 101 last week on a Friday night and had a horrible experience. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. The positive reviews for this restaurant are from 2-3 months ago, and I imagine the service/quality has only gone down since then.

"WE ARE ALL OUT OF RICE, SORRY!": My party was seated at around 8pm on a Friday. We ordered our broth base and prepared our sauces/other soup ingredients. There was no self-service rice station, so we asked our waiter if we can get two bowls of rice. In response, she told us "we are all out of rice, sorry!" Mind you, this restaurant closes at 11pm and we were seated 3 hours before closing time. How does an all you can eat, Asian restaurant not have rice? After I asked this very question, the waiter stuttered and basically had no response, shrugged, and walked away. Later, another waiter took over and informed us the rice would be prepared in 40 minutes. The restaurant decided 3 hours before closing to not have rice for their customers. Of course not having rice with the meal was irritating, but it was the server's response that made the interaction extremely rude. My party and I ended up receiving a bowl of rice 10-15 minutes before we were done eating. This is unacceptable and unprofessional behavior, but my bad experience did not end here.

BROKEN INDUCTION STOVES: Beside the rice fiasco, 101's induction stoves did not work properly and the quality was straight out of janky Temu/AliExpress hell. The stove had two control panels - a touch-screen one on the surface of the table and a dial on the side of the table. Both were broken or functioned poorly: the soup either did not boil at all or boiled over, so best believe the cooked hotpot meats either was stayed raw for a unhygienic amount of time or became so tough to chew your jaw hurts.

LOW FOOD QUALITY/LACK OF OPTIONS: I was shocked also by the low food quality and lack of options at 101.

First, the quality of the meat was quite low. We tried lamb, beef, fish, and shrimp. The fish and shrimp was fishy and bad tasting. We ordered a few trays of beef, but eat tray they brought out became fattier and fattier and became hard to eat. Our waiter even asked us, "it's not too fatty is it?" At that point, we were pretty upset already and shrugged it off.

Second, for a restaurant that claims it is "all you can eat", the toppings/vegetables/sauce bar was poorly stocked. They had approximately three leafy greens, and a few fish balls and noodle options, but the overall options were lacking. You could also tell the greens were wilted and on their very last legs. At the sauce station, the green onions and cilantro were almost all out and the remaining green onions were the stalky tough portions and the cilantro was wilted and mushy. During our whole meal, there was no attempt to re-up any of the stations.

SUB-PAR CLEANLINESS: This goes to the above point, but you could tell the food quality and the restaurant's cleanliness was suspect. My stomach did end up hurting after the meal, and I would guess it was due to this.

NO SPOONS UNTIL AFTER THREE REQUESTS: I also want to note that there was a self-service cutlery station but there were NO spoons. We had to request spoons 2-3 times before a server brought some over. Perhaps this was another thing they were "out of of stock" on for the night.

I wish Shabu Lin was still open, because they had great AYCE hotpot. Save yourself your money and go across the street to Momo Paradise, which is a much better restaurant. The waiters at Momo are professional, the restaurant meets health inspection standards, and the food quality is much better. Additionally, Momo has a huge vat of self-service rice -- which is partially full even at closing time.

I imagine the patrons of 101 only go there because they offer some 1/2 off deal for short/small children and this is budget-friendly for many families. However, the adult prices are not cheap ($33-35), so save yourself the trouble and money and go elsewhere.

I look forward to the restaurant's...

101 Hot Pot All You Can Eat – A Hidden Gem Worth Discovering

My friends and I were craving hotpot this past Tuesday and happened to stumble upon 101 Hot Pot All You Can Eat (Chinese Hotpot). One of us remembered hearing about them back when they were in El Monte, CA, but never got the chance to try it. We decided to take the leap—and I’m so glad we did.

🥘 What We Ordered: Prime Buffet – $48.99 This tier includes premium broths and a wide selection of meats and seafood:

Broths: Spicy & Sour Soup, Jelly Golden Chicken

Meats: US Wagyu Chuck Cross, Wagyu Brisket, Wagyu Chuck Eye

Seafood: Abalone, Oyster, Tiger Shrimp, Green Mussel

🌟 Highlights: Jelly Golden Chicken Broth (9/10): Comforting and rich—it reminded me of a Chinese version of chicken noodle soup, just without the noodles. Definitely a must-try.

US Wagyu Chuck Cross & Brisket: Tender and flavorful. The Chuck Eye was a bit too lean for my taste.

Seafood Standouts: The abalone was a rare and welcome treat, oysters were fresh, and tiger shrimp had great texture.

Great Portioning: Meats come out neatly sliced (6–8 pieces per plate), which helps avoid over-ordering and food waste.

Drinks on Draft: Unlimited soda cans plus milk tea and ice lemon tea on draft—super convenient!

DIY Sauce & Veggie Bar: Self-serve style makes customizing your hotpot experience super easy. Don't miss the money bag dumpling—stuffed with shrimp and egg, it was amazing.

Dessert Bonus: Grab Thrifty ice cream from the self-serve freezer to end your meal on a sweet note.

Ambiance: The restaurant has a clean and modern design with soft background music—comfortable and inviting without being too loud.

⚠️ Areas for Improvement: Service is a bit slow. It looks like they’re running on a lean, possibly family-run model. It was manageable on a Tuesday, but might not hold up on a busy weekend.

Premium Meat Cuts: The lamb was sliced too thick, and the prime angus beef was overly fatty. Something to note if you’re picky about texture.

💡 Tips: Accepts credit cards

Indoor seating only

Clean restrooms available

Located across from 85°C and Momo Paradise

Free parking shared with Sharetea, or look for street parking

Avoid weekends until staffing improves

We’ll definitely be returning—next time to try the Mala soup base. If you’re a hotpot fan looking for great value and unique options like abalone, give 101...

I tried this newer AYCE hot pot restaurant recently. They are not too far from the Arcadia mall. They're across the street from the 85 Bakery. There is free parking in the lot nearby.

They named the regular menu "premium" $32.95 and the more expensive one "prime" $48.95. With a $16 difference between the two, I decided to go for the premium for my first time. What makes this place stand out is that you get individual pots - and you can choose two soups! The menu said the sour and spicy and jelly golden chicken were prime items, but the server said we can choose those even though we got the premium menu. The tomato soup was best with original tonkotsu coming second. The sour and spicy special broth was a bit off, so we actually asked for this to be changed.

Of the premium items, I liked the snakehead fish filet the best. The beef, lamb, and pork were so fatty!! The shrimp was ok. I didn't even try chicken breast because...why. Because of the individual pots, the table space is limited for everyone's sauces and plates.

All the veggies and sauces are self-serve. These items and drinks are right by the entrance door. They had tea dispensers and canned Coke and Sprite. There is a separate fridge for self-scoop ice cream in the other corner of the restaurant. Service is ok. There was one lady who would look at us once in a while.

One thing I thought was weird is that they didn't have white rice at the time of my visit on a...