Red Flame Restaurant — Restaurant in Artesia

Not a great experience. I had been recommended this spot by a friend for their sizzling steaks and hotpot, so we took a chance. From the start, we already noticed that they were understaffed. I ordered the rib eye steak that came out pretty quickly. However the steak came out well done when I had asked for medium rare. I know the steak cooks as it's on the hot plate, but even then, my meat was cooked too well done after the first cut.

Unfortunately for my friend, she had a worse experience. She ordered the lamb hot pot and requested no pickled greens, but it took 30 minutes for it to arrive. When it did, we saw that they didn't remove the greens. We also saw that there was no pork blood, egg, or enoki mushrooms which were specifically on the menu. When asking the server, mumbled that they "didn't add it to the menu" and that they ran out? Unusual response to say the least and we noticed that the workers were talking amongst themselves and pointing at our table afterwards. I suspect they gave us the wrong order. Also, the rice that came with the hotpot was stale. It seemed like they either reused old rice or had the cooked rice out a few hours too long. We asked the server for a water refill but had to grab another server's attention since the original had forgotten.

All throughout the night, the two workers were scrambling around trying to take orders, clean tables, and deliver food. The other patrons were also slightly disgruntled by the long waits and inadequate service. Much like the other low reviews, you can't put 100% of the blame on the servers. They were polite and tried their best. I blame the management on the lack of hiring and poor organization of their workplace.

I won't be coming back, even though their food tasted decent. If you, the reader, decide to give this place a try, you better hope it's on a slow day when the workers...

I was in the area with a group of friends and decided to get hotpot here for dinner. I am openly sad that there isn't a chain in my area yet so I can have more alternative options to hotpot.

FOOD We ordered 3 hotpot and 1 rib eye grill.

Thai hotpot: I ordered this mild and the soup base was definitely sour and spicy. The ingredients were typical, but portion was very filling. I ordered it with vermicelli. Overall, not too bad.

Curry hotpot: my friend ordered this and commented that it was not bad, but she couldn't really taste the curry. She had a lot leftover so a 2nd meal.

Japanese hotpot: they served this with udon and presentation looked good. My friend preferred another hotpot place more as it's more flavorful there than the one here.

Rib eye grill: if you like your meat medium rare, order it as one level rarer so it'll get cooked. The waiter told us to order it rare and then let it cook for 20 seconds. We did and it became medium well, but we may have let it cooked a little too long. The meat was juicy, but flavorless. They give you 3 dipping sauces similar to A1, mustard, and sweet and sour. This dish also comes with 2 side dishes and a salad. I would not order this again as it doesn't fill you up, and this is not a steakhouse.

PARKING It's located in a small strip mall, so limited parking during peak hours. We came before the dinner rush so found parking easily.

SERVICE Overall service was not bad. They were very quick to seat us and take our orders. When we requested items, it was brought to us right away. Pretty good for an Asian restaurant standard.

WILL I COME AGAIN? If I'm in the area and want hotpot, this would be my place. Hotpot portions are generous for the price...

So to be honest this is my absolute favorite restaurant. I love, love, love the ribeye steak and garlic noodles. However, we went here to celebrate Father’s Day and brought our kids for the first time. We arrived early because we know it gets busy. When we arrived there were only a few parties dining in. We were seated right away, given menus and water as usual. The waiter came to take our order with his mask down under his nose. We ordered 2 ramens, 1 hot pot soup and 3 ribeyes. We also ordered 6 drinks. After we ordered, the restaurant got busy and at least 6 tables were seated. Every single one of those tables, including another party of seven that was seated after we ordered, got their food and drinks before us. 2 of them were done eating by the time all of our order came out. It was very frustrating. We complained and they said the kitchen was working on it. I think they forgot to put in our order all together, but they wouldn’t admit that. It was a mess. All of our meals came out at different times, the sides were cold or wrong. Steaks were over cooked. We had to request utensils two different times we had to request boxes two different times it was a very bad first impression on the five others that we brought with us for the first time. Very disappointed. My steak was abnormally small as well. I know they are all supposed to be 10oz but I don’t think it was. No compensation offered at all....