Clay Pot Cafe (旺角煲仔饭） — Restaurant in Boston

Two of us came to this restaurant due to the good reviews. The place is small and crowded, but we were able to get a small table quickly. The order was placed through the phone using the QR code on the table. The presentation of the menu was great, but the order was not connected to my phone and went through the regular website. The food, which was good, was served. At the end of lunch, I used the checkout option, which did not allow me to pay online but asked me to wait for a person with the check. The owner (presumably) brought a printed invoice to me. Everything was correct there. Then I paid by credit card, using the small payment machine in the owner's hands. I added tips there, and the final amount looked about right. We left the restaurant. Two blocks down the street, the server/owner politely asked us to stop, apologized, and said that the transaction did not go through and he needed to try the credit card again. We went together back to the restaurant. On the way, I checked my credit card pending transactions and showed the owner that the restaurant transactions actually went through. At the restaurant, the owner looked at his tablet-type device with the screen full of Chinese characters. My order was not paid according to him, but another order was paid for by an amount listed in my recent credit card transaction. The owner said that he mischarged my order, pressed some buttons (again, Chinese characters), claiming that the money was going back to my credit card. He would like to charge the right order and amount. I was reluctant at first – the previous amount was only slightly above what I should pay, but I decided to believe the owner and make the transactions in the proper way. The owner told me that if I had a problem with the return, to contact him. (Later, I realized that it is useless to call them about potential problems). Everything looked innocent and friendly that day. But the money was never returned to me, and my credit card inquiry about the wrong charge was unsuccessful since for food order online comp[any, it looks like a fully paid order online order company will not go into such details. they will not provide names for orders. In conclusion, the system is set up in such a way that it can be easily misused, especially if customers appear to be outsiders to Boston. I paid twice for my order and lost some trust...

For a Monday lunch I went to Clay Pot Cafe. At 11:50 am, the establishment had no customers, save me; within 15 minutes, however, all tables had filled up. I scanned the QR code, went to the chowbus site, and made my order. Note that the establishment does have paper menus.

I ordered the curry fish ball appetizer ($5), herbal soup ($5), and beef noodle soup ($13). The soup and fish ball arrived first, and the beef noodle soup after; everything arrived w/in 15 minutes.

The curry fish ball does not represent good value; however, I really like this so I got it anyways. 5 balls, $1 each, in a curry sauce. The sauce had the decent herbal earthiness characteristic of cantonese curry, though it could have arrived thicker. It also needed a bit more heat as it arrived just past lukewarm.

One compelling reason to go to a traditional Cantonese restaurant instead of a dim sum or big seafood restaurant, for me, remains the herbal soup. Simmered for a while to get all the flavor out of bones, along with dried seafood for sweeter umami, makes this soup hearty in flavor yet light in saiety. I do wish they'd strain the bones out before serving.

For the main, I ordered beef noodle soup with rice noodles. Soup seemed decently flavored with stock (not soy sauce in case you wanted Taiwanese style). The beef needed to be heated up as well - its accompanying sauce was also lukewarm, in contrast to the piping hot soup.

Overall, not a bad place for a quick meal offering cantonese cuisine, but I wouldn't...

When I visited Boston Chinatown, I randomly found a place on Google Map named "Mongkok Clay Pot Rice" in chinese, which resembled a place in Hong Kong.

It was 19°F so we were desperately in need of warm and carb-heavy food. The clay pot kept the rice steaming hot from start to finish, perfect for the cold weather in Boston.

＊Chinese Sausage and Bacon Clay Pot Rice 臘味煲仔飯 (L) $33 Their clay pot rice is available in small, medium and large portion. We were too ambitious and got large...My jaw dropped when the food arrived. The portion was MASSIVE. It could easily feed 3-4 people.

I chose the most classic and basic lap cheong claypot rice. It was a layer of chinese sausage and cured pork belly topped on a bed of rice, drizzled with sweet soy sauce. The crispy rice at the bottom was my favorite.

I have never had claypot rice in Hong Kong even I was born and raised there. My standard for clay pot rice might be low, but at least they seemed pretty authentic. I wished they could add mushrooms to add more depth of flavors to the rice though.

The space was cramped and busy. You place order through QR code, yet the online order system was a mess because they kept messing up...