Upin Hotpot — Restaurant in Brooklyn Park

The two of us went on a Saturday afternoon (12:45) and were seated right away. They told us up front that since we came on a Saturday, there was an upcharge, which was fair. It’s nice that they let us know.

Everything is ordered on a tablet, but since it was our first time, our server took the time to explain the process and the soup bases to us. My fiancé was worried about the spice, so we went with the mild. It’s nice that you can pick the level.

We went with the house (mild) and miso soup bases to try them out. The mild house flavor was the winner! It was not spicy for my fiancé and I had spicy dipping sauces for extra spice, so it was perfect for us.

They have a grab station with veggies and mushrooms, but not enough tongs for every option. If anyone is allergic to anything, please note the same tongs are used for most of the items. Also, be aware we didn’t see any disposable gloves provided at the time we went. The sauce station is tucked in the corner, so there is always a long line, but they have so many options! We had fun mixing and trying different ones out.

A nice surprise was we went during their grand opening special. They offered us 1 free soft drink with our all-you-can-eat. You can also order boba drinks and teas for an additional cost.

You order your meats, seafood, sushi, and appetizers in the app. We liked that the meat and noodles weren’t completely frozen (unlike other places we’ve been). They only recently opened and we could see they’ve been thawing their food. The orders come with a little robot that plays a jingle.

In terms of atmosphere, the music goes from blasting techno to dead silence for a few minutes. They might still be working on the playlist, but we got a good laugh out of the contrast from shouting at each other across the hot pot table to abruptly lowering our voices to avoid disturbing everyone around us. It happened about twice, but it was funny!

We liked the pork belly and pork loin best and must have ordered 4x. Overall, we ordered about 25 items. Other than the hotpot classic meats, we recommend the udon, taro (soak them for a while to soften), the rice cakes (fun texture), fried donuts (hold them in the soup for 10 seconds to soak up some flavor). Be careful not to burn your mouth!

The sushi was very basic, but we mainly came for the hotpot so went back to trying other things. The fried wontons were made fresh! We placed an order early in, finished our meal, and were surprised when they finally came. We almost forgot about them, but they were a nice after dinner snack haha.

Part way through, we were given aprons. We saw some people with them earlier, but didn’t realize our section we didn’t get them until they handed them to us. Very handy!

The service was impeccable! They check in at your table multiple times, they stop by to grab empty plates and trays throughout, they ask if you need refills for your drinks and soup if they see you’re low.

You can call your server for the bill / checkout right on the tablet. They hand you the receipt and you pay at the table on a different tablet. Our server let us know gratuity was already included in the bill, but we had such a good experience we tipped extra. The final receipt is text or emailed to you.

Overall, this place is a must do again, but we think we’ll just do the lunch version next time, as we didn’t really see or order anything that was different from the dinner/weekend version.

Great food, great time, great service! So glad we have yummy hot pot place...

$95 excluding tip (we got one Thai Tea & Sprite).

FOOD | two stars. There's probably 8-10 meats & 8-10 types of seafood to choose from & the quality lacks. We got pork belly, fatty beef, whole shrimp, crawfish, clams, quail eggs, imitation crab sticks, oyster mushrooms & a few others. We placed an order for cheese wontons & gyoza not realizing they're right in the buffet line. We also placed an order for fried rice, but had to re-place it since they forgot to make the order. The sauce bar is messy & unkempt. The Szechuan broth I got was bland & watered down from the get go. As far as the AYCE sushi portion, same as above, about 8 types of sushi, 8 types of sashimi, (I didn't look at hand rolls) & 8 types of rolls. I'd rather pop into a designated AYCE sushi buffet. Food comes out extremely slow whether via the bots or by a server compared to JPot. I was excited to come here based off what others highlighted in their social media & reviews, & of course the AYCE sushi part, but I must say I am disappointed in the quality.

SERVICE | five stars. Aside from the food coming out extremely slow, our server was attentive & on top of things when it came to refills & asking us if we needed anything (though he couldn't do much since the kitchen was backed up I presume). The aprons are a good touch, since I'm spill & accident prone.

ATMOSPHERE | one star. Formerly a Denny's, whoever remodeled did an ok-ish job. As a wife of a contractor, we picked out a handful of flaws. The ventilation in the place is awful, you're walking into a sauna with steam everywhere & it's disgustingly humid. Parking is limited as again, Upin is located where the former Denny's was. After we walked in, we got seated right away, for a Friday night (what should be dinner rush) I told my husband this must mean the place is eh. Unapologetically mentioning our go-to hotpot place, they are always on a wait of 20-40 minutes, which tells you, something is being done right.

Sorry Upin. It's a...

This is an AMAZING gem to have in the community!

I went for the first time this past Saturday night, and we were not disappointed. I was curious to see how much of the inside looked like the Baker's Square, and it is seriously hard to tell. The only part they did NOT touch are the amazing curved sun windows - everything else is brand new(see photos and video)

The way that it works, is buffet style. You can pay one price for either sushi or hotpot, or for slightly more you can get both. DO get both! It is fun to put your potatoes and other longer cooking things in the hot pot, and then order some sushi(it came out SO fast each time!)

When you order hotpot, you can choose two different soup broths so you can have some flavor differences for variety. They will bring it out, and it will come to a boil at your table, and then you put your food into the broth, and pull it out when it is cooked to your liking. You do NOT have to have it spicy if you do not want it, or you could have 1 side be spicy, one mild, etc. The staff are very friendly and helpful with describing what everything is, so you can pick out what is best for you. We did half pork broth, and half miso(I told them I didn't want meat, and they made it up for me special without the chicken stock, so do ask if you have things you are trying to avoid anything!) You order meat/noodles/fish from the tablets, but the veggies and dipping sauces are all on a help-yourself veggie counter, so you can pick out all of the best veggies and watermelon slices(absolutely ripe!) That you want to go in. Try the taro, they take longer to cook, similar to a potato, but are slightly sweet.

This is the perfect kind of interactive dining that is great for family outings, dates, and even taking older children to give them a sense of cooking in a group setting! There are so many combinations, it would be hard for anyone to not find SOMETHING they don't...