Tpot Hot Pot and Korean BBQ — Restaurant in Crofton

My family visited Tpot on Saturday, April 20. It was the most unpleasant dining experience I've had in a long time. We ordered the hot pot/bbq combo. For the hotpot, it was an incredible chore to cook your own food and try to eat it from the same pot it was cooked in. An example of one inconvenience is that the shrimp were unpeeled. So, we had to take them out of the pot after they cooked in the soup base in order to peel and eat them.

Then, we learned today that we should have been given bowls for the soup. We learned this from stumbling across an IG review of the restaurant and seeing the reviewer with a bowl and full size plate. Several staff came to our table to bring food, drinks, etc. And no one offered bowls for the soup or plates other than the size for appetizers.

For the grill, there was no oil or we weren't offered any. This made for a sticky, charred mess. The waiter told us there was a bar with "sauces and desserts". We had no idea that there were also spices and oils on the bar until we watched the IG video. Our waiter did the bare minimum, even though we told him at the outset that it was our first visit.

Another disappointment is that the fried scallops are made from imitation crabmeat (basically, fish). The overall quality of the food wasn't terrible. But since you cook it all yourself, it was not a worthwhile dining out experience. At $140 for 3 people, we could have done much better at an establishment that cooks for you and provides...

Just superb service, food options, and atmosphere. We absolutely love the hotpot selections Tpot has, especially great for anyone who is vegetarian or looking for gluten-friendly options (there is a single broth that does not have soy sauce). All the servers are very professional, always friendly, and keep everything moving smoothly from bringing orders to the table and clearing away finished items. We want to give additional praise for Ella and her amazing teammates, who helped us at our most recent visit; they were exceptional! The value for hotpot is phenomenal; typically, we treat it like a 5-course meal. There is a good selection of already prepared appetizers, fresh vegetables, and a combo of sauces from their massive sauce and seasoning station for our salad. The main course is a sizable selection ranging from meats, seafood, and more to mushrooms, tofu, etc. We tend to pace ourselves with the main courses, sampling and finding the best combo ingredients for our individual pots. Also wanted to highlight that the hotpot soup at the end is extremely delicious, with all the best flavors of the food stewed together. They have some wonderful desserts (cakes, multiple ice cream options, delicious light chocolate moose, etc) and fresh sliced fruit options for after...

We, my wife and I, have been to T Pot a few times and it’s become our go to Hot Pot place. The restaurant is kept clean, ordering is fairly easy, and the ingredients arrive in short order. We’ve always been greeted with smiles and the staff is always friendly and helpful. Most importantly to me T Pot is very service dog friendly, and they do a great job of ignoring my pupper. The shrimp paste has a nice texture and taste, especially in comparison to the offerings of a few others. The corn, mushrooms, and broccoli were fresh and of good quality. I am a little disappointed that they’ve been unable to source swai since we started visiting.

One of my favorite items on the menu is the seafood pancake, I believe it is the best I’ve ever had and is unique, the ingredients are fresh and it’s a bit like quiche vs. the heavier dishes I’ve had in the past. The pancake has a very rich flavor without being heavy, it’s pure heaven to me.

The only complaint is that T Pot is a bit loud, the rooms are all hard surfaces at 90-degree angles, so the places echoes and can become rather cacophonous when seating is full, or a larger group is near you. The tomato soup base could be improved, it would be great if medium sized peeled stewed...