CHUAN POT — Restaurant in Diamond Bar

We've been looking for a local hot pot ever since we had incredible hot pot in Portland. We live super close by and were excited to find something close to home that we could call our local spot. Unfortunately being close to home was the only good thing about our experience tonight. We arrived in front of another couple however we were seated after them, no big deal, though I thought it was odd.

We immediately let the server seating us know we'd need a high chair for our baby. She sat us at a table that could accommodate one, however she never grabbed it for us, so I stood holding the baby thinking it was on the way. Eventually I just went to the back and grabbed it myself, while I was putting the baby in the high chair, the server came by and asked if we were ready to order... We hadn't even sat down yet due to the high chair challenge.

When ordering drinks, they were out of coke, diet coke, sprite and several others, they did have Dr Pepper... No problem, we'll have water. We could tell at this point the server was a bit flustered and seemingly had every table in the restaurant as no one else had been visible in the dining room at all. Our server comes back to take our order and I order the AYCE with the the Signature hot broth, server gives me a friendly warning that its super hot and recommends ordering "mild", I heed her advice thankfully. She informs me that they are out of 50% of their meat selection and only have lamb and 1 beef selection. Now this is an AYCE for $32.99, how can you possibly run a business this way? We ordered our broths hesitantly, but were unsure that we wanted to stay as the experience was already very questionable and we didn't want it getting any worse and waste our Saturday family night out.

We decided staying wasn't worth it and agreed to leave before any broth was prepared. I went to the kitchen to let them know, as no one was in the dining room. Besides the kitchen staff there were 2 other employees in the kitchen, seemingly standing around not doing an awful lot to help. I assume it was the owner/operators, but cant be sure. Thier help was sorely needed out on the floor in the front of the house, but alas they just hid in the back and let the only server struggle and deliver bad news to all the tables coming in. We had already decided to leave but that was icing on the cake.

I want to be clear, this is not the servers fault. This is the owner/operators fault; do better, go to H-Mart its 75 feet away, get the things you need to run your business. I've been in the F&B industry and hospitality my entire life, your an embarrassment to other entrepreneurs who work hard to make their business a success. We will never return, and will dissuade any locals we know from going back, very annoying experience especially when its so close to home and hopes are high.

We ended up going to a local sushi place instead and the service...

We were very disappointed at the entire experience here. It's an all you can eat hot pot restaurant with a good selection of meats and self serve hot pot items and sauces.

Unfortunately that's where the positives end, as the experience was ruined by the poor and non-existent service. When we were seated, our waitress took our first order of broths and meat, and then they forgot about our table because they never checked in on us again.

Upon getting sauces from the sauce bar, most of the containers were empty and I had to pull them out just to scrape out whatever was left because the staff clearly didn't pay attention to it.

We then had difficulty flagging someone down to request for water whereas the other tables were given water when setting up. Then, we noticed that we weren't given utensils such as tongs and ladles when every other table had them from the beginning. Again, I had a hard time getting someone's attention and asked a waiter for the utensils to which he just replied "yeah", completely ignored my request and continued whatever he was doing. Then a bit later I flagged down our waitress and we finally got utensils.

For an all you can eat restaurant, they must really not want you ordering more meat, since they didn't check or ask our table. They would come by to collect the plates without saying anything or asking if we'd like more meat. At one point, I had to get up and bring the menu over to the owner just to order more meats. Our waitress then came by and slammed the meats on our table with such an attitude and walked away without saying a word or asking if we needed anything else. Our order was not even correct and was incomplete. Subsequent requests for meat were frustrating and difficult, having to get someone's attention each time.

Our soup was even drying out and we didn't get any refills at all whereas the other tables nearby were offered more soup multiple times without them even asking for it.

A different waiter did check on us near the end but it was already too late and we were very frustrated at the horrible dining experience. There is ice cream on the menu but we weren't offered any when usually at other restaurants they will ask if you'd like dessert at the end or when you request for the check. So unfortunately, we did not get any ice cream either. Maybe they don't want to give out the ice cream.

Either the entire staff needs re-training on basic customer service, or they should install ringers at each table to get staff attention. Perhaps make a reservation and you might receive normal service. Also, that waitress needs to watch her attitude and not slam the plates on tables. It was very alarming. If they continue to advertise as all you can eat, then please check in on tables more often. Overall a very sad and...

The servers are nice for sure. Unfortunately I can't agree with the meat they served, so most likely will not come again. & Note, there's a penalty rule of charging you ??? $$$ if you have leftovers.

All the meats(both beef and lamb) are pieced together from who knows what part, so beef doesn't have much of a beef taste/flavor and the lamb has a very mild lamb flavor -a double sword I suppose.

Shrimp is not fresh. Fish is obviously frozen filet. I can only approve the mussels. Didn't like fish balls and artificial crab so didn't try those.

The sauce station is okay... Pro: Fresh garlic and parsley. Fresh peanuts. Cons: not many choices on the seasoning side, couldn't find my favorite, and not enough choices to make a dry dipping sauce. Probably don't need it because soups (we tried both the mushrooms soup and the house special) have more than enough salt and seasoning.

Veggies bar is fine--radish is too old, that's pretty much the only flaw. I appreciate they served a fresh pot of sliced pumpkins when there were not many customers (we came after rush hours). Only tried the Napa and radish. They also filled up the jelly drink and put out a little more sesame balls in the dessert section when we are only new customers. So the service is definitely good. Nonetheless, can't say I will come again unless I really don't want to do the dishes... And I probably rather do dishes 😂😂😂 (p.s. the ice cream isn't appealing...not is the tiramisu recommended by others. but that's just me/us)

I understand the leftover penalty is to avoid wasting food, but that also stopped me from trying things, which, to me, trying different things without fear is the main reason for going to an all-you-can-eat buffet. And since the most of the meat choices are no good, I'm hesitant to try anything else; hence, no reason for returning.

Glad to see many like this restaurant. There's no way you can please everyone. And like I said, their...