Hot N Roll Hot Pot — Restaurant in Ellicott City

Went on a Saturday at around 12:30-1PM for 2 (paid for weekend dinner price, total was almost $100 with taxes and tip). The restaurant was mostly full with only a handful of tables open. We were able to be seated immediately.

There is an iPad provided to the table to order protein, drinks, and a few additional hotpot options not at the buffet bar. There’s about 10 types of broths to choose from on the iPad. Sodas are $3 refillable; free water is also provided. There is also tea, juice, alcohol, and a few other drinks that you can pay for.

We got the Back to Szechuan Butter Spicy and Original Pork Bone broths. The Szechuan Butter broth was spicy but not very flavorful. The Pork Bone broth was good but not memorable.

There is a very limited meat selection: Beef Brisket, Lamb, Pork Belly, Chicken Breast, and Angus Beef. All are included in AYCE hotpot. All of the meats were cut fresh and delivered quickly whenever we ordered.

Near the entrance is the buffet and sauce bar. The sauce/seasoning selection at the sauce bar is minimal, so don’t expect too much. The buffet bar has a lot of variety that you don’t typically find in most hotpot places outside of say, New York hotpot restaurants, such as shrimp paste, beef tendon, honeycomb beef tripe, and scallop. There are also some different vegetables to choose from, such as bok choy, spinach, napa cabbage, and watercress. There is also a lot of seafood options, such as mussels, crawfish, shrimp, and oysters. At the buffet bar, there are also a small variety of fried appetizers, such as egg rolls and sesame balls.

Overall, Hot N Roll hotpot was a good restaurant to experience. The service was quick, the staff were friendly. However, the broths were mediocre and there is not a lot of variety in the meats and additional hotpot dishes/options. If you like seafood, you might enjoy this hotpot place a little more due to the seafood options available. Otherwise, there are other AYCE hotpot places to go to with a wider selection that doesn’t have a $100...

TL;DR +10 points for having my favorite vegetable but -20 points for trying to charge us 36% gratuity

Ive eaten at this hotpot spot a number of times before with my Maryland inlaws. Ive never had an issue with them until today.

The food and atmosphere of this place is good. As a New Yorker, I find the AYCE selection and price for said AYCE selection to be reasonable. I also sincerely appreciate the fact that they have watercress; a lot of hotpot places dont have this vegetable for some reason.

My husband and I went to eat dinner today with my father in law. So it was three adult ACYE weekend-price orders. When we asked for the check, I noticed that we were charged an auto-gratuity of 18%. I figured maybe it was because we were seated at a 6-person table (busy evening) or it’s because it’s Lunar New Year’s Day and a holiday. Which is fine, though my husband and I were actually ready to tip 20% and even tip in cash, but whatever. 18% is the new standard now anyway, so I didn’t mind the autocharge.

But what happened next when the waitress came with the tablet was what angered me a little. I saw the charge on the tablet didn’t match what was on the receipt. Why? Because she charged another 18% on top of the total that already had a auto 18% gratuity on it. I told her politely but firmly, “You have already charged us 18%. It’s on the receipt.” When she looked at the printed receipt, she then took off the additional charge. Only after that did I sign for my check.

I don’t like that. Why try to be slick with your patrons and have them pay so much more extra in gratuity? I can only imagine that this might have gotten some other people to have paid more than they should have and that’s not fair. And especially on Lunar New Year’s day? That’s poor behavior that warrants a full year of bad luck.

All in all, I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t come again. But this definitely left a bad taste in my mouth and I did want to...

We went on a Saturday during lunch time.

Parking: There is a parking lot.

Service: Service was great. They sat us quickly. If it is your first time they will assist you however we have been to similar places so they just gave us the IPad to order on our own which is good because we get to go at our pace. They refilled our drinks without us having to get their attention to do so.

Food: All of the non-meat items (seafood, vegetables) are buffet-style in the sense that they are just put out on display and you just grab as you see fit. There are some starters (sesame balls, spring rolls) on grills that can be found towards the front of the food bar. The sauce bar is limited but the house sauce is good. The meat selection is limited and needs to be ordered via IPad. I was excited for the Szechuan Butter Spicy Soup Broth however was disappointed. Although it was spicy, the Szechuan Butter Spicy Broth seemed to lack flavor compared to other hot pot places with similar broth.

Soft drinks are unlimited refill. They also sell tea and alcohol.

Price: We paid ~ $95 (18% tip + 2 unlimited refill softdrink) for two people on a weekend.

Overall would recommend if you live around the area however I would not recommend if travel tim...