Hot Pot City — Restaurant in Houston

Hot Pot City is located right at the beginning of the plaza containing Viet Hoa International Foods, which is how we found out about it. We were grocery shopping one time and thought, "We should try that place some day!"

Houston's hot pot scene eclectic in the sense that each restaurant has something different or unique about it. I think Hot Pot City's style fits the mold for some customers. For us, it's not as ideal.

One, the concept is not all-you-can-eat ... which is fine if you don't want to feel pressured to stuff yourself so full until you're about to explode. However, our bill for two people ended up being more than if we went to an AYCE place. But what's nice is that it leaves you the option to take food home if you don't finish.

Two, I wasn't too impressed with the taste of meats. I got the Beef Ribeye Steak and my bf opted for the Assorted Meat Platter (a good choice if you want to try a variety). We both thought it was okay -- not terrible, but nothing that blew our minds out of this world. I will say their thin Canadian Egg Noodles were delicious.

As far as broths, our server explained that the Thai Suki and Vietnamese are best if you are big into seafood. The Mongolian is more of a beef-based broth (Very tasty and a good choice, if you're going the non-seafood route). The Japanese Shabu and Healthy Chinese Herbal are on the lighter side.

With sauces, I was hoping there would be a soy sauce or shoyu-based option for our meats. But there wasn't. We did sesame sauce for vegetables and ordered one of each for the rest of the sauces. They're only $0.50 each, so it was worth a try. Thai Chili is sweet, Garlic Sesame Oil is exactly what it sounds like, Sha Cha is pasty, and Sa Te is your chili oil sauce.

Our server, Tran Hong Anh (the name on our receipt) was super helpful in explaining their menu and concept to us. She was very attentive and patient during our first experience here. My only complaint is the staff didn't bring two items that we marked down on our order sheet. But we didn't say anything, because we ended up with enough food anyways to get us full.

Would I come back here? Sure, if a friend wanted to try it. Would I go out of my way to seek it out again?...

Among all the hotpot places around Houston, this place always has a spot in my list. The service, flavor or quality of the food, and the cleanliness are always 10/10. The price for each person is $29.99, cheaper than other places I've been before.

Everything here is really good and fresh. They don't have the "premium" options like some other places, but what they have is what you need in a hotpot meal. Besides that, if you are Vietnamese, they also have "rau muống/water spinach" and "chao/fermented tofu sauce" and some others traditional stuffs that you can't or hard to find in other places. Their Tom Yum soup base is the best. It's really flavorful, and balance. The quality every time I come is always the same.

If you're going with your parents or family, try out this place, I think they would like it. Most of the customers I've seen are middle age, elders or family. And that's the point can prove how quality here is.

I feel bad for them because they're not busy as they were before. With the quality, service, the flavor, and the price, they deserve more customers than that. All the staffs here are really nice, and they make me feel like they put heart on their work. Just the small details like the fried onions on the noodles, add some traditional options which is cost more, and the kitchen staff wipes his bar every single moment, etc are impressed me.

If you're the owner and you're reading this, keep it going. You did...

I can on a Friday lunch and was expecting it to be packed but it was may be a quarter full. At $20 it was an attractive price similar to my favorite hot pot place in Chinatown. It had less meat offerings with only 6 total which includes 2 beef and 1 lamb. Seafood was mussels, squid rings, blue crab and shrimp. There was no clams today. And they had whole small squid which including the whole body. They left the innards and it just tasted gross. There was a cooked section and I really enjoyed the wings. Big selection of vegetables, fruit and desserts which I appreciated. I got the big pot split in half with Tom Yum and Mongolian. The Tom Yum tasted better the more it boiled but the opposite for the Mongolian which I didn’t enjoy as much. Honestly this place should do well but it wasn’t busy. I feel the 2 things missing compared to May favorite hotpot restaurant for the same price is the better options of meat and the quality of the sauces. If they had both I’d be coming...