YinTang Spicy Hot Pot — Restaurant in Irvine

05/04/2025 update: looks like they listened to my advice. I am able to pay the check quickly.

YinTang Spicy Hot Pot, a Taiwanese restaurant, is near Ranch 99. I asked my wife to dine in together because she loves Spicy Hot Pot.

We can pick up the food we want and choose one of the 4 soup bases for free. One pound is $14.99. Purchases under one-pound are allowed. I personally like Taiwanese Spicy because it does not make my mouth go numb.

The only thing I don’t like is that when paying for the check after having lunch, we need to go to the front desk and ask for the check. Ordering the food and paying for the check are in the same line. This is really not convenient. Since the server has the handheld payment tablet, why can’t he/she just go to each table directly and let customers pay for it easily?

Inside, I see the famous quote: “隱于心，藏于身，動于形，在于靈”. It can be translated into English as: “Hidden in the heart, kept within the body, manifested through actions, resides in the spirit.” It suggests that a person’s true talents and skills are kept internal and only revealed through their actions when appropriate, emphasizing the harmony between inner cultivation and outward behavior. This reflects a philosophical view on how to live and act with wisdom. Sounds interesting. Right?

Will go...

I don't order from this place very often, but occasionally, I'll give it a try to change things up. However, during the few times I have ordered, I've already encountered two extremely unpleasant experiences. The last time, on a rainy day, I ordered a spicy hot pot, but what I received was a plate of boiled food with no seasoning whatsoever. By the time I got home, I couldn't return it in the rain, and the customer service told me they couldn't offer a refund, only a limited-time coupon. They even threatened to make me delete my review. I decided to let it go.

But today, my friend invited me to order again, and I reluctantly gave it another shot, thinking surely this time they wouldn't serve me plain boiled food again. But to my dismay, I found pieces of hair in the food. As shown in the picture, it's not just one or two strands of hair; all three of our meals contained short, broken hairs, almost like freshly shaven stubble or cut hair. This made me feel extremely disgusted and uncomfortable. I will never order from this place again, and I think it's important for everyone to carefully check their food for any foreign objects to protect their...

We put our name down first and when they call you in you start by grabbing a bowl and filling it with all the ingredients you want in your hot pot - various meats and vegetables. You pay by weight so the cost is just under $15/lb. I thought the price was on the high side. Once you get up to the counter to pay you pick the broth- 3 choices are original beef bone, Tom Yang, or tomato and you can pick spice level for each. I picked the beef bone at level 2. Once you pay they take it back to make your soup and they bring it out to you. They give you a small spiral bracelet with a number for your soup. There is a sauce bar so you can make your own dipping sauce. While you wait they bring out crispy wonton chips as a free service. Soup was not too spicy and overall very tasty. However I got move ingredients than I originally thought so I had to take leftovers home. At the end they bring a sweet jelly...