Liuyishou Hotpot(Princeton) — Restaurant in Lawrence Township

Go here if you want to be devalued as a customer and harassed by staff.

-1st Visit (Saturday Dinner) - Went with a voucher that had no indications of what days I could not use it on. Told the host that I had this voucher before being seated. Got ignored. We sat, we ate and the bill comes. I told our waitress that I had a voucher but she got some other waitress to tell me that I could not use it on the weekend. I wanted to show her the fine print but the waitress refused to look at it. Paid my $180 bill with tip and left annoyed. I had several people look at it for me and they confirmed that I had the right to use it on that evening.

-2nd Visit (Friday Dinner) - Drove 50 mins again to re-use the voucher. The manager was hesitant to accept it but made an exception this one time since "Friday night is considered a weekend". Throughout the course of the evening, we endured bad service from our waiter (guy with headwrap and mustache) who was also the host from my 1st visit. Barely checked in on us after submitting our paper order and had to get his attention multiple times for beverage requests and missing food item. Our hotpot soup dried out fairly quickly and not once did he or other staff members check on the soup for us which was unusual. When we finished, he showed me 2 receipts which 1 was pre-voucher and the other was post-voucher. I finally redeemed my voucher, paid the post amount ($78) BUT gave the 20% tip amount ($22) based on the PRE-voucher receipt in which everything totaled to $100. Considering we did not get good service, I was hoping the tip would be shared with the other hardworking staff members at the restaurant who deserved it more. That's the way I roll.

We were just about to walk out the door and our waiter stopped us, telling me that I did not tip correctly. He kept insisting that my tip was calculated from the post-discounted bill. My friend and I were confused and shocked by his claim and by his behavior. I showed him the 20% tip amount that was printed at the bottom of the pre-discounted receipt and he still did not let us go. We even used his calculator and showed him and he still did not let us leave until we paid him more. My friend finally told him to give us the change back from the $100 and we'll calculate it from there. We saw him talking to a few waitresses and he returned with the $22 change and an APOLOGY, stating that he was a new employee which was a lie because he was the host at my first visit, acting like he owned and managed the restaurant.

I never experienced this type of treatment at a restaurant in my entire life. Clearly, I will never step foot in this...

October 18th 2023 update: my sister had been craving hot pot so we went with my two daughters and my niece. They have made improvements and enhancements to their food and service.

The food was outstanding as usual. The server we had, when we had a question, if she wasn’t sure she fulfilled our question, she brought another staff over to ensure we were clear.

This time it was so good that we went two days in a row! Must try!

——————————————- The food was absolutely delicious. After reading reviews I was afraid to try the hot broth but the staff encouraged us to try it and I’m glad we did. If you cook things more superficially in the broth then it’s SO hot and literally made me question my existence. Once the heat would pass I would try again and I discovered that if I cooked the food deeper in the broth, then it wasn’t as spicy. It was quite flavorful! But staying superficial in the broth allowed more of the oils in the broth to be on the food which is where the most concentration of “heat” was. So, fun fact there.

The meats were so delicious and we made the sauces as outlined on the paper place mats which were outSTANDING! We ordered white rice, home made noodles, the meat platter and a veggie platter with two broth. I have to say that although it was very good, it wasn’t worth the money. Maybe it would have been worth it if it was more then just two people footing the bill 🤷🏼‍♀️

Being that it was our first time, I was hoping that the staff would 1) inquire if it was our first time 2) make suggestions 3) educate us 4) follow up to explain instructions and answer questions. They made suggestions for the broth, but none of the other components i was hoping would occur. I also have a severe shellfish/shrimp allergy and was trying to communicate this to the staff but she didn’t speak English which is okay and usually means the food will be very authentic so i appreciate that, however, she could have grabbed another staff member to come speak to me so i could articulate my allergy and feel safe but that didn’t happen. So I felt uneasy about my safety with an allergy. Luckily everything was okay. We wondered around and read things on our own, a little lost but I think we did alright.

My experience wasn’t bad, the food was good, but all things considered it’s not a must return but I would if...

Little kid feels unfair treatment and discrimination in this restaurant!!!!

We went to Liu Yishou Hotpot Princeton today, and I really do not recommend it if you’re bringing kids. My child had a strong experience of unfair treatment and kept asking me it that discrimination? I’m still trying to explain to him why unfair things happen in society.

There was a claw machine there, and my kid wanted to play with it from the moment we walked in. They told us we could get two tokens to play after we paid the bill. But at that point, there were very few toys left in the machine, all crammed together, making it basically impossible to grab anything. I asked if a staff member could help rearrange the toys, but they quickly refused, saying they were too busy even it’s 2pm, few customers in the restaurant. I let it go since the claw was very weak anyway. We let our kid try a couple of times and then told him we’d go somewhere else to play later.

But when we start packing food, we saw four or five adults walk over with a bowl full of tokens that the staff had given them. The same staff member we talked to went with them, asked what toys they wanted, and gave them a whole bag of stuffed toys. My child then asked why they got so many tokens. Didn’t they say they were too busy to deal with the machine? Why could those people go, and even get a whole bag of toys? Why she did things so unfair? Is she discrimination?

As for tipping, the table next to us wanted to leave a 10% tip, and the staff told them that if they didn’t leave 15%, they’d have to fill out a form and provide feedback. The customers were surprised and said, “It’s like that?” and then just agreed to 15%.

When I shared our experience today with friends in a WeChat group, many people spoke up about their own bad experiences. Some were even asked to leave a 20% tip. Others had loaded money onto a membership card but were later told they couldn’t use it. One person said that because the place was crowded and they wanted to switch tables, the staff told them to carry the hotpot themselves—without even providing gloves—saying, “If you want to switch, carry it yourself.”

This is the first time I’ve ever reviewed a restaurant in one star, but honestly, if I can choose 0, I will write 0 star. It was just a terrible...