Shancheng Lameizi — Restaurant in Milpitas

You can say they are reasonably priced given the amenities, or you can say they are overpriced because of them. I take the latter because I am less impressed by the food than my enthusiastic daughter who dragged me there after her first visit with a friend a few days ago.

Let me prequalify that the place is clearly branded for Chongqing-style hotpot. So, the taste is different from the more refined Chengdu-style hotpot that I would prefer. However, there have been plenty of Chongqing hotpot places in Chengdu, as well as in Beijing while I was there. (Since mid-1980's, most modern Chengdu hotpot places have favoured Chongqing flavour, anyway. As to Beijing, the only Sichuan hotpot known is Chongqing style.) I think I am qualified to give Shancheng Lameizi 4 stars minus for its food. The flavour is somewhat authentic. But the taste isn't fantastic. It also lacked the diverse raw meats that a typical hotspot place would offer in China, which is the main draw of Sichuan-style hotspot. While it is unfair to compare a Milpitas establishment with street eats in Chengdu in meat diversity, Shancheng Lameizi isn't shy of charging as if they do have the special supply pipe that some specialty Chinese restaurants in US do.

Price-ingredient ratio aside, Shancheng Lameizi can't even compare with some other hotspot places in the Bay Area in terms of ingredient diversity. This is a major disappointment. Another disappointment, of course, is how things are priced. They have a free snack bar, which has a few interesting things that you don't often see in the US. But then, they charge you for sauce dishes if you wish to make one for yourself - which is customary with Sichuan hotpot, and necessary if you order spicy soup base.

Of course, there is this overall overpricing for the diversity and quantity of food you get. Quality of ingredients, I'd also give them four star minus with meats, perhaps five stars on some non-meat ones. So, 4 star the restaurant goes.

We went on off hours. No complaint about service whatsoever. Seating is spacious, decoration is tasteful...

The Food Have not had hot pot for a while, and a friend recommended Shan Cheng La Mei Zi so we decided to give it a try. They mentioned they quite enjoyed their side dish that they offer. We ordered their split soup base with spicy and mushroom. We also had their Beef Combo and Vegetable Combo, along with some a la carte items. The quality of the ingredients was pretty good and presented nicely. But I can see why my friend was hyping about the side dishes. They have a variety of snacks and side with their sauce bar to go alone with the meal. There are items such as hawthorns, shrimp chips, jellies, etc.. It was a nice snack and appetizer to go along with the meal. It was an enjoyable experience and I would recommend trying at least once.

The Miscellaneous Shan Cheng La Mei Zi is inside a large plaza, so there is a good amount of parking. The restaurant itself had some nice interior design aesthetics. Their menu has a good selection of items. But I was more impressed with their selection of snacks and side dishes. It was a nice addition to the meal. Their service was also good, no complaints there. This was an interesting hot pot experience, and I would like to return to try out their...

Please dont go there. The experience is extremely bad and I wish there is a half star or no star. I was invited by my friend from China. He said this is the traditional Chinese hot pot. We waited for two hours to get in, and waited for another half hour to get the menu. We only spend 3 minutes and decided what to order. However, when we asked for the waiter to order. He said "Dont you see I am on the way serving other people?! You guys should be patient! Otherwise dont eat here." OMG I dont know how popular the restaurant is, but I know I wont come again, the waiters here are really rude, so I thought it must be exceptional delicious. After we tried the food, my friend apologized to me. He, as a man from Szechuan, said :"I wish I didnt take you here. The food is not fresh and the soup is somehow bitter. I dont want to tell you the truth but the soup must be used by previous customers..." I understand he wanted to treat me an authentic hotpot, but the restaurant is definitely...