Da Long Yi Hot Pot — Restaurant in New York

It was the first time I heard a restaurant charges an additional $8 for solo diners on top of the listed buffet price per person. This extra charge was communicated informally and was not listed anywhere on the menu or on any visible signage inside or outside the restaurant. While the amount is small, it feels arbitrary and off, as it's a charge specifically for a "single eater."

I noticed that the clean bowls under the sauce station had food remnants in them. I checked three different bowls in a row, and each had food pieces stuck inside. It gave the impression that the bowls might have been rinsed in a bucket of water with food scraps floating on the surface rather than under running water.

The Brown Sugar Ciba (fried sticky rice sticks with brown sugar sauce) had an unpleasant texture due to too much water being mixed into the flour, causing them to fall apart after frying. Unfortunately, this was the worst version of this dish I've had at any similar restaurant. It seemed as though they were trying to stretch the ingredients by watering down the mix.

Some portions were notably small, with each order containing only two slices of something, which seemed minimal even by buffet standards. I understand the idea of preventing customers from wasting, but this tiny portion can encourage people over ordering, too.

On the positive side, I enjoyed the peanut snacks available above the sauce section. The servers were friendly and attentive, even toward the end of their shift. The shrimp paste was good, and the portion was reasonable, though limited to one order per table. The buffet snack menu is interesting with good options. Finally, it was a nice touch that soft drinks were included in the buffet price, offering free soda.

I don’t think I’ll be returning. The arbitrary extra charge for solo diners feels off-putting and doesn’t seem logical, which raises concerns about other potentially arbitrary practices behind the scenes. Additionally, the clean bowls with visible food remnants stuck to them are...

I love hot pot, and Chengdu Sichuan hot pot is one of the most popular hot pot in the world, this is my first time for Chengdu Sichuan hot pot, super excited...

There are many dishes you can't find in any regular hot pot spots (Sichuan greens, duck blood, and pig brains...) they might sound wild, but they're really delicious. They have a huge collection for veggies, so vegetarian can also enjoy as well.

Also the spicy level, OMG, this is the whole other level, I would say this is the most spicy hot pot I have ever had. If you love spicy and love hot pot, you should definitely come here. The stuffs are super helpful and friendly, and I love all the banners on the wall as decorations, super cool, love it! Dont worry for non-spicy eaters. They do have non spicy soup base as well (mushrooms, tomatoes and pork bone...), we had pork feet soup base, it costs a little extra, but I'm telling you, it's sooo worthy, the pork feet cooked soooo well, the bone just falls off by itself, and pork feet has very high in protein, particularly Collagen in tendons and skin, who minds to be pretty and healthy, I'm all about it. Can't wait to go back again to try...

This is my first experience at Da Long Yi, have not tried the location in Manhattan Chinatown. Without a reservation, we waited about 45 minutes on a Saturday evening, not terrible. I was confused about all of the reviews praising their service, because we were just given a QR code to order and never really interacted with anyone. It was a little hard to flag down wait staff for this reason if I did need any help. Sauce bar was decent and had all of the condiments to make a good sauce + some house made sauces. The ingredients and broth base tasted fine, although the meat seemed like a very small amount in comparison to the price- maybe the location makes the operating expense higher or something. Otherwise, the pricing was comparable to other al a carte style hotpot restaurants I've been to in...