Mt. ShooTao Hot Pot 蜀道山火锅 — Restaurant in New York

Its very cozy, inviting and all the equipment and booths are new and lovely. The atmosphere is great, nothing to complain about. This is the only nice thing I can say, however.

I want to preface this that despite being of European descent, I am an adventurous eater and lived in Japan for 2 years and visited China in the past. I am familiar with asian flavor profiles and have a good spice tolerance. I’ve done the buffalo wild wings challenge before without an issue and grow my own hot peppers. I enjoy spicy food quite a lot. But if comfort food exists, this experience was the definition of discomfort food.

This was my first hot pot experience in NYC, and I let the waitress know this in hopes that we get some guidance. Unfortunately, it was pretty clear there was a language barrier, and given she was the only one on the floor, she was far too busy with serving the entire restaurant to give us a proper warning.

We ordered the MEDIUM spice beef tallow broth. I’ve attached a photo of the peppers and peppercorns that I fished out along with the oil in there. I had to scoop out 3 more entire bowls of oil and peppers out of the pot to make it remotely bearable to consume. One of the options we got were the spicy beef. I’ve attached a photo of it also. It is nearly a 1:1 ratio by weight of spice to the meat. Pretty ridiculous waste of product all around to be honest. When we let the waitress know she said she could not exchange the spicy beef and we would be charged for it still. Whatever. We ordered some unseasoned meat, but the broth was still far too spicy to be enjoyable. After fishing out 4 total bowls of oil and peppers from the broth, the waitress tried to help us out by diluting the broth. We also asked her to turn the heat down because it was boiling violently making everything way too hot to enjoy. I understand that this is HOT pot, but our broth reduced by more than half in under a half hour. It was absolutely blasting. The waitress misunderstood us perhaps and turned the heat up higher. I took it upon myself to turn off the hot surface, and the waitress came back around and turned it back on. At this point I was just laughing at this situation as this meal was certainly turning into an experience I’ll never forget.

The only thing that I found enjoyable was the edamame, but unfortunately it was covered in fruit flies by the sauce bar. From reading other reviews it would appear that access to the sauce bar, which the waitress told us was complimentary, is apparently an up-charge on the menu. By the time I was checking out I couldn’t wait to leave so didn’t review the receipt in detail. Regardless, $130 dollars for burning my mouth and getting a stomach ache was a complete waste of my...

I recently had an excellent dining experience at Mt. ShooTao Hot Pot with two close friends. One of them recommended the restaurant after seeing it highly praised on Chinese social media (WeChat), so I made a reservation for August 19, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.

We arrived at 5:50 p.m. and were warmly greeted by waiters Ruben and Jacky. Even though the restaurant wasn’t very busy, they thoughtfully offered us a larger table near the back, giving us extra privacy—an especially considerate gesture for a small group of three.

Jacky recommended the Triple Flavored Pot, which was perfect since each of us could enjoy our preferred broth without compromise. He was also incredibly friendly and surprised us with complimentary treats: a large bottle of Iced Osmanthus Soy Milk and Seaweed & Pork Floss Fried Dough. Both were delicious and very much appreciated.

We also enjoyed complimentary appetizers of kelp and edamame. Many restaurants charge for these small dishes, so it was a pleasant surprise. The edamame, in particular, stood out as a plant-based protein option that vegan diners would appreciate.

As a vegan, I was especially impressed by the service from waitress Amy. She helped me order two portions of the ShooTao Seasonal Veggie & Mushroom Mountain, which were flavorful and satisfying. My friends, who are meat eaters, loved their dishes as well—especially the Premium Fresh-Cut American Wagyu Chuck. We ended up finishing everything because the food was so outstanding.

Overall, both the food and the service exceeded expectations. Whether you’re a meat lover or a vegan, you’ll find plenty of delicious options here. The convenient Midtown Manhattan location—close to the subway and PATH train—makes it a great choice for both locals and visitors coming in...

Honestly the worst dining experience I have had ever. The waitress hardly spoke English so due to her lack of ability to communicate with us she took it upon herself to send our broth to the kitchen before we made our final decision, and then when we realized that happened and told her she acted very angry & tried to make us accept it anyway. It was in in our cart but we were still browsing the menu and she took the ipad from my husband and submitted it ahead of the other ingredients. Our kids don't really love mushrooms so we wanted to switch to chicken flavor. She was rushing us to order before my husband even showed up. It was weird she seemed like she wanted us to do everything so fast when nobody was even in there. She grabbed things from us and hovered over us. I was praying for more customers so she'd stop standing over us. Maybe we should have gone w/ the broth she said because the one we picked was extremely bland. She also automatically submitted a sauce bar self service charge. We definitely would have gone w/ that because that food was way too boring without it. Still weird she didn't explain that to us or give us time to understand the structure before submitting it on our behalf. We are not slow orderers at all. The overall restaurant decor is cute. That's all I can say for this place that is positive. So I was expecting it to be fun. It was so bad, I really truly believe these reviews are fake. The only drinks are soda & juice & the free overly lemoned room temperature water. The vibe is don't come in here if you are not Chinese. But-it is in herald square...next to a French Bakery. The place was very empty at first and a few tables filled up by the...