Xiang Hotpot-Brooklyn — Restaurant in New York

Good food, disrespectful, unprofessional service, mildly overpriced, music was too loud for comfort A lot of these five star reviews have been written because the restaurant offers freebies for posting a 5 star review on the spot. Here is an honest, unpaid review. The ingredients are of good quality, and you get a very generous portion. From raw seafood to meats to veggies, everything was top-notch in terms of freshness and presentation. The service, however, was absolutely horrible and, in fact, one of the worst we have ever experienced, which completely ruined our dining experience. I was there to celebrate my birthday with my boyfriend and asked the waitress if we can have a booth, to which she responded with a blunt "no" and a dirty look. From the moment we arrived, our waitress gave us an unexpectedly terrible attitude. At first, she didn't even stop by our table for a good 10+ minutes, then she brought out the wrong sashimi items and didn't bring out some other items we ordered. We asked for a mild level of spice in our broth, but I think she made it extra spicy because we couldn't even eat it. She barely stopped by to check on us, and after I ordered a drink, I waited 25 minutes for it before I was able to wave to some random waiter. He brought the drink out right away because it was ready, but our waitress just forgot to bring it. At 11:30 sharp, they started cleaning the restaurant and closing the kitchen and the cash register. Given that the restaurant is listed as being open until 1 am, and a few groups have just arrived a few minutes prior, it was really strange, uncomfortable, and rushed. We were in the middle of our dinner and have been asked to pay. After we paid and tipped 20%, our waitress didn't bother stopping by our table at all. Our table was full of empty plates that no one bothered to collect, our broth completely evaporated, and I had to ask some random busboy to replenish it. Given that the restaurant actually changes an extra $20 for the broth (on top of the per person charge for the buffet), this kind of service is absolutely unacceptable. The waitress was standing in the corner, ready to leave and flirting with male waiters and kitchen staff for the majority of the evening, and didn't even look in our direction. When we were about to leave, some random busboy asked us if we wanted dessert because apparently ice cream was included with dinner. Overall, the treatment felt very disrespectful and dismissive, so we won't be back or recommend this restaurant to anyone. Given how beautiful the decor is and the quality of food, it's a real pity that the restaurant doesn't hire a more...

We went for a Sunday Brunch at 1pm and it was fairly slow at that time. Most of the restaurant was unoccupied. Service for the 1st round was fairly quick but they "purposely" missed the snow crabs. We ordered it a 2nd and 3rd time and it still did not come. 2 hours into our meal, after complaining for the 4th time, we finally received our long awaited crab!! The broths were slightly better than 99 hotpot but definitely not worth the extra amount they charge you even with the fancy teddy bear and pouring coconut into the chicken broth. It was very gimmicky with no "substance". We had medium spicy and the broth was flavorless, bland, and very one dimensional. The broth tasted like the prepacked ones I buy from the supermarket with not enough fresh pepper/spices added to enhance the flavors. Having to pay $20 for such a mediocre broth added salt to the wound. The coconut chicken was very bland and I have to say adding the fresh coconut water in did not help save the broth. I have concluded that fresh coconut water is not enough to make your food flavorful and should not be used in the broth. Slices of coconut is a better choice. Overall, the broth is poor compared to Haidilao and the Wharf. Service was extremely unacceptable compared to hotpot restaurants of its class. The other restaurant had 1 server for 3 tables while this one had 1 for every 10 tables. Every female server rushed us through ordering and disappeared before we can ask any questions. One snapped at me when I wanted to order which is just rude. The new male servers in the afternoon were much nicer and humorous but by that time, I was extremely frustrated because the servers just run right past and ignored us through most of our meal. This makes me feel like I am in one of the lower tier hotpot places and this made us finish our meal much later than we were supposed to. The sauce area was a mess with very little to choose from and our pot was almost dried before anyone came to add soup. Overall, a very unpleasant experience. Some positive notes: The seafood (when it shows up) is larger and fresher than the Wharf restaurant. Xiang must have a lot of seafood buying power. The Wharf has much better meats (fresher and marbley). The live shrimps were "VERY" lively. Razor clams were plump and fresh. Snow crab legs were tasty as well. They did have shaved ice for our birthday friend so that was nice. Decor is also very nice but not a huge deciding factor for me. I will not be returning to Xiang as the broth is very important for me. Not really here to...

As a hot pot enthusiast, I was eager to try this place out, being a frequent visitor of nearby Chong Qing. My partner and I visited three weeks ago, and unfortunately, it was a letdown.

Pros: Food had a pretty good taste to it, having pork included in their soup bases. They had a pretty unique choice of food, I enjoyed the cilantro beef sticks and the soup dumpling options as choices I don’t see elsewhere. It was bizarre to not see chicken slices, which is a hot pot staple. The interior is pretty impressive looking - it’s not what makes or breaks a place for me, but I have to admit some time and money were clearly spent on it.

Cons: The service was just not good at all. I understand these jobs aren’t exactly fun, but would it kill a server to crack a smile? It took us almost half an hour to get our food started, as our waitress wasn’t thorough in her explanation as to the menu options (luxury and regular, I believe it was, we figured it out as we went), and no one checked on us to see if we needed help. We finally flagged a random worker nearby and got the order in. We were seated in what had to be the worst seats in the place. A small table for two right next to the front counter and nearby standing employees; it felt like we were on a front stage as a show for everyone, with employees constantly passing us by left and right. We requested a seat change but were told it wasn’t possible? Ok. A few flies buzzed around us as we ate; that was a brand new experience in all my hotpot place visits. The seats weren’t comfortable, but I ignored it. My partner pointed out as we left that we didn’t receive cushions like everyone else had on their seats. -Definitely expensive for the experience. Chong Qing was almost the same price for larger food portions and more options.

Probably won’t come back again with Chong Qing nearby, but I’d give it another shot if...