Pixiu Mala Hongtang PDX — Restaurant in Portland

Overpriced Korean restaurant that seems to be doing everything wrong. I had lunch there with 3 other friends. Works kind of like a Mongolian Grill, but at double the price....at least for me and the other friend who ordered something similar. You load up a bowl with veggies, noodles, tofu, shrimp....then find out after that when they weigh it after you've piled everything up what it's going to cost. In 2 of our cases....$27 & $33 respectively.....for lunch...plus tip. We chose the stir fry option, and apparently they charge more (? ) for that than when they add broth to the mix ( broth gets you a discount? ). I chose the least spicy option, and it was still quite spicy ( The choice STARTS at medium spicy )....with little other flavor, unfortunately. My 2 other friends paid around $16-$17 for their veggies with broth, and seemed satisfied, except for what they were charged. If you wanted to add lamb or brisket ( the only other meats seemed to be the shrimp or squid that apparently weren't charged extra for...except by weight....weird! ) they charge extra. Honestly, you are better off, both in terms of price and flavor, going to a Mongolian Grill type restaurant if choosing you own stir fry ingredients is your thing. Or just go to one of the many other Asian restaurants in the area where you can get a decent flavorful lunch for under $20 with tip. A lunch consisting of noodles with veggies and a few shrimp on top is hardly worth the $30 or so we...

I come here a lot and every time I had went, the service was good. But this time around it was a disappointment. We came in and ordered our food and sat at the table right next to the cash wrap. The lady working there had sat three tables down already and brought over their water and utensils especially the table right next to ours. We were the only ones that did not have water or utensils for about 15 mins. We were only given utensils and water when our food came out. I also have to add that I could’ve went up and grabbed the utensils myself but seeing the look the lady that was working there gave to another lady who came up and grab some napkins made me not want to. Overall food was good as always but service was lacking this time around.

As of 04/29, I’ve went back about three times within the last month or so and I would have to say service is way better than it was this time around. Although I do have to mention the lack of them refilling the sauce bar. I understand that it’s a small sauce bar but you do offer it to the customers for a reason. Everytime I had gone back around 6 or 7pm, the bar is always empty. The last time I asked if they were going to refill it, she said no because they were closing soon. Do mind that they close at 9 but what is the point of having a sauce bar that is practically empty in the evening? Could’ve at least refilled it halfway or little bit just so it can last for the rest of...

EDIT (12/06/23): This has easily become my favorite restaurant. I enjoy it so much. I take the leftover broth to go and I heat it up with frozen udon noodles and kamaboko fish cake at home. I am constantly craving it. If not for the difficult-to-find parking and the expensive price, I would go every week. My husband also loves it, but he especially likes the stir fry. I love the spiciness-level-zero soup. Delicious and fun experience. It was enjoyable getting to look at all of the ingredients and choose what I wanted in my soup. They offer soup or stir fry options at different levels of spice, and a variety of vegetables, noodles, tofu, rice cakes, and meat. The ingredients were fresh, the restaurant looked clean, and the staff were polite and friendly. They brought out an ingredient they didn’t have after we finished placing our orders, and graciously let us add the ingredient to the orders we had already placed when we asked. The ingredients were cooked to the perfect doneness and the broth was hot and flavorful. If you want ramen noodles, make sure you look at the top of the self serve bar—everyone in my group missed it. They were in packages, placed on top and above the sneeze guard near the register. I went with my siblings, but I can’t wait to take my...