Chengdu Memory 蓉城老火锅 — Restaurant in Seattle

Summary: This hot pot restaurant offers great quality meat and authentic Szechuan broth, but the sauce bar left much to be desired. It’s a typical Szechuan-style hot pot, where you can choose your spicy level for half of the broth and select between bone, tomato, or other flavors for the other half. Overall, it’s a solid spot for hot pot lovers, but the lack of variety at the sauce and appetizer bar is why I’m giving it four stars. Still, it’s worth a visit if you’re looking for a meat-heavy, flavorful hot pot experience.

Ambience (4/5): The atmosphere is cozy and inviting, making it a comfortable place to enjoy a hot pot meal. It’s a great spot for groups or family dinners, but the overall setup of the sauce and appetizer bar was a bit underwhelming compared to other hot pot spots I’ve been to.

Authenticity (4.5/5): The broth was very authentic and true to Szechuan flavors. The typical Szechuan-style hot pot lets you customize your spice level for half of the broth, while the other half allows you to choose between bone, tomato, or a variety of other soup flavors. This authenticity in flavor really stood out and elevated the overall dining experience.

Flavor (4/5): The quality of the meat was excellent. We ordered the 0% fat prime lamb and beef combo, and it was well worth the price—around $25 for a generous portion. The meat was tender, and the portion size was perfect for meat lovers. The only disappointment was the sauce bar, which was lacking in variety, and the fermented tofu sauce was too watered down for my liking.

Cost (4.5/5): For the quality of the meat and broth, the prices are very reasonable. The $25 combo we ordered provided plenty of meat, making it a good value for a satisfying hot pot experience. However, the lacking sauce and appetizer bar slightly detracted from the overall value.

Service (4.5/5): The service was quick and attentive. The staff made sure we had everything we needed and were very helpful. They did a great job of ensuring our meal went smoothly, which added to the overall positive experience.

Tips for Visiting:

Great for meat lovers: The prime lamb and beef combo is a must-try if you love lots of meat. It’s a generous portion, and the quality is excellent. Authentic broth: This is a typical Szechuan-style hot pot, where you can adjust your spice level for one side of the broth and choose between bone, tomato, and other flavors for the other side. Be prepared for a limited sauce bar: The sauce bar isn’t as good as other places, with limited variety and watered-down fermented tofu sauce, so adjust your expectations accordingly. Good for groups: This spot is great for groups or family dinners, offering a comfortable atmosphere and plenty of...

Tough call between here and competitor Happy Lamb but I personally prefer the latter. Was also tough deciding what to rate between 4 and 5, but felt like it was strange that we had to pay in the middle of our dining experience, citing that the "kitchen was closing" at 9:30pm and Chengdu closes at midnight. We were asked if we wanted to order anything else, we said no, and we were handed a check to pay on the spot. It was just a bit weird and unsettling enough to hinder my perspective regarding the experience.

Price is fair. At $40 a person (just two of us), we got full. Though that price is very comparable to other hot pot spots including some where you can get more full and bloated. Quality is above average, not exceptionally crazy so relatively fair.

Outside of that, the food is great. Everything else was fantastic. At the entrance there are hair ties, plastic phone cover bags, cloth spray, and glasses cleaners. There's even nail polish. All of these are supposed to improve your experience as well as draw customers in (who doesn't like freebies?) It's very much a standard with higher end hot pot places like Haidilao.

Sauce bar is about $3 and grants you access to creating your own sauce, cucumber salad, peanuts, and fruit in the main area. Towards the left, there's a section with sesame balls, shrimp chips, fried mushroom, spring rolls, and sesame oil (also sesame oil in a cute can). Definitely worth it, though I believe in the past there were more offerings including edamame that wasn't present most recently.

The spicy broth is super spicy and full of peppercorns. Not sure if it really matters if you get mild or medium since the peppercorns are red hot. Other broths are pretty boring and bland but they let you cook your food. It's hard to find a balance if you're not big into spicy foods, so the experience will likely be worse if you're not a big fan of spicy.

Pick a meat combo if you want the aesthetic ring around your hotpot. Buy a meat combo regardless, they're pretty high value here. House specials are definitely popular, the Chengdu sweet potato pasta, Chengdu potato pasta, and yam pasta were all sold out which was a bummer. We settled for the sweet potato noodle which was surprisingly good and very noodle-like after cooking. All the other individual items are pretty self explanatory or standard.

Missed the ice cream because we had to pay in the middle of our meal and just left after we finished. Usually you'd ask for the check and realizing you're finished, they'd bring you...

Its a place with gimmicks, but well received. When we were there the ac wasn't working properly and having hotpot with broken ac on a 88F day is not a very good idea, but the food quality and visual compensated for it. The portion is a little small but adequate. Usually when we have hotpot we always end up getting stuffed and have a bunch of leftovers. This place offers smaller portion, and when we do not get enough, we can always order more.

It also has bottomless iced lemon tea or milk tea from the menu, self serviced condiment bar and a variety of smaller cantonese style desserts, like sesame ball, some sweet fungus dessert and etc.

Location: You can park on the side of the building with a min 9 dollars first hour during business hours and a flat rate 9 dollars all evening after 5pm. There is also street parking with 2 hr max. Hotpot takes time, we chat, wait for the soup to boil, eat, order more, go to the toilet, come back and eat again, so it usually take 2 hours min to enjoy the process so choose your parking wisely lol.

Food quantity Food amount is quite small, except when you order the meat. It will fill the entire wooden ring almost too beautiful to break the circle. Other selection like carbs and noodles seems a little too small, as well as the fish paste , fish balls, meat balls, and mushrooms. This is especially small for combo prices, i wish they give a little more carbs or something. Vegetables are good portion. There is a freezer that stores the prepped food so you can get an idea how much you will get in the order.

Food quality: The meat is fresh and servers are always on a lookout whether to refill my drink, take new orders, or clear off empty plates/bowls. I like the hotpot noodle, it is so smooth and chewy after cooked. I also liked the noodles, beef meatballs, a variety of tofu sticks and vegetables. I also love some of the internal organs we ordered such as tripe and pork intestines. Broth was exceptional, but on the spicy mala broth, be sure to tone down the spiciness because even medium is too hot. Chili gets hotter the more you cook it so make sure you can really eat spicy to order the spicy broth.

Overall: This place gives a satisfaction of a good hotpot meal without getting me stuffed so it is a great feeling. Will i be back again? Definitely! But only with my foodie friends and when the...