Lao Szechuan Hot Pot Buffet — Restaurant in Sioux Falls Township

If you are unfamiliar with what a Hot Pot is, the closest thing I can think of being similar is fondue. The tables have a built in electric burner, and you are given a boiling pot of broth that continues to cook at your table. You add your own vegetables from a wide array and cook your meat and noodles by dipping them into the broth, hence the fondue similarity. This cooking method does need a little bit of instruction on how to properly do. The vegetables you simply add to the broth, but the noodles you only leave in about 30 seconds. And the meat you can just dip and hold in the broth until it is done to your liking.

There are many meats to choose from including the traditional beef, chicken and lamb along with a large selection of seafood. One thing to note that can really make or break your experience, is the sauce you concoct. Your food will have some flavor from the broth, especially if you choose to have the “spicy” version. But the regular broth is rather bland. So the sauce is pretty essential. We didn’t really know what we were doing the first time around and our sauce was not great. Thankfully our waitress, who I believe is co-owner to this establishment, came over and helped us when she saw we were struggling. She made us a fantastic sauce, which I will now share the basics with you: use the non-spicy premade sauce mixed with garlic, green onion, soy sauce and hoisin. You will put this sauce on your food once it is cooked and already on your plate. If you like things to be spicy, then she recommended starting with the premade spicy sauce and adding a little of everything.

This was an extremely unique experience and it was a lot fun to try it out. However, as great as it was, I think the restaurant could use a few small, but important, touches. Otherwise, I sadly don't think they will last. First and foremost, they need to either explain as soon as you are seated on how to properly prepare your meal, or have very simple but detailed instructions sitting at the table to inform the guests. Had we not had our waitress, I feel like we would not have walked out as happy customers.

The second thing the establishment needs to do is have the wait staff check up on the customers a little more often. This is a unique experience that most people are unfamiliar with. Even with the initial instructions, different things come up that only the wait staff can answer. Such as, we accidentally turned our heating unit off.

Thirdly, they need to upgrade their presentation. Everything is clean, so please don't think that was the problem. It was more that you can tell they were on a budget. Not everything fits perfectly or matches. I'm not sure if I'm just being prissy or if everyone would feel this way, but when I saw that it made me a little nervous about the quality. It ended up not being a problem at all and like I said before, everything was clean. I just think that if they upgraded their presentation it could help attract more customers.

Fourth, they need to create a recipe guide for the sauces. I'm thinking something similar to HuHot where they have a recipe list hanging above/nearby giving examples of different sauces a person could make that have been tried and tested.

Finally, again not a big deal, but just a suggestion, it could use some more decoration. They have some, and what they do have is very pretty, but it still feels rather empty.

Overall it was a fun and unique experience that we would highly recommend trying out. I would just suggest being upfront with your waiter and asking them from the very start how to properly prepare your food and their recipe suggestions for making a good sauce. Otherwise have fun and just enjoy the ethnic diversity that is finally making its way into...

Let me start by saying that I ordered food delivered from here and this review is only on this order, not the place overall. Let me also say that Lao Schezwan is akin to the Chinese only places that I've been to in NYC, LA and San Fran. By that I mean the authenticity of the food. This is NOT Panda Express or one of the other places in town serving Americanized Chinese food. I say this because there are things on the menu that are going to be pretty intimidating to many people here who are only used to one of the other type places. It's very authentic. Pretty much like you'd get IN China. Because of the great menu though and the availability of things you can't get elsewhere, at least not of the same caliber, I ordered more than I normally would so that I could try some different things and have enough for more than one meal. I ordered curry chicken, chicken fried rice, dumplings and a bun. Now, some of you may be thinking that that doesn't sound all that authentic or non-Americanized and to a degree they're not but for example, the dumplings are homemade and they have several versions. I ordered the pork and cabbage and they were great! Not too doughy and with a nice amount of filling to go along with the really tasty dipping sauce. I'm going to add a bit of Sambal to it next time just because I like mine spicy. The stuffed bun was also hand made and I got the pork and chive version. Again, not too doughy and with a good amount of filling but it was more chive than pork and I'm not sure if there was also some other type of green mixed in or not but there was a funkiness to it that I equate with cooked spinach, something I very much dislike so it was not my favorite. I'm going to order the buns again, but with a different filling next time. If you like spinach or other cooked greens though, try this one, you'll probably like it a lot. You can taste the pork too, just not enough to mask the aspect I didn't care for. Personal taste thing though. Not a criticism. Now for the curry chicken. This dish is largely nappa cabbage, shredded carrots and onion but there were some nice pieces of thinly sliced chicken and the curry sauce was really good. It comes with plain white rice which is fine but I was wishing they offered fried rice because I love the stuff. As much as I like the more authentic dishes, there is just something about a big bowl/ plate of fried rice that really does it for me. Speaking of, I got the chicken version because they do not have a pork or "house" version that I would normally order. Having said this, it was still excellent. Not greasy like so many places can tend to be and is as good as the dish gets other than for the lack of other meats that I would have wanted. Overall this was an excellent Chinese meal that will last me a couple of days worth of meals so not too bad for the $40 it cost me. It was really closer to $30 if you take away the delivery fee, tax and tip. If you are interested in really authentic Chinese food then here's your chance. If you are afraid of the more exotic stuff like pig ears and intestines, I hear you (no pun intended) but the more basic stuff like I got tonight was really good and I still highly...

Very authentic, and very good. Friendly service. Not your typical Chinese restaurant. If you are looking for new dishes and to expand your tastebuds give Lao Szechuan a shot. The right side of the restaurant is traditional dine in, where you order from a menu. Once again, this is Szechuan style food, not your typical orange chicken and beef broccoli etc! Some really interesting and tasty options, lots of spicy food. The left side of the restaurant is the hot pot buffet. They bring you a double sided pot of broth, with one side being spicy abd the other side mild. (I order mine double spicy!) There is an induction grill built into the table. The broth begins to summer and boil. It's up to you what ingredients to add. There is a cooler filled with raw proteins as well as raw veggies and noodles. You load a plate with raw ingredients and then add them bit by bit to your boiling broth. Everything is sliced thin, so it cooks extremely quickly. There is also an area to make delicious dipping sauce, with lots of different ingredients. They give you a clean plate and bowls to transfer all your cooked items and you eat at your leisure. Don't add all the ingredients at once! Take your time and savor the flavor. It's a healthy fresh take on lunch/supper, and I love cooking, so it's a lot of fun...