Roadside Spicy Pot

Saying things are expensive right now would be an understatement.  From consumer goods to food, inflation has hit prices hard.  Sure, some things are coming back down, but as a whole, our dollar doesn't stretch very far.  I've highlighted some of the best values in town recently, yet here is another in Roadside Spicy Pot.  Normally, hot pot can be an expensive night out since you have to pay for the broth and then to be completely full, you will have to order lots of dishes.  Well, at Roadside, they have some reasonable pricing but also some killer deals as well.

One of best values are their 59 Cent Skewer specials.  Like really, you could just get full on these skewers alone, but I would urge you to try their other selections too.  Now there are a few skewers that cost a bit more like shrimp and chicken wings which are $1.00 yet the majority of them are really only 59 cents!!!  They are kept in a refrigerated display where you can choose yourself.  As you can see, we got quite a few and my favourites were beef tripe, beef tendon, duck tongue, fried gluten and spicy beef.

Another one of their crazy specials is the $2.99 Half-Lobster Tails.  Sure, they aren't very big, however, they are freakin' lobster tails!  Some of the regular priced Seafood Dishes we had was the fish slices, scallops (complete with the mantle) and squid tentacles.  As you can see in the picture, things were well-portioned and appealing.  As for the broth, we had one that was the Classic Spicy and the other was Tomato.  Although I love spicy, the tomato was really good too as it had plenty of natural flavour that helped elevate each ingredient.

Now looking at the picture of our spread, we also had quite a few meat items including their 4th Anniversary Promotion $1.99 American Wagyu Beef.  Just like the skewers and the lobster tails, this is a fantastic deal.  It is a full plate of the Wagyu Beef, not per piece!  We also got some sliced lamb, fatty beef and also some pork jowl.  Also you can see we really loaded up on the skewers.  Anyone could do that affordably.

Sure, these are the same skewers in the previous picture, but I want to highlight the spicy dishes (cooked) that we also tried.  They included Sweet Potato Noodle, Spicy Tender Beef, Spicy Clams and Spicy Beef Tripe.  Naturally, these all had a similar flavour profile being spicy, a touch smoky and earthy.  My favourite was the tripe as I just enjoy the chewiness.  Clams were also good as they were buttery and briny.  Beef was tender and soaked up the spice really well.  The noodles were slippery with a chew and also took on the flavours.  We were also served some spicy oil dip and also the spice rub.  Both really helped elevate the already tasty boiled items from the hot pot.

For dessert, we were served the Brown Sugar Rice Cakes and oh boy, were they super delicious!  Beyond the crispy exterior, we got a soft and sticky inside that had a great mouth-feel.  As much as there was a brown sugar drizzle on the outside, it was balanced in terms of sweetness.  Really enjoyed this dessert and in fact, the entire meal was excellent.  Add in the fact that they offer up some pretty good specials, it isn't expensive eating here.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Reasonable pricing

- Ingredient quality is solid

- Love the decor

The Bad:

- They are going for the street food decor, but the seats are not great to use for an extended period of time