CHOCHO Hot Pot

I am really late to the party when it comes to blogging about Chocho Hot Pot.  However, better late than never right?  One of the reasons it has taken me so long is the difficulty getting a reservation.  I finally remembered the day I needed to book in advance to get the date and time I wanted.  So you know, there is 2 hour free parking at the back as long as you register your car.  Situated in the old Earl's, there isn't very much space for the serve-yourself portion of the AYCE hot pot.  We got a front row seat as we were sitting adjacent to it.

Most of the items are at the self-serve bar, but you must order the Soup Base and Meats from the supplied tablet.  We ended up having a variety of broths including my half-Tomato and half-Tom Yum.  I thought the tomato was decent with enough impact I could taste the tanginess.  However, it could've been even more powerful in my opinion.  Reduce it a bit more perhaps?  The same could be said about the Tom Yum.  It was fragrant but I was missing the bold flavours such as lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime.  It was quite muted.  However, the Pork Broth was quite good with meatiness and natural sweetness.  We also had the Sukiyaki, which was balanced in terms of saltiness and sweetness.

Onto the meats, we ordered all them including the Rib-Eye, Fatty Beef Slices, Flat Iron Beef, AAA Chuck Slices, Pork Belly, New Zealand Lamb and Chicken Thigh.  Other than the Flat Iron, the rest of the meats were disappointedly chewy.  No matter how we cooked it (just barely cooked or cooked for a long time), the beef just wasn't tender.  On the other hand, the pork belly was quite nice being meaty with just enough fat.  It did come out tender and buttery.  Lamb was also good with just the right amount of marbling.  Chicken was great too, being tenderized and cooked up nicely, no matter how long you left it in the pot.

Onto the self-serve Sauce Bar, we found a modest array of options that do the job for most people.  For some odd reason, our server provided us with the house blend sauce that wasn't everyone's preference.  We ended up going to get a second custom sauce for ourselves.  There were the usual things like soy, sriracha, vinegar, oyster sauce, garlic, cilantro, green onion, chilis, seafood sauce, satay sauce, sesame sauce, sesame oil, chive sauce and chili oil.  On the side, we found some kimchi, edamame and fruit.

Over at the buffet bar, we had 2 sections dedicated to Vegetables, Soy Products and Noodles.  These were well-stocked and kept orderly by the staff.  These included Cabbage, Tong Ho, Spinach, Napa Cabbage, Fried Bean Curd Roll, Rice Noodles, Quail's Egg, Woodear, Seaweed Knots, Raw Egg, Bamboo Shoots, Yam Noodles and Tomatoes.  Across from these options, we found Corn, Pumpkin, Shiitake, Broccoli, Enoki, Taro, Lotus Root, Bean Curd Skin, Wintermelon, Tofu, Frozen Tofu, Yam and Carrot.

Other than the Meats we ordered from our tablet, there was a selection available in the self-serve section.  These included Mussels, Black Beef Tripe, Beef Tripe, Fish Ball with Roe, Crab Stick, Spam, Pork Blood, Fish, Head-on Shrimp, White Shrimp, Fish Tofu, Cuttlefish Balls, Pork Balls and Beef Balls.  Most of the items were pretty typical with the fish being tenderized.  The tripe was pretty chewy and needed to be cooked for a long time to soften.

Adjacent to the raw stuff, there was a selection of Dim Sum including BBQ Pork Buns, Salted Egg Yolk Buns, Ha Gau and Siu Mai (they were steaming the Siu Mai, hence none in the picture).  I thought these were all pretty decent with the salted egg yolk buns being on point with a runny aromatic centre.  Next to it, we found Portuguese Tarts, Beef Tarts, Fried Shrimp & Pork Wontons, Fried Cheese Wontons, Fried Sesame Balls, Brown Sugar Rice Cake and Yogurt Twist.  Really enjoyed the egg tarts where the shell was buttery and flaky.

Right next to these fried items, we found a section mainly dedicated to Noodles.  They had an array of fresh multi-colured noodles, dried noodles, udon and steamed rice.  I particularly enjoyed the fresh noodles as they had a chewy texture (as long as you don't overcook them). Moving onto the desserts, we had a Candy Station with various gummies including Fuzzy Peach, Coke Bottles and Worms.  These were still soft and a nice bite after a filling meal.

Right across from the gummies, we found the builid-your-own Tasty Iced Jelly dessert station.  It had all of the beans, jelly and syrup to make a custom dessert.  Due to all of the syrups around, the floor was rather sticky in this area.  That was fine and dandy but the Soft-Serve Ice Cream Cone is what we were waiting for at the end of our meal.  It was great, soft and silky with a real sweet milky taste.  Great finish to a surprisingly average meal considering all of the great reviews.  I do think it is still a good value considering that it is related to Dolar Shop, but compared to another AYCE such as Liuyishou, I think it is unnecessary to spend the extra money.  The meats at Liuyishou are more tender in general and you get most of the same items for about $20.00 less per person.

The Good:

- Personal hot pots are great IMO

- Lots of choice

- Service was great

The Bad:

- Meats were generally not tender

- Self-serve stations are cramped (too bad given the existing layout from the previous restaurant)

Liuyishou Hot Pot & BBQ (Robson)

Okay, you might be wondering why there is yet another Liuyishou post on my blog.  Also, why is it at the Robson location as I've visited it not that long ago.  Well, there are a few reasons for this.  First of all, I've never had the AYCE dinner menu at this spot before and more importantly, they now have the option to add AYCE BBQ in addition to the hot pot for only for $32.99 (+$2.00 on weekends and holidays).  I don't know about you, but just having the AYCE hot pot alone for that price (in Downtown by-the-way) is a steal.  Add in BBQ, then you really have an affordable meal that isn't just a burger and fries (if you haven't seen lately, that will cost you $25.00+ at most places).

In addition to their AYCE menu that you check off and hand over to the staff, there is also a Self-Serve section that consists of noodles, fish balls, tofu products and the sort.  This is a great way in cutting down the time waiting for items and being able to get cooking right away.  Next to it is the Sauce Bar, where you can make your custom dip for all the food you cook.  It isn't the most comprehensive selection, but you can create a pretty tasty concoction.  Over to the left of this section, you will find some braised pork bones as well as a jelly dessert.

Right beside the Sauce Bar, we found a few items including Boiled Peanuts, Grape Tomatoes, Pickled Daikon & Carrots, Orange Wedges, Spicy Chicken and Shrimp Chips.  Next to it, we found a selection of hot food too with fried chicken wings, salted crispy chicken and spring rolls.  There was also an adjacent chaffing tray with fried rice and 2 stir-fries.  However, that particular tray was never refilled for the 2 hours we were there.  The highlight had to be the juicy chicken wings.

So the BBQ plate sat atop the exhaust of the hot pot.  This was a space-saving way of having both types of cooking vessels.  For our hot pot broths, we chose Pork Tripe with black pepper and the Golden Chicken Broth.  Loved both as they were flavourful and naturally sweet.  Great for those who don't want spicy.  They put a piece of parchment on the BBQ plate and it was necessary as the meat got stuck on pretty hard on parts without it.  As you can see, we had the Liu's Beef & Lamb Platter that looked impressive around the hot pot.  Meats were sliced thin and cooked up tender.

In the pictures above, this was just a sample of the items that can be ordered from the AYCE menu.  These included cooked items such as Deep Fried Pork and Fried Chinese Donut.  There was also an assortment of tripe and beef aorta.  In addition, we found freshly made meatballs and also crispy sausages.  There was also a BBQ meat section that featured Signature Marinated Beef (also spicy version) and Black Pepper Chicken.  Overall, the combination of Hot Pot and BBQ with broth included as well as the wide selection of ingredients and cooked food makes this an absolute steal.  With the unaffordability of eating out these days, it is nice to see something so fulfilling for under $35.00.  Would totally do this meal again.

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

The Good:

- You get both AYCE Hot Pot and BBQ

- Reasonable price

- Lots of choices

The Bad:

- Food does get stuck onto the grill where there isn't parchment

- Self-serve area is a bottleneck and some cooked food doesn't get refilled enough  

Liuyishou (Burnaby)

Here I am again at Liuyishou in Burnaby.  This time around, I am trying out their AYCE menu for $39.99 per person.  That also includes one soup base for the table.  Currently, they are running a Halloween special where if you are a party of 4 and dressed in a costumes, you get one AYCE meal for free!  That effectively is 25% off.  So make sure you can round up 3 friends or family members!  This is only available on Oct 31st.  Remember though, since this is a Halloween special, you must dress up!  Also, if you say "trick or treat",  they will send out a free special dessert (available Oct 28th - Oct 31st).

Since I've been here so many times, it was nice to see some subtle changes.  Over at the Sauce Bar, they now have a refrigerated serving tray that features 5 different small dishes.  These include Mouth-Watering Chicken, Marinated Pig's Ear, Sliced Pig's Feet, Tofu Skin and Seaweed Salad.  All are very good and kept cold by the cooling trays.  The sauce portion of the station remains quite the same but there are now sliding sneeze guards.  Nice to keep things sanitary!

There is also a small selection of Hot Food that included Fried Mantou, Fried Chicken and Fried Egg Rice.  These are not merely throw-ins or for show, they are actually good.  The chicken is super juicy and the batter is crispy and light.  Fried rice is a bit greasy, yet is chewy and flavourful.  Adjacent, there are some DIY Grass Jelly dessert as well as some cantaloupe and orange slices.  The fruit is actually quite good being sweet and juicy.

Another welcome change is the serve-yourself Hot Pot Bar.  It consists of various noodles, vegetables, bean curd things, fish balls and tofu.  Obviously, this is added due to the introduction of AYCE.  This makes things easier for the staff as these items are easy enough for people to get themselves.  I personally like it since these are some of the items I like most and I could help myself to as many quail's eggs, bean curd sticks, corn and noodles to my heart's content!

For our visit, we ordered a good selection of what is available on the AYCE menu including the popular Beef & Lamb Ring.  Very cool to look at, but beware, you need to cook that meat fairly quickly or it will cook on the board.  Love that their Meatballs are freshly made including the beef and shrimp.  Another must is the Sliced Snakehead Fish.  Super buttery and moist.  One of the extra charge dishes is the Peppercorn Beef Tongue.  It is so tender and buttery.  Worth the $9.95.  Also worth the extra $4.95 is the Brown Sugar Sticky Rice Cakes.  Crispy on the outside with a soft chewiness inside.  The brown sugar is so sweet and rich.

On the topic of sweet, the free dessert that is part of the Trick or Treat promotion is the Deep Fried Yam Balls.  These are also delicious where the outside is lightly crunchy while the inside is soft with a chew.  These are sweet but not too much.  A nice little bite to end the meal.  So you might already know that I love Liuyishou and now that they have AYCE, it is even a better deal.  But try to take advantage of their Halloween special.  Remember to dress up!

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

The Good:

- Affordable pricing for the AYCE

- Food quality for AYCE is the same as their regular menu

- Service is great (based on previous visits as well)

The Bad:

- Location is somewhat small, so less space and less selection of cooked items

Shaburina

Okay, this is the third time I'm blogging about Shaburina...  I guess I really love the place right?  Well yes, but my kids love it even more so, therefore, I really have no choice but to pay them a visit every time I'm in the Seattle area.  Other people have the same thoughts because the place is usually quite busy and they have many accolades from local media.  This time around, I was with Jackie and she'd never been to Shaburina before.  Also, we were here to try their Wagyu & Kurobuta Course, which I've never had before!

So Shaburina is an AYCE Japanese Shabu Shabu.  There are elements that are "extras" to the meal that are more akin to other versions of hot pot, but for variety's sake, it is very welcomed.  You have the choice between a House Course and a Waygu Course that cost $39.00 and $55.00 (for dinner) per person respectively.  In addition, you have a choice of one from 5 different soup bases (one of which is a daily feature).  We had the 3 standard options including the Sukiyaki, Spicy Miso and Kombu as well as the featured broth being Tomato..  For me, I love the spicy miso and tomato.  They have more impact in my opinion with the tomato having concentrated sweetness and tanginess.  The spicy miso has that fermented depth and an appealing saltiness.  It isn't as if the sukiyaki and kombu aren't good either.  The sukiyaki has that salty sweet thing going on while the kombu is more subtle with definite umaminess.

So before we get to the meats, we have to talk about the Sauce Bar, where you have many options to create your perfect dip.  You have the usual soy, fish sauce, chili oil, vinegar, sesame oil, sriracha etc.. on the side in bottles while the main section has things like fresh garlic, cilantro, green onion, red chilis, peanuts, sesame seeds, fried shallots and onions.  In the large tubs, we found a sesame sauce, ponzu and a chef's sauce.

Adjacent to the sauce bar are 2 other sections of items you can grab for your shabu shabu.  The first one is mostly focused on Veggies with things like Shanghainese bak choy, crown daisy, Napa cabbage, spinach, tomato, onion, quail eggs, tofu, mochi, squash, corn on the cob, tofu skins, potato, mushrooms, wood ear, wonton and konjac noodles.  Things were vibrant and fresh as well as always replenished consistently.

The other section consisted mainly of Seafood and Noodles.  We found beef meatballs, Spam, fish tofu, fish meatballs, chikuwa, imitation crab stick, sliced wieners, fish cake, shrimp, baby octopus, bay scallops and clams.  As for the noodles, we had instant ramen, wide vermicelli, udon and fresh egg noodles.  Next to it, there was also house pickled vegetables and kimchi.  These were all good in appearance and also great in the hot pot.  The clams were buttery while the egg noodles were great a soaking up all of the delicious broth.

Now we get to the meat of the meal, literally.  For the House Course, you have Beef Shortplate, Beef Chuck, Pork Belly and Pork Shoulder.  As you can see, these were sliced razor thin, so cooking them took literally seconds.  That also meant that they were super tender and easy to eat.  So easy that you can down quite a few of these.  Fortunately it is AYCE!  For the Premium Course, we found Wagyu Shortplate, Wagyu Brisket, Kurobuta Pork Belly and Kurobuta Pork Butt.  Now with both courses at the table, it was not hard to figure out which one was better.  The meats were just that much more buttery and that much more flavorful.  However, I've been super satisfied with the house course in the past.  Therefore, it really depends what you want.  I would say if you want the full experience though, go for the Premium!

Always, to end the meal at Shaburina, you get Soft-Serve Ice Cream to finish. Creamy and almost melty, the soft-serve is purposefully sweet, aromatic and cold.  The last point is important as it helps soothe the tongue and mouth after a hot pot experience.  Oh and what an experience it is!  I've never been disappointed with Shaburina and this time was no different.  In fact, getting the chance to finally try the Premium Course, I came away even more happy!  I can guarantee that I will be right back here in the near future!

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

The Good:
- Quality food
- Love their soup bases, especially the spicy miso and tomato
- Meats are tender, whether it be House or Premium

The Bad:
- Tables are a bit tight on space with 4 or more burners going 

Xiaolongkan Hot Pot

Man, I've been doing so many AYCE hot pots lately...  As I mentioned, AYCE (All-You-Can-Eat) has made a triumphant comeback during these inflationary times.  Another recent option is Xiaolongkan on Alexandra Road (or Restaurant Row or Food Street).  This recently announced AYCE costs anywhere from $35.99 to $39.99 per person depending on the day and time.  Seeing how they are merely serving what was on the menu before, the food quality is high.

Of course with any hot pot experience, we need to talk about the Sauce Bar.  Much like many in the city, the one here at Xiaolongkan has all the basics and a little bit more.  They have all of the base sauces in large dispensers so you can fill your bowl to your heart's content.  All of the other condiments such as cilantro, green onion, garlic, chilis and the rest were in the actual bar itself.  We also found some light snacks and fruit.  You could also help yourself to some guava candy as well.

Before we get to the "meat" of the meal, we have to talk about the Amaebi as well as the soup bases.  Presented sashimi-style, the sweet shrimp were exactly that.  Buttery soft with just the slightest snap, these were a nice start to the meal.  We ended up with 3 different broths to cook our food in including Tomato, Mixed Mushroom and Traditional House Special Chili (in medium spice).  My favourite was the tomato as it truly had all the tang and sweetness we were looking for.  It was slightly thick too so the broth adhered to all the items we cooked in it.  The mixed mushroom was the mildest and definitely had a salty umami thing going on.  For the house special broth, it was spicy and had plenty of depth thanks to the chili lard.

Onto some cooked items first, we had the Deep Fried Chicken Wings, Glutinous Rice Siu Mai, Crispy Deep Fried Pork, Chinese Donut, Pig's Ears with Chili Oil and Brown Sugar Rice Cake.  I thought these were all pretty decent where the pig's ear was my favourite.  They were tender with a crunch while appealingly spicy.  The brown sugar rice cake was also delicious being soft and sticky with a rich sweetness.  Fried pork was tender and came with a side of spiced salt.

Of course we have to talk about the beef right?  Presented on a "dragon boat" and also served to us by a robot, the Selected Beef Slices were thin and tender.  I especially liked it cooked in the spicy broth as it took on the silky heat well.  However, we really were here for the Superior SRF Wagyu Beef Slices (one order per 3 people).  Oh yeah, these were money with just enough marbling to ensure that each piece would be buttery soft.

We had many more items from the menu, but I want to highlight the ones presented in a box because it was nice to look at and I appreciate the effort they put into making things appealing.  We found Seaweed, Enoki, Shredded Daikon, Quail Eggs, Shrimp Paste, Spicy Beef, Shrimp Balls, Fish Slices and Marinated Beef Tongue.  The highlights included the sweet and bouncy shrimp paste.  Our server spooned little quenelles into the hot broth.  The beef tongue was tender with a bit of a chew.  Perfect texture.  The beef was also good being buttery since it was tenderized.  It still kept some of the marinade even after boiling.  There were a few more items that we had randomly and I know it is an easy thing to say they were good, but in fact, they were!  The food quality was really high for an AYCE menu and to top it off, the price is reasonable.  Would come back in a heat beat.

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

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced AYCE
- High ingredient quality
- Nice space, nice presentation

The Bad:
- Sauce bar is smaller than other places
- Large parking lot, but very weird parking arrangements  

Meet Oyster Wagyu AYCE

Jackie and I have been to Meet Oyster recently and we had their steal-of-a-deal Late Night Sukiyaki Set.  Despite being thoroughly satisfied, we were still very curious about their Wagyu AYCE menu.   On weekdays, it is $86.99 for adults while costing $88.99 on weekends.  Late night is $82.99.  There are 2 tiers below the Wagyu AYCE for $56.99/$58.99 and $30.99/$32.99 respectively for weeknights/weekends for adults.  So yes, you can still have most of the menu items at the mid-tier minus the Wagyu.  But for us, it was all about the Wagyu!

Before we got to that, we had to choose our broth.  Each person has their own personal mini-hot pot atop a butane burner.  For myself, I went for their most popular being the Sukiyaki Soup and Jackie had the Tomato Soup.  I would say that this was great so we didn't have to share valuable hot pot space with each other, but since they were small, the soup evaporated very quickly.  With that being said, they refilled very quickly.  I enjoyed the sweetness of the sukiyaki, but the tomato broth was so delicious, I would probably choose that next time.  It was naturally sweet, tomatoey and with a background tang.

In addition to the raw Sukiyaki items on the AYCE menu, there is also Sashimi & Sushi available.  Despite not looking it, the place dishes up good quality Japanese eats.  The options for sashimi include tuna, hamachi, hokkigai, amaebi and salmon.  As you can see in the picture, the quality is definitely there.  We enjoyed the bright and clean flavours of the sashimi, ordering it twice.  Also included are a few different rolls and aburi sushi.  Those were also solid with chewy sushi rice and fresh ingredients.

Included as well with the sashimi and sushi options, they also have a selection of dishes as well.  We had the Chirashi Don, Tako Wasabi, Unagi Don, Deep-Fried Squid and Baked Oysters.  These were also quite good with the chirashi don having the same good sashimi.  The tako wasabi was good with octopus that had a nice bite while the pickles added more crunch.  Good wasabi hit but not too strong either.  Unagi don featured buttery eel that was adequately sauced.  I found the fried squid to be excellent with a crunchy seasoned batter with tender squid that had an appealing chewiness.  As for the baked oysters, I've had this before and the durian one is the way to go (as long as you enjoy durian that is).  The cheese was plenty cheesy, but I much prefer the garlic as it was loaded and flavourful.

You might've already seen some of the sukiyaki options in the first picture including Squid, Whole Scallops, Shrimp Meatballs, Tripe, Abalone, Snakefish and Shrimp.  These were good quality where the scallops included the mantle (which I love due to the chewy texture).  The snakefish was excellent where it cooked up to be sweet and flaky.  Naturally, the abalone was a treat with its rebound texture and unmistakable aroma.  Shrimp meatballs had a nice bounce and sweetness.  You could also order eggs and use that to dip the meats into after cooking them.

On the topic of meat, the real draw of the Wagyu AYCE is of course the Wagyu Beef!  We got many orders of this (the item on the right) and yes, it was buttery and tender while flavourful.  It goes down so easily, one could do 3 orders of this each for sure.  That didn't stop us from ordering the other beef options too including the Premium Beef Brisket and Premium Beef Chuck.  Naturally, the fatty brisket was more flavourful and slightly more buttery (although still meaty in texture), while the chuck was leaner and beefier.

Among other options on the menu, we also Beef Aorta, Vermicelli, Wide Mung Bean Noodles, Fried Tofu, Bean Curd Sticks, Dried Bean Curd Rolls, Fish Tofu and Dace Meatballs.  I would say these were pretty standard since there was not much to prepare.  Good options though for hot pot.  Overall, the Wagyu AYCE was an inclusive meal that had many cooked and raw choices.  Quality was good and we were definitely satisfied.  However, if you do not want to be that spendy, the mid-tier AYCE option is basically the same minus the Wagyu.  That is probably the best value of the bunch.  Normally, they have premium ice cream bars for dessert, but for this visit, they ran out.  Be sure to get some when you go!

 

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

 

The Good:

- Good food quality

- Sashimi and Sushi are above-average

- Lots of choice

 

The Bad:

- Dining space is pretty small, so limited space for food on the table