Big Way Hot Pot (New West)

Okay, I'm sure most of you have visited Big Way Hot Pot (or something similar) by now.  Unless you have been living under a rock, you would know that there has been an explosion of "build-your-own hot pot" restaurants in the Lower Mainland (and also other parts of North America).  You grab a bowl, pick your ingredients, get it weighed and pick a broth (or dry mix).  Food is brought to you when it has been cooked and when you are done eating, you can grab a to-go container.  Oh, and there is complimentary ice cream as well (with differing quality).  So I've been to the original Big Way location on Kingsway when it first opened.  Now I've made many visits to the large New West spot recently. 

As mentioned, this location at New West Station is large and spacious.  Situated in a former pub, it is a unique-looking dining room for hot pot (especially the crescent booth seating).  There is also much more space for the refrigerated display cases.  However, there is a bottleneck at the entrance and the start of the serve-yourself line.  You will find an tablet where you can put you name on a wait list.  Better yet, just do it online before you arrive.

After you grab your ingredients (you can save money, if you ease up on the meatballs, tofu and anything that has shells), you walk up to the till and have it weighed.  Pick your broth and take a number, it will be delivered to you shortly.  One of the more popular broth options is the Collagen Bone Broth.  This one is best for people who don't want anything too flavourful nor spicy.  It does have some meatiness and it is on the milder side.  I personally wouldn't pick this one though.

For me, the one to get is the Tomato Broth.  It isn't as concentrated as some of the competitors, but it does have the classic tangy sweetness.  It does taste like tomatoes and is properly seasoned in my opinion.  I find that this works well with meats as it is robust enough.  Furthermore, I like this broth with any noodles that will absorb a lot of moisture (such as dried noodles or instant noodles).  It takes on all of that flavour.  You can also have this in spicy and that is even more tasty.

So on the topic of spicy, there is the Signature Ma La Tang.  I've had this a few times and dependent on the time of day, it can be remarkably spicier or milder (you can also chose the spice level).  I think as the day goes on, the broth gets more concentrated?  Not sure, but there is some inconsistency.  When it is spicy, there is a real kick that lingers.  Underneath that spice, there is definitely some saltiness and sweetness.  I think this broth goes well with any of the sliced meats.  

Beyond the tomato broth, I also really enjoy their Miso Broth.  It is one of the more impactful soups where the saltiness does come through.  This goes really well with anything, but in particular tofu products.  It helps flavour them in a way that enhances the natural taste.  Noodles benefit from this broth as it adds the necessary seasoning.  Veggies do really well with this as well where it brings out the natural sweetness.

Finally, the most flavourful broth in my opinion is the Tom Yum Broth (with coconut).  It is super fragrant with a big hit of lemongrass as well as the galangal.  The coconut comes through with aromatics and the tanginess makes things super appetizing.  If you can imagine, this works well with both meat and seafood, but I find it compliments seafood the best.  The brininess pairs well with the Thai components of the broth.  Noodles do well too.

Of course, when you are done, complimentary Soft-Serve Ice Cream comes your way.  Depending on the day, you might find a vanilla, matcha or black sesame.  The picture here is the matcha.  This is not my favourite as it is quite gritty.  Tastes okay though, not too bitter.  The vanilla is the best in my opinion.  Now you won't confuse this with good soft serve such as Dairy Queen, but it is no extra charge.  So, is Big Way still the king of the hill after all of the copy cats have arrived?  I would say it is still one of the best and holds its own.  Other spots such as Datang may have more concentrated broths and at Jojo, lobster broth.  I do like this New West location as it has a parkade (paid though) and it is has lots of tables (and a view of the Fraser River).  

The Good:
- Spacious location
- Convenient, has parking and right at the Skytrain station
- Reliable eats

The Bad:
- Entrance is a bottleneck
- No validated parking

 

Jojo Hot Pot

I'm sure most of you have either visited or heard of Big Way Hot Pot where you grab your own ingredients and are charged by weight.  There are a variety of broths available including some spicy ones.  Well, that concept took off and now we are beginning to see the competitors roll into the party.  I've tried Datang out in Richmond and now it is time to check out Jojo Hot Pot, in particular, the West Van location.  This is actually a rebrand of Grandma Liu Hot Pot.  Jess and I made our way to Ambleside where we found Jojo Hot Pot right on Marine Drive with its upstairs dining room.

Similar to all of the other build-your-own hot pot places, there was a selection of veggies, meats, fish meatballs, seafood, bean curd products and noodles.  Things definitely looked fresh and clean.  However, their labelling could improve as some items were not where they should have been.  I know what everything is, but for those who don't, it can be confusing.  If you look at my pot of raw ingredients, I put all of the veggies underneath and loaded up with lean pork belly, snakehead fish slices, fried bean curd, quail eggs, bean curd ribbons, lobster ball, razor clams, half-lobster, abalone and dried noodles (non-fried).  If you can believe it, this was only $37.00 even though it was quite heavy. 

I went for the Jojo Broth which was pork bone-based.  This was pretty impactful with a meaty umaminess.  It was bordering on salty, but I thought that was necessary to keep the flavour while dealing with the excess moisture from the components (such as the veggies and meat).  As for the ingredients, they cooked it nicely as the spinach was not mushy while the seafood retained their optimal texture.  Of course the broth took on some of the natural sweetness and brininess.

Jess had the Lobster Broth and yes, it tasted exactly how I would've imagined it to be.  Fragrant, briny, sweet and lobstery, this had depth and helped flavour all of the other components.  Oddly enough, she didn't pile on as many things as I did, but still ended up to be roughly the same amount as me.  I think it was the fact she had corn and a bunch of fish ball products, which are some of the heaviest things available.  Whatever the case, she still enjoyed it and the broth was excellent.

We had one more option at the table and it was the Miso Broth.  I thought this was quite impactful with the rich saltiness of the miso being front and centre.  Now it wasn't salty though.  The fermented flavour was dominant and it helped season all of the components.  That was especially true with the wide noodles.  Sure, you could dunk everything into the custom dip you make at the sauce bar, but things would be flavourful on its own.

On the topic of the Sauce Bar, it was simple but had all of the necessary items to create your custom dip.  We also had some of their drinks including the Passion Fruit Tea and Cloud Milk Tea.  I really liked the passion fruit tea because it was light and refreshing.  Perfect compliment to the hot pot.  The cloud milk tea was good too being just sweet enough while being creamy with nice tea flavour.  I liked it by itself, but probably not with my hot pot.  In the end, Jojo hot pot was solid with flavourful broths including lobster.  This is a great alternative to Big Way.

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

The Good:

- Flavourful broths

- They have lobster broth!

- Fresh ingredients

The Bad:

- This particular location has limited space, especially in the ingredients line

Datang

We've been through many food crazes in and around Metro Vancouver over the decades.  There has been bubble tea (still going on apparently), poke and more recently, "build-you-own-hot pot".  Big Way started the trend and in fact, it was a copy of something that started in Australia. The concept gives the individual the ability to select their own ingredients and then pay for the hot pot by weight.  Broth is included and there are many options (even dry mix without broth is available).  Soft-serve ice cream is also usually included at the end.  So you know that Big Way wouldn't have a monopoly for long since copycats would arrive on the scene.  One of the newest is Datang in Richmond.

Unique to this location, Datang is a stand-alone restaurant with its own parking lot.  Since it was a Greek restaurant many years ago, the renovated dining space is both spacious and modern.  Jackie and I were invited to try the place out where we decided to try 4 different broth combinations.   The selection of ingredients was quite extensive and things looked fresh.  It was easy going back and forth between items as there was a decent amount of space to walk around.

The great part of the broths is that you choose your base (pork, beef, fish, mushroom or tomato), and then the flavour (Mala, Tomato, Tom Yum, Laksa, Korean Kimchi, Thai Curry, Pickled Mustard or Original).  The first one we tried was the Malaysian Laksa Fish Broth.  Combined with the seafood-heavy selection that I chose along with the usual things you see in Laksa, this was impactful and flavourful.  Nice creamy sweetness to the broth with a touch of spice.  With the added seafood, it upped the brininess quotient as well.

Another intensely-impactful broth was the Tom Yum Pork Bone Broth.  If I had to compare with Big Way, I think the one at Datang is less sour and more fragrant.  That in itself made it more appealing.  With the right items (such as shrimp, tofu and mushrooms) in the mix, it really gave Thai soup vibes.  Nice lemongrass aroma going with a balanced amount of tang and brininess.  I particularly enjoyed the noodles that soaked up the broth.

As for the Tomato Broth, it looked a little on the light side in terms of colour.  Again, if I had to compare, it looked a lot like the one at Big Way, but it did taste more impactful at the same time.  I felt it could've been a tad more salty, but in the end, it did taste like tangy tomato with appealing sweetness.  This broth went best with veggies, tofu and beef.  The tomato helped enhance the natural sweetness of the veggies.

The last broth that we tried was the Spicy Mala Pork Bone Broth.  I really enjoyed this one as there was a good amount of heat while not being painful.  The numbing spice was appealing and this was great with meat, in particular, lamb slices.  Even some seafood worked well with this, including snakehead fish slices.  I enjoyed the noodles in this broth, but for those who are sensitive to that, I would recommend against putting any noodles in this.

Now Datang is more than just hot pot as they have a selection of cooked items as well.  I found the Crispy Chinese Burger filled with chicken to be one of the better things I've eaten lately.  Super flaky and crispy with a savoury and tender meat filling.  Their Lamb & Beef Skewers were also pretty solid with a slightly spicy (can be mild or spicy) and earthy seasoning mix.  The meats were tender with a balancing amount of fat.

  

They also have a selection of drinks and we tried 4 of them including the Cheese Foam Osmanthus Milk Tea, Lemon Lychee Green Tea, Floral Trio Milk Green Tea and Panda Milk Tea.  If I had to choose again, I'd go for the first one as it was creamy, cheesy and full of sweet jelly.  The floral trio was good too being milky, aromatic and lightly sweet.  Of course we ended off our meal with a Strawberry Soft-Serve Ice Cream.  This was a bit sweet for me, but a nice finish anyways as my mouth was still feeling the spicy mala broth.  Overall, the broths at Datang were great and more flavourful in comparison to Big Way.  Definitely a good alternative.  Hope they open more locations.

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

The Good:
- Flavourful broths and lots of combinations
- Ingredients were fresh and refilled quickly
- Loved the hot food, in particular, the Crispy Burger

The Bad:
- A little bit of a bottleneck near the sauce bar
- I think the ice cream should be served instead of self-serve, it got messy and people used it when the ice cream wasn't ready

Malatown

So I'm sure you are now well-versed with the build-your-own-hot-pot joints that are popping up all over North America.  The trend started in Australia and now you can find these places in most major cities.  Back home in Vancouver, we have Big Way Hot Pot as well as some copy cats (mind you Big Way is a copy cat too), but since we were in the Bay Area, the place to be is Malatown.  As its name suggests, they do have spicy Mala broth (Szechuan) as well as many other choices.

We made 2 trips to 2 different Malatown locations including Union City and Milpitas.  The picture of the front and the self-serve areas are from the Milpitas location.  For me, I think the older Union City location is more cramped (even though they seem the same size) and this time around, didn't have the broth options that the Milpitas store had.  The parking situation seem to be roughly the same with Milpitas having possibly a few more spots available.

Before I discuss the broth options, there is a trick to keep the cost down since they weigh the items that you choose.  Try to stay away from wet things like many of the meatballs, things with shells, tofu and udon.  Thinly sliced meats, leafy greens and dried noodles are the lightest options.  Being the most popular choice, the Beef Bone Broth Base is mild, meaty and great for those who do not want spicy or anything too strong.  Perfect for adding your favourite meats and noodles.  There is a good salt level to the broth too.

Their second most popular soup base is the Szechaun Spicy Soup Base, which by the way, is in their namesake aka Mala spice.  As such, this broth is full of impact with Szechuan peppercorns.  The numbing and spiciness from the broth is extra hot if you ask for the spiciest level.  This goes real well with sliced meats, tofu skins, tripe and mushrooms.  If you do add noodles to this mix, beware, it soaks up the soup and it gets pretty spicy.  Be prepared to blow your nose often.

Their 3rd most popular broth is the Chicken Broth Base.  It is just as mild as the beef, yet has more sweetness and is super clean.  Definitely can taste the chicken in there and goes really well with any noodles you choose.  If you enjoy having seafood in your hot pot, this is probably the broth to go for as it doesn't overwhelm anything and the sweetness from the seafood is able to stand out.  Veggies go well with this too as it impact the natural flavours.

One of my personal favorites is the Tomato Flavored Broth, which happens to be their vegan option.  Interestingly, the one at Union City is much more impactful, tangy and full-flavored than the one we had at Milpitas.  However, it might have to do with the fact we visited Union City at dinner and Milpitas for lunch.  It might've been reduced by the time we at at Union City.  This broth goes well with anything really and provides plenty of tangy sweetness where you would not need any sauces.

One of exclusive broths that we can only find in Milpitas is the Sukiyaki Nabe.  This has all of the great things about Sukiyaki including sweetness and saltiness.  Hence, adding sliced beef or pork with noodles and some veggies is the way to emulate a true Sukiyaki experience.  In the picture, you can see that this was the case here with only some fish tofu and quail eggs to compliment.  Yep, this would be my son's hot pot as he enjoys Sukiyaki!

Another exclusive broth to Milpitas is the Chicken & Fish Maw Broth.  Not sure how much fish maw they used, but you do get some silkiness and aromatics from the broth.  In addition, you get all of the good things in the chicken broth as well.  So good for seafood and any noodle you choose.  In the end, both locations of Malatown do the job and is satisfying.  Pricing is fair and if you are smart with your choices, it can be downright cheap.  Just beware it gets busy, so go early or get on the waitlist.

The Good:

- Tasty broths (especially so in Union City)

- Can be inexpensive (if you are smart)

- Fresh ingredients

The Bad:

- Can be expensive if you are not careful with your choices

- Super busy

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)