Filed under: Chinese, Hot Pot, Southwest Portland | Tags: Chinese, Hot Pot, paleo
1975 SW 1st Ave., Portland, Oregon 97201
Ready to experience something different? Going to a hot pot restaurant will be sure to spice up the typical restaurant experience.
“Hot Pot” consists of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings, and seafood. The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce. (Thanks Wiki!)
This is what “Hot Pot City” looks like:
Nice steaming hot broth ready to be consumed!
If you’re worried about what you’re supposed to do at a hot pot restuarant, here is what we like to do; specifically at Hot Pot City.
1) Order broth type.
2) Obtain frozen meat and veggies and dipping sauce from buffet.
3) Using your chopsticks, place a couple pieces of meat and veggies into the boiling broth. (If you put too many pieces of frozen meat in your broth, it will take longer to cook.)
4) After cooking the desired amount in the broth, use the provided strainer to dish it onto your provided small bowl. Eating hot pot means the meat is all thinly sliced or cut into small pieces in order for fast cooking time. One thin slice of meat only takes 15-30 seconds to cook.
5) Dish more food into the broth to cook. Be sure to dip your chopsticks in the hot broth before you start eating or use a second pair of chopsticks.
6) Dip into dipping sauce and eat!
7) Repeat steps 3-6. It’s an efficient system, you’ll get the hang of it.
This will be your place setting:
What we ordered: There are different broth types, meat broth, chinese cilantro with egg, spicy meat…After you cook all your food in the broth and eat it, the leftover broth will be full of flavor and deliciousness!!
How we ordered it: We tried everything in the buffet line. The only processed carbs were the noodles and tofu, very easy to skip!
What we got:
Mmmm, squid..
There was also, sliced lamb, sliced pork, sliced beef, oysters (huge), tripe, pork tendon, fish balls, whole shrimp, beef balls, pig feet…yes it was delicious….veggies were: bok choy, chinese cabbage, mushrooms, yams, radish, tomato….They bring out a lot of different stuff.
Cost: $14.95 for dinner. Very well priced for all you can eat goodness!
Quality: We’re not sure about their meat source. It’s probably not as fresh as we’d like, since it does need to be frozen, but it does the job good, really good!
Quantity: Holy cow, like the Brazil Grill, it’s hard to know when to stop!
MEAT-O-METER?
The ends of his lips are actually curled upwards! Hot Pot City may be the best of the best so far! This restaurant is great if you have just come from spending the day up at the mountain. Hot broth is perfect for this type of occasion. Like other buffets, make sure you’re starving before you get there so you get the most out of it. This restaurant is located near PSU, so a lot of students go there. That could be why the price is so great. Don’t miss this great Paleo-friendly dining experience!
