Chine Legendary Hot Pot & Noodles

A great hotpot restaurant with a range of authentic hotpot bases and a make your own dipping sauce bar just like in China! All you can eat includes a wide range of veg & meat options including a few desserts and the requisite carbs. A pitcher of plum juice (a steal at $5!) is the perfect accompaniment.

Another hot pot restaurant? Yes please!

Chine is a bright, clean, and spacious establishment that let's you gorge endlessly on meat, seafood, vegetables, and noodles... provided that you do most of the cooking. ;) At Chine, you order a small pot for yourself instead of having a communal one amongst your dining group. This is nice because A) it saves you from having to search for your single piece of lamb in a giant sea of food and B) you're able to choose on a soup base that suits your taste (got people who can't handle spiciness? No problem!). 

There's actually quite a variety of soup bases to choose from... such as black chicken broth and taro/corn broth... and of course, your standard spicy broth. WARNING: the spicy broth is preeetty spicy. I was told beforehand about the spiciness so I went with the lowest spice level for the spicy broth. They call it "mild" but it's really not. There was still a ton of chili and peppercorns in the soup and at some point, my mouth even went numb from the spiciness. If you want a soup that's spicy but won't destroy your stomach lining, I would recommend sticking with the mild option. It may not seem that spicy at first, but you'll notice it after eating a bunch of things that have been soaked in it!

All in all, Chine offers a solid hot pot experience with fresh ingredients, abundant sauces, and quick service. There's not much of a wait for the food and the empty dishes get cleared away pretty often. However, direct communication with the waitresses can be a bit tricky if you're only speaking English with them and have specific or unusual requests (e.g. saying you want 1 of each dessert, asking about a certain dish, or explaining that your friend can't eat beef). The portions aren't always consistent and occasionally, they forget to deliver a dish... but since it's AYCE, you can simply make the order again if this happens.

Kind of wish they had ice cream on the menu... or just something cold and refreshing for dessert. On the other hand, the fried taro dessert was delicious!