Long Men Bay Hotpot

TL;DR: If the phrase "Haidilao but cheaper" wasn't already enough to compel you to come, come to also indulge in the generous and excellent sides.The Details: I came here with my wife and cousin on a Wednesday night around 7:30, so zero wait for our table. There's ample seating in the establishment with a clean modern interior.We did the half/half soup base of the medicinal chicken and slightly spicy, and ordered the shrimp paste, fried rice, beef / lamb combination platter, short rib, mushroom platter, napa, tongho, fish ball with roe, and of course the self-serve sauce bar. The medicinal chicken soup was lovely--very warming, with a strong but not overpowering herbal flavor. On the other hand, the slightly spicy broth was actually pretty spicy for me, and I'm able to handle spice pretty decently, so be warned! In retrospect, I wouldn't cook any vegetables in the spicy broth, haha. Each of the items we ordered was very tasty and fresh as well, and the meat had good texture.What stood out to me though was the generosity of their self-serve sauce bar, which also serves as a self-serve sides bar. They had fried chicken, clams, pickled cucumbers, seasoned wonton chips, sesame red bean balls--all unheard of to me that these things would be just laid out in an AYCE fashion. And they weren't haphazardly thrown together either--the fried chicken was crispy and tender; the clams weren't overcooked; the chips were savory; and the cucumbers were excellently seasoned.Throughout the meal we didn't interact much with our servers, but they were adequately attentive to our needs, refilling our water and broth, and overall amiable to interact with.Overall, this was a great experience and one I'll be recommending to my friends.

If you don't want to run your entire wallet at hadilao but craving some delicious hotpot, definitely give this place a try. Located in Vietnam town you can find this amazing place that offers such a cheap alternative to expensive places like hadilao. Came here with my girlfriend and we got the pork broth and the Szechuan medium. The quality here is amazing, everything that we ordered tasted super fresh! There is also a self serve bar where you can get sauces for your hotpot or little appetizers such as wonton chips, clams, seaweed salad and much more. When you order, it's also through a QR code and you barely get to interact with any of the workers here. I would also suggest scanning the wait list QR code on my photos so y'all could join to beat the line ahead!

If you wanted a cheaper alternative to haidilao (and you just want the food and don't really need the service) then this place is a great option for you. Located in Vietnam town, this is a no frills hotpot place where you can get your hotpot fix. They have a comprehensive sauce bar and you order through a QR code. Service is fast and there's not much interaction with any of the servers. I really like the extra long chopsticks! I like the black belly and their spicy beef as well. I also like how they have fish roe balls! I think I missed those at haidilao, but it's really good. Their fried crispy pork is also really good. I have no complaints about the meat. I didn't get to try the fish though.Overall, I want to say this is like haidilao-lite. Just subtract the dancing noodles and mask changing performance and you get a way cheaper experience and you just get what you need. It's really good and I'll be back when I'm craving hotpot.

Overall: haidilao but cheaperAffordable and tasty hot pot. We spent about $100 for a group of 4 and everyone was stuffed after. I like how they also have a sauce bar on top of the hot pot which include lots of side dishes such as: seaweed salad, check feet, cucumbers, kimchi, fried chicken, sesame balls, fresh fruit, and more!!! The serves don't really speak English so it was a little bit of a language barrier, although the entire experience is pretty seamless as you order via scanning a QR code on your phone. Bonus: I love how they have extra long chopsticks

Their sauce bar concept is unique in that you can get more than just ingredients for your sauce. They have fried chicken, chicken feet, cooked beef cubes and various side dishes. That along with their delicious soup base makes this place one of my new favorites.Here's the quick lowdown:+ Tonkotsu soup is popular and not at all spicy so my kids can eat (5/5)+ Tomato soup is my kids favorite and has a sweet and tangy flavor (5/5)+ Egg fried rice taste like you went to a hole in the wall Oakland Chinatown place back in the 90s (5/5)+ Side dishes here are all delicious with my favorites in the following order of goodness: Pickled cabbage, cucumber, fried chicken/skin, beef cubes, fried wonton skin, edamame and peanuts (all 4/5)+ Marbled beef is exactly what it is... perfectly marbled meat and thinly sliced for fast cooking (4/5)+ Located in Vietnam Town where you can find dessert and many other food compliments (4/5)- The side bar pickled cucumbers were not replenished the entire time we were there (2/5)The clientele here is mainly Asians. I see plates of chicken feet from the sauce bar along with orders of marbled meat and tripe. Ambiance is casual with families and friends enjoying their hot pot meals. Parking is easy because not all of the shops are filled. My wife loves this place so easily 4.5 stars if you include her rating.

FLAVOR (5/5): Holy, I think I found my new favorite hot pot spot in San Jose. Hands down get the chicken pork stomach soup it's super rich, not fatty and very comforting when it's cold! All their meat was very good quality! But really don't sleep on their side dishes / sauce bar / dessert bar. They have the BEST popcorn fried chicken that's included in your sauce price so it's all you can eat sides. The pickled chicken feet were spicy beware! The clams, cucumbers and other sides I also got multiple rounds of. They have some chinese soup dessert options and sesame balls which are great if you catch them putting them out right when they're fried! INSTAGRAM WORTHY (5/5): The interior is remodeled and very clean! The table spread is also very appetizing, they have met skewers, trays of ingredients and even a cart on the side to put your extra orders that can't fit on the table top! SERVICE (4/5): We had about a 10 minute wait on a weekday lunch, they cleared and set a table for us really quickly after a party left! They always came by to ask if we needed soup refills as well. TAKEAWAYS: Don't order too much hot pot ingredients because you'll want to go ham on the sides too.

Decent food, felt like the sauce station was a bit neglected by the end of the evening. Don't expect much English. Good luck!

Saw this place was on soft opening while strolling through Vietnamtown. Quick search shows they already have a location in Newark with good reviews. Once you're seated, you order through QR code and scroll through their menu. Menu is pretty long, including 6 different broths to choose from, some very unique meat pieces, assortment of skewers (also for the hot pot), and some house special snacks. (Unique meats included duck blood, goose intestine, pork brain, beef stomach). Some of the menu has Chinese characters, so we had to google translate that it was spice levels for the broth. It costs $2.98 per person for access to the sauce bar. Sauce bar is covered with sliding screens, which I thought was nice to keep it a little more tidy. The sides we grabbed were some pickled veggies and even some cold clams, which we grabbed a lot of. There was also chicken feet. My favorite to see at the hot pot sauce bar is the mushroom sauce.We got the Spicy Butter Broth and Mushroom soup bases. The meats were nicely cut and not frozen. I think I would probably get a different broth than mushroom because eating the spicy was too overpowering for my palette. I did not like the liver skewers and I would probably not order the skewers again. All other meats were delicious. I just wish they had a sweet soy at the service bar (there's sugar but it's really not the same). I don't think I liked the Marbled beef. I would get the beef short rib. We didn't want to stray for any expensive meats today, but maybe we'll try it next time. There were fruits and some jellies for end of meal, but we were too full to get it. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Service was very fast, though we were only one of two tables dining that evening. The restaurant itself feels very new and clean. Pricing is fairly reasonable, though I hate to say about $100 is normal for two people now. Service - 5 / Ambiance - 5 / Food - 4 / Price - 4

This was a very nice, clean restaurant for hot pot. We got the 2 soup base. One spicy and the other was pork and chicken...very much one of the better soup bases we have had in terms of richness of flavor, and it is no wonder as they actually have pieces of pork and chicken in it! The service was really good, though it was not as well coordinated as the raw meat cuts came before the soup bases, which then had to heat up to be ready. The side bar was very good, too. There was a very long line when we arrived and seemed to be a lot of customers ready. Great experience!

I had a fun experience trying this new place out. It's kind of like Hadilao along with alot of different skewer meats for your hotpot, and delicious tasting meat.I had some Sichuan beef, upon, beef balls, and some pepper wrapped in beef. All of which came out to around $60. I'd probably try their combination platters next time for more variety.