Cheap Eats 2011: Hot Pot City

By LIZ CRAIN

Sit at the bar at Hot Pot City because it's more fun. There's no booze, though—the only thing on tap is soda. Chinese hot pot (lunch $8.65; dinner $14.65 adults, $10 kids) is basically cook your own damn soup. Choose a boil-at-your-table broth; add whatever raw vegetables, meat, seafood, and noodles you want; cook and eat. Over and over. Fixings at the buffet include super-fresh seafood (shark, catfish, Pacific oysters), meats (various cuts of chicken, beef, pork, offal) and loads of veggies and noodles. There are eight spicy and not-so-spicy broths to choose from, including Thai hot and sour (my favorite) and Ma la Chinese spicy herb broth. Come hungry, because Hot Pot City is an all-you-can-slurp enterprise.

WWeek 2015

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