It’s freezing outside, and right now, all you can think about is eating something warm to quell the aftereffects of the brutal cold. Looking for something to satisfy your cravings, you walk past the illuminated shops in Downtown Ithaca when you come across a beckoning light that lures you in. The moment you walk through the door, the irresistible aroma of simmering meat and fragrant soup washes over you. The promise of a comforting meal is certain.
Hot Pot Meets BBQ is a go-to location for all Cornellians. The all-you-can-eat hot pot and barbecue restaurant is located in Downtown Ithaca at 722 S Meadow St. Suite 800, a location easily accessible by the Route 30 and 32 buses. With opening hours between noon and 10:30 p.m. on weekdays, and a dining limit of two hours, there is ample time to relax and enjoy a good meal.
You order on a provided tablet, and each person gets their own personal pot to cook their food. Prices vary throughout the day, with lunch starting at $24 per person and dinner at $34. If you feel like eating both hot pot and barbecue, prices increase by an additional $5. But that said, is the price worth it?
The Broth
To start your order, you must first choose a broth. Though it might not seem important, this can very well make or break your hot pot experience. The restaurant offers eight different soup bases to choose from, with suitable options for spice fanatics, vegetarians and omnivores alike.
Of the broths, the most notable picks are the signature Meets Special Soup and Mushroom Soup. While the menu may not initially appear to have any bone broth options, the Meets Special Soup has a relatively light bone stock flavour. Paired with a variety of herbs, including goji berries and red dates, the smoky taste of the soup base accentuates the taste of the meats and vegetables added to it. The Mushroom Soup has an even lighter, refreshing flavour, with a satisfying umami taste.
The Sauce Bar
Usually, the broth alone isn’t enough to provide you with all the flavour you need. Luckily, Hot Pot Meets BBQ has a free sauce creation bar. There are over 15 options — including peanut sauce, hot chili crisp oil and sesame oil — to make your perfect sauce. My personal favourite is a combination of their aromatic hot chili crisp oil with minced garlic and fresh green onions.
The sauce bar also hosts an assortment of cooked foods, including chicken nuggets, fries, spring rolls and even a seafood boil. Though it might be tempting to grab a couple of fried foods, it's better to save them until the end to ensure that you’re making the most of your all-you-can-eat experience.
The Meats and Seafood
To the carnivores' delight, the next choice is the meat. If you’re looking to get your money’s worth, this is where you can do it. Hot Pot Meets BBQ features several types of thinly sliced meat that cook quickly in the boiling broth, including pork, beef, chicken and lamb.
With the pork and beef, you can select from cuts with higher fat content and marbling. If you’re going for dinner, there are premium options such as prime brisket, kobe beef and even beef tongue. The quality of the meat options is decent, though the taste of the different types of beef ends up tasting the same after a few bites.
In addition to these classic thinly sliced hot pot meats, the restaurant offers more unique choices like beef tripe and braised intestines, as well as pork brain, aorta and liver for adventurous folks.
If meat doesn’t tickle your fancy, the restaurant’s seafood selection is also plentiful, with crab meat, shrimp, fish, clams, mussels and squid at the ready. However, the crab is seasonal and is only available for dinner.
The Vegetables
With over a dozen vegetable options at their disposal, vegetarians can also have their fun. Spinach, enoki mushrooms and napa cabbage might be your first choice, but other vegetable offerings like crown daisy and watercress may be better suited for hotpot. While crown daisy has an interesting flowery taste to it, the watercress has a refreshing flavour that readily soaks up broth.
Fried taro, winter melon and bamboo shoots are also fantastic choices for a more traditional Chinese hot pot, and at Hot Pot Meets BBQ, their quality doesn’t falter. These options serve as great palette cleansers when switching between different types of meat, and help to ease the stomach when indulging at this all-you-can-eat buffet.
The Carbohydrates
With all the meat and vegetables swimming around in your hot pot, some solid carbohydrates would add a bit more sustenance to your meal. The restaurant has plenty of options, boasting five different types of tofu, potatoes and noodles.
The tofu comes in many forms: fried, soft, in a puff, in a block or as a stick. Of them, the fried tofu skin rolls are a solid choice due to their ability to absorb the soup base. For noodles, the classic instant ramen works well in tandem with their richer soup broths like Meets Special Soup, while the udon pairs well with their Mushroom Soup.
To finish off with more carbs at the end of your meal, make sure to head back to the sauce bar for dessert, where they offer fragrant coconut sago, herbal jellies, mini cakes and sliced fruits!
The Final Breakdown
So, is going to Hot Pot Meets BBQ just for hot pot worth it? My answer is yes — but only for lunch. Though the plentiful options and freshness of the meat, vegetables and broth justify the lunch price, there aren’t enough additional selections for dinner that make the extra $10 worth it.
The next time you crave hot pot on a cold day in Ithaca, go for lunch (not dinner) at Hot Pot Meets BBQ.
Stefanie Chen is a sophomore in the College of Human Ecology. She can be reached at sc3363@cornell.edu.
