Hot Pot is a traditional Chinese dish that is centered around a “hot pot” of broth and an assortment of ingredients that you dip in it. The dish itself was bred from Chinese Muslims who were poor, cold, and most importantly hungry (or Mongolian warriors depending on who you talk to). Any way you spin it, the dish was created by folks who were A)Cold AF, B)Probably short on supplies, and C)Hungry. Put those factors together and people will get real crafty, real fast. In China, Hot Pot is called huoguo with the loose translation meaning fire pot, and if you’ve ever had Hot Pot you’d understand that the description is spot on.
So what the hell is Hot Pot? Like I said earlier, it’s a communal dish that’s centered around broth and meat/veggies. Think of it as fondue without the innate douchiness that comes with fondue. I’ll set the scene for you, you’re served a large pot of broth (think clear and salty, although the broth itself traditionally varies from the region of China you’re in) then a variety of meats, veggies, and sauces are brought out to you to pair with your soup experience. From there you dip your different items in the broth to simmer and you then eat them once the meat or veggies are cooked to whatever level you want. That’s basically it.
All of this leads me to my post for today which is a restaurant that has opened up in Rockville called, Urban Hot Pot, what separates Urban Hot Pot from other hot pot places that have opened up around the area is that it’s all you can eat. The all you can eat factor makes Urban Hot Pot a really fun experience because it’s a never-ending barrage of soup that’s affordable and tasty. The restaurant has an ideal location, situated right off of Rockville Pike in a new mini shopping center that has a parking garage below which makes for convenient parking. You’re most likely going to need to park in the garage because this place gets packed and the lot in front is almost always full. When you arrive to Urban Hot Pot be prepared to wait if you’re coming during a peak time as they don’t take reservations and they’re always crowded.
The decor inside is very modern and clean, which lends itself to the fun environment centered around communal eating. But the coup de grace is the conveyor belt of accoutrements that is constantly coming your way. Let me caveat this way by saying the conveyor belt is only in a select location of the restaurant which can be hard to get a table in. This is really nice because anything you’re debating trying you can just grab off of the conveyor belt. Non-conveyor belt ordering is done via an iPad with the menu pre-loaded on it, the system is not exactly perfect and errors in ordering are inevitable but they’re not really detrimental to your dining experience. Once you place your order, the food barrage begins.
You have the choice of a few broth bases to start with, we opted for the standard basic broth which is a plain clear miso-esque broth, along with a variety of meats. The meats I should remind you are all thinly sliced, which is for two reasons, one it’s been done that way since the Mongolian warriors were doing it and it’s much more practical because the meat cooks within a few minutes. Nobody wants to be waiting around while huge hunks of meat cook in your pot, the thin meat cooks rapidly allowing everyone who’s dining to enjoy the food as quickly as possible.
First the broth will be brought out to you, from there with the help of your personal burners you get to heat up the broth yourself right in front of you. I will say we had a real challenge figuring out how to get those burners started, but our server helped us without making us feel too stupid. After your broth gets boiling, the main ingredients come and after that it’s a free for all of ingredient mixing.
Nothing at Urban Hot is especially amazing (other than the condiment bar, I’ll get to that shortly), but it’s not really about that. It’s about the experience. It’s a very homey and enjoyable experience that makes you feel like you’re in your mom’s kitchen as opposed to a restaurant.The communal dining experience is a very underrated concept that is also very easy to screw up. Hot Pot is perfect for groups of friends who want to talk, eat, and laugh/cry/gossip/whatever.
The diner gets to set the pace of their dining experience and they get to decide if they want the meal to be rich or light. This sort of flexibility allows anyone in your dining party to have a good experience, as long as they like soup. There are a ton of meat options ranging from the tame (standard thinly sliced beef) to the more wild organ meat options (think intestine). The veggie/carb options are equally wide in variety, anything you can think of is essentially an option. I would be remiss though if I did not talk about the condiment bar, for someone who likes condiments, it’s a little slice of heaven. They have every Asian sauce you can think of: peanut sauce, hoisin, soy, gochuchang, and many more. There’s also a endless supply of garlic, green onions, and parsley to accent your condiment feast, I have to say that I really love this aspect of it. The sauces here are very flavorful and they allow you to build whatever sort of creation you want back at your table.
Like I said there’s nothing particular great about Urban, it’s just a really satisfying experience and maybe that’s good enough (it has been for me). I will say that if you’re a Hot Pot novice like I am, this place is great for beginners. It allows you to putz around while you find your own Hot Pot lane. I definitely recommend Urban Hot Pot for groups and those of you who are adventurous eaters, the finicky eaters amongst you might enjoy it as well but if you’re someone whose major food group is Beige, this might not be the place for you.
Final Grade: B+
Parking: Meh, not the best, park in the garage.
Price: Very affordable, about 25 a person.
Food Quality: Solid
Service: Adequate, not really about that here.
Bathroom: Nice and clean.
