99 Favor Taste

I've been a little lazy with updating recently! I have once again a whole load of backlogged reviews and I really need to get on top of it. School has been a bit crazy recently and I also just ran the NYC marathon. I knew that I would want to completely shove my face for dinner after the marathon so I knew the only thing to go to was AYCE HOTPOT! I've never tried 99 Favor Taste before but reviews were really good so I was super excited to try it out. The name sounded a bit funky because you would think they meant "flavor" but it really is favor haha.

It did not disappoint and we were completely stuffed. The selection was pretty good and I loved the sauce station. Service was also really friendly and the atmosphere was nice and new. I also enjoyed how we were able to have our own small pots. The one thing that was killing me was that we were seated on the 2nd floor and my legs were about to fall off post marathon. The restaurant also served free dessert (糖水) and you can get ice cream to go. I had such a great meal here and I will definitely be returning! Just remember to not over do the ordering because we ended up not being able to finish some of the food because we got way too excited. We will definitely learn from our mistake next time!

99 Favor Taste

285 Grand Street

Lower East Side 

New York

NY 10002

Hot Pot Instinct 火鍋本色

Met a bunch of friends for drinks after work and before we knew it it was already pass 9 pm. We were all famished but was very indecisive about where to eat. We wandered around Causeway Bay and saw that Hot Pot Instinct had a great deal where if you eat after 9:30 you got 40% off! Everything was quite good and we got a Szechuan soup base and a satay beef soup base. I thought Heem Kee was still better but this was a good choice for a casual spontaneous dinner. We were all completely stuffed and was slowly falling into a severe food coma after this meal and our pot was still filled with food :( The ventilation can be improved a bit. Service was friendly and brisk.

Spiccyyyyyyy overload. Fav.

Handcut Fatty Beef
The beef had good flavor and I liked how it was cut thickly. These were very popular and you best hurry and eat up before it all vanishes! R was also a beef stealer and tried to take your beef from the pot. Sneaky. 

Deep fried fish skin
This was a bit disappointing as the fish skin was obviously not fresh and stale. It was not crispy enough and a bit hard.

Oink.

Hot Pot Instinct 火鍋本色 

52 Tang Lung Street

Causeway Bay

Hong Kong

Hot pot at home!

Hungry hungry :D 

Ju Bao Yuan

Ju Bao Yuan is known for its traditional bronze pots and its fresh and high quality beef and mutton. It is also very local and traditional where the atmosphere is incredibly loud and busy. Ju Bao Yuan is located in 牛街 (Niu Jie) which is the Muslim neighborhood of Beijing. This neighborhood is known for its high quality beef and mutton and the meat is also halal which a lot of people associate with higher hygiene standards during the slaughter of the animal. The meal was delicious but the restaurant is a little out of the way for me and a bit too loud and boisterous for my liking. I doubt I would come back for the hot pot but the shao bing (roasted buns) were incredible though and I would definitely make the trek to buy these glorious buns. They were crispy on the outside and pillowy soft and chewy inside. They were sprinkled generously with sesame and flavored with aromatic cumin and various other spices.

Sesame sauce with a dot of plum sauce and hot sauce. Charming :)

Bubbling bronze pot with coal inside

Ju Bao Yuan

5 Niu Jie

Xuan Wu District

Beijing

China

Hai Di Lao

Hai Di Lao is one of Beijing's most popular Szechuan hot pot places. The ingredients are always fresh and there is a huge variety of items. Another plus is that you can order half portions so you can savor a larger array of dishes. They are also famous for their "noodle dance" where special noodle boys come to your table to hand pull noodles through a super entertaining dance (sometimes the noodles brush the floor though... eeps!). My favorite part though is the amazing sauce station. You can create your own bowl of dipping sauce to dunk all your food in and keep going back for more. The sauce station has everything from sesame paste to deep fried garlic. I failed to take pictures of all the dishes but I do have two pictures of my sauce creations and the soup :)

Half ma la (numb and spicy) half tomato soup base 

Sesame paste with deep fried garlic, scallions, and fresh garlic

Satay with scallions, garlic, sesame oil, and scallions

Hai Di Lao (various locations)

A2 Bai Jia Zhuang Lu

Sanlitun

Beijing

China