Went last night. Not again.
Service:
What made me uncomfortable was their attempt at obtaining customers.
We came to this place in an attempt to find a malatang place in LA. When I asked person seeming in charge of the staff, he said "oh, yes, we have it." Yet when I sat down the look for the items, they were not on the menu.
When I inquired about why it appears that only hot pot is on the menu, not malatang, the man brushed me off (with a wave of his hand) and said "hot pot, malatang, they are very similar things". Â Nope, they are not the same thing. I am Chinese, you are Chinese too. We are speaking Chinese --- we both know they are not the same thing.
I was pretty hungry and it was late, so my boyfriend and I ordered some hot pot.
There were several other exchanges where the staff were just indifferent and kind of cold.
Food:
The food is fine. Salty broth. Not really good Sichuan hot pot.
However, 2 points to note
1. Veggie selection is minimal. Pea shoots (also, seriously? $9/plate?), napa cabbage, lotus root.
That's it from what I recall. If you count tofu as a veggie.
I would feel so gross if I ate that much meat with no veggies.
2. Really expensive for what it is.
Our tab was about 75 for 2 people. I wasn't even that full.
At hot pot hot pot in Monterey Park (which I really like), I normally expect our tab to be around 50. Or the hot pot place in Rowland Height. It always under 25/person.
I also got hives after eating here. I am prone to hives sometimes, so I don't particularly blame this place. However, if you are hypersensitive to stuff, whatever is in the soup can lead to a type I hypersensitivity reaction.
Their regular dishes might be okay, but I have no idea
Overall, I had an irritated experience and paid more than what I considered reasonable.
EDIT:
OMG!!
My boyfriend and I farted soooo much over the next 36 hours that our apartment was officially a bio-hazard zone.
You are warned!
This is a very peculiar hot pot restaurant. When I first walked in and grabbed the menu, I thought I was looking at a brochure for a Chinese American Idol singing contest, like that one show airing in Taiwan producing subpar wannabe singers that makes even Taylor Swift sound like a goddess...live. But I suppose that was the intention of the owner, hence the name of the restaurant. I believe he wants everyone to feel like karaoke superstars while they gorge themselves on super-spicy Chengdu-style hotpot.
Haige Star Boulevard isn't the best place around to get hotpot, but it's definitely a nice alternative to those who are sick of waiting in long queues for mediocre food at Boiling Point. Fair warning though, there are some more foreign and questionable items available on the menu, if you can get yourself past the ick factor. For those with an open mind and an iron stomach, this is the place to go. Their spicy broth is boiling red and packed to the brim with chili peppers. In fact, I think it was a good 50/50 ratio. Whether you order the goose liver, fresh pig blood, tripe, or the typical slices of meat, everything you dip into the hot liquid of hell will either make you cry tears of fire or take you to a new level of peppery appreciation. Don't bother trying to drink the broth though. It's incredibly spicy and oily and its main purpose is simply to cook the ingredients. Opt for their much more tame and neutral white broth instead.
We also ordered brains and tossed that into the liquid fire as well. Yes, they serve brains. The owner was even nice enough to warn us not to let the brains sit out in room temperature for too long (to prevent bacterial growth) and offered to saute it up for us instead. Â
My only complaint about this restaurant is the karaoke aspect of it. While it does add a nice flair to the restaurant, I did not appreciate the place turning into a drunken karaoke bar halfway through my dinner. There was a large party that got a little too drunk off of wine and started fighting each other for the microphone, each singing a subsequently more horrible Cantonese song one after another. In hindsight, I should have thrown some of my broth into their faces. My ears were already bleeding from the experience, so it was only fair to return the favor.
First time, last time.
_________________
I went to Haige Star Blvd. today and I am sure I won't be back. The day I came is the time they are having the $5.50 lunch special. I ordered two very different dishes, but they looked absolutely the same. I even thought they made one dish twice. So, I asked a waitress if they gave me the wrong dish, but they said it is like that. It's just one meat is saltier that the other. Very dissappointing. (-2 stars)
The second thing, those two dishes are filled with jalepenos. Not it make the food extremely spicy, but they are trying to fill up the plate with them to make the food look plenty (-1 star)
Went on a Wednesday night, there was about 5 tables, service was slow ,. Skewers was cold with oils dripping out of each of the skewer (tofu, meatball, corn, bean curb) squid was still raw. We had the chicken rice wine soup, it was a very light broth with alot of alcohol & since its not on a burner, it got cold quickly. I've been to the Rowland hts one, thought that was better.
Review Source:83070
I had an "ex-spicy" hot pot there, the appearance was good but the flavor was nothing but salty, SO SALTY! You can either order from the menu which costs $8 at least for each plate, or pick the skewers of $0.25 each by yourself. Most Skewers are vegetables, so you might have to order some from the menu if you want to treat yourself. The cost is sort of high, 70 bucks for 2 guys, including the broth, skewers, beer and tip.
This place is great if you like LOUD environment on weekends. Â Once they get the karaoke going on weekends be prepared to get drunk and have to talk very loud so the person across the table can hear you. Â Really a fun place if you want to be loud and rowdy. Â The menu food is "ok" just ok... nothing special compaired to what you can get at any of the other Asian places in the city. Â I come here for the hot pot and the drinks. Â Very affordable. Â Each skewer is individually priced so you only pay for what you eat and it is self serve. Â They will give you a really oily sauce so dip sparingly unless you want a heart attack or break out. Â Service is not bad most of the time, you will either get too much of it or not enough, but that goes with most places. Â Private rooms separated by curtains for larger parties are available.
Review Source:The grilled, 10 mixture skewer for 6.99 , each one has only two piece of veggi or meat.....what?? Ridiculous....and foods are salty, very salty. I also try the chilly fried frog, I can tell that they use frozen frog legs, and only give you small amount of frog legs( like less than 15 frog legs and cutted into tiny tiny pieces ), the rest are all just chilies. service is okay, but since we were first time there, we 'd like more time to choose what food to order, there's waitress kept coming to our table and ask ' are you ready'? .......she asked like 3 times in 5 minutes.,,,gosh, i know you wana show your boss how hard work u did but dont push customers like this...
i dont think i will go back :(
Haige Star Blvd San Gabriel is yummylicious - more so than its other location in Rowland Heights :)
It opened not too long ago. The clientele is mostly your 20-35 year olds. They do have karaoke but the machine was down last night =(
We ordered the following:
* THREE FLAVORED INTESTINES - this was delicious! Perfectly seasoned!
* STIR-FRIED CABBAGE - your average cabbage dish but I liked the fact it wasn't too oily
* TAIWANESE SAUSAGE - typical sausages
* ASPARAGUS & BACON SKEWERS - yakitori style
* SPICY COLD NOODLES - really good! Love the vinegary taste which I haven't always been able to find from other restaurants
* BASIL CLAMS - pretty juicy if a bit on the small side
Prices were decent at around $10 per dish. $22 including tax and tip per person for our party of 4.
Also, you get a free order of spicy peanuts with every drink order (might have to ask for it though)
Other things to note:
- kitchen closes at 10:30 (last call)
- drinks and self-serve hot pot until 1:30 am
I went to their Rowland Heights location, found out they are opening one in San Gabriel so I thought will give that a try.
This is a much larger place with nice decorations. It's a good place to hang out with friends, family, or any occasion. They do have free Wi-Fi, just have to ask them for the key. The karaoke sound system was great but you have to be brave to sing in front of everyone, and the songs were very up to date too. Yakitori were yummy and lots of variety to choose from. Be sure to try their spicy hotpot soup base if you like spicy food. You can go to the fridge to pick your own or order via the menu. They have a decent size parking lot in the back, and there are also street parking. I would definitely come back to try rest of the food.
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