Restaurant: Flaming Pot
Location: 2222 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064
Date: December 1, 2017
Cuisine: Taiwanese Hot Pot
Rating: Simple
In the SGV both “medium end” and cheap hot pots are plentiful and mobbed. My favorite of the higher end ones in Hai di Lao, and it and similar level are cheap enough that I never have seen fit to go to Boiling Pot or the other super crowded cheap ones.
But a Taiwanese variant has opened on Sawtelle right next to Popcorn Chicken (same owners).
The interior is about $20k above nothing much.
Extremely minimalist space, and I don’t even think they have a hood.
The menu is simple. A few fixed hot pots with some minimal options.
Ice tea. Seems to default sweetened. Ick.
Spicy Flaming Pot. Packaged noodles, beef, fish balls, tofu, pig intestine. Doesn’t look that spicy either. Unlike the more elaborate hot pot where you cook yourself this is just a pot you heat up and heat. It’s actually easier, but takes a bit of the fun out of it.
Curry Pot. Pork, veggies, corn, imitation crab, fish balls, mushrooms. The curry flavor was very mild. Just some curry powder really. It didn’t taste bad.
Boiled lamb slices. They did add some flavor and protein to the pot. But aren’t exactly high quality.
Rice.
Rice noodles. Turn into super thin glass noodles.
Overall, very mediocre. I might come back if desperate. It’s not bad. And it’s fairly cheap (although mysteriously more than ramen). Service was TERRIBLE. They were very confused young Chinese kids. Nice enough. Unless you love hot pot and are really don’t want to drive, not too much reason to frequent.