Little Q Hot Pot, Arlington, MA
May. 14th, 2010 01:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bex77There's a new Chinese place on Mass. Ave. in East Arlington, just in off the corner of Lake Street, near Flora. N. and I went up there after work today for dinner. They have half a menu of "hot pot" items, where they bring you a big vat of broth to a hole in the table, and it boils and you add stuff. The other half of the menu is regular Scheczuan appetizers, soups and entrees. It is a bright, clean space with lots of room and white walls. The prices are very reasonable - it was less than $40 for two of us and could have been less if we hadn't been exploring a bit.
This is going to be one of those "you might like this place, but I didn't" reviews.
Don't make me cook! I have an aversion to shabu shabu, or hot pots or whatever requires me to pay money to cook my own food at a restaurant. I am not a good cook, and I don't want to have to think about it when I go out.
Too hot - we got the mala spicy broth with the angus beef combo of beef slices and veggies. Now, I eat spicy food all the time. But this was too hot. I wish the waitress had warned us, but that's probably asking too much.
Too small - We also tried their cashew chicken. It was tasty, but a relatively small portion.
Not what I thought - The appetizers had an odd problem...they weren't what I expected. The "egg rolls" were actually spring rolls. And the pork dumplings, which should be peking ravioli in a Chinese restaurant, were Japanese gyoza. Now, I like gyoza, so it was okay. Just odd not to get what I thought was coming.
Hovering server - I'd read reviews and every single one mentioned the over-attentive staff. I liked having someone to explain the menu and help us with the process. But they refilled my water every time I took a sip, and the owner came over twice, and it was just too much. I felt like I was having dinner with them instead of my companion. They need to chill.
I will probably go back after they've had a chance to work out the kinks, but where they've had a restaurant in Quincy for years, I am not optimistic. But that's okay - some places are just not my style. So try it and let me know.
This is going to be one of those "you might like this place, but I didn't" reviews.
Don't make me cook! I have an aversion to shabu shabu, or hot pots or whatever requires me to pay money to cook my own food at a restaurant. I am not a good cook, and I don't want to have to think about it when I go out.
Too hot - we got the mala spicy broth with the angus beef combo of beef slices and veggies. Now, I eat spicy food all the time. But this was too hot. I wish the waitress had warned us, but that's probably asking too much.
Too small - We also tried their cashew chicken. It was tasty, but a relatively small portion.
Not what I thought - The appetizers had an odd problem...they weren't what I expected. The "egg rolls" were actually spring rolls. And the pork dumplings, which should be peking ravioli in a Chinese restaurant, were Japanese gyoza. Now, I like gyoza, so it was okay. Just odd not to get what I thought was coming.
Hovering server - I'd read reviews and every single one mentioned the over-attentive staff. I liked having someone to explain the menu and help us with the process. But they refilled my water every time I took a sip, and the owner came over twice, and it was just too much. I felt like I was having dinner with them instead of my companion. They need to chill.
I will probably go back after they've had a chance to work out the kinks, but where they've had a restaurant in Quincy for years, I am not optimistic. But that's okay - some places are just not my style. So try it and let me know.
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Date: 2010-05-14 02:10 pm (UTC)(Also, I thought that they were going to be moving someplace in Boston. I wonder if this space is in addition to or instead of....)
I actually enjoy the cooking part of it, so that wouldn't be an issue. Too bad about the hotness of the broth though. I'll have to remember that. You can ask them to add a non-spicy broth to the spicy once it boils away a bit, which does make it better.
L and I have only ever ordered off the hot-pot menu, so we have no experience with the appetizers.
We'll have to try the place when he comes back and let you know what we think. Glad it's closer to us than Boston. (And the parking is better too....)