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Best Hot Pot downtown?

Hi everyone,

I'd really like to try Hot Pot for the first time, and I noticed that there are an increasing number of places around Spadina/Dundas that seem to specialize in it. Does anyone have tips for me as to which ones to check out (best broth, etc?) I don't have a car, so I will need somewhere central (although I accept that might not offer the best experience.)


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  1. Is this the pot of oil and chili's that you dip meat and stuff into like fondue??


    1 Reply
    1. re: Davwud

      Yeah, that's what I was thinking of. Like Chinese shabu-shabu.

    2. I recommend Queen's Hot Pot at 440 Dundas St. West. They serve different flavor of soup with a very high quality of food.

      1 Reply
      1. re: pokerdan

        is this buffet type hot pot?
        and how's the pricing?

      2. Just DIY at home. Good, cheap and easy.

        Get a hot pot soup base from T&T (recommend the "Little Fat Sheep" brand). Get the following materials from T&T :

        - raw meat material : a pack of thin sliced "fat beef", shrimp, scallop .....

        - vegatable : Enoki mushroom, Bok Choy ...

        - beef meat ball, fish meat ball .....

        - noodle : vermicelli and udon

        Boiled a big pot of water, add soup base, then cook the materials in the hot pot. When it is half way, add vermicelli and udon, simmer in the pot with the flavour of the soup !

        5 Replies
        1. re: skylineR33

          I think the different between DIY and dinning is the varity of food you can choose. Just like myself if I want to buy all my favorites food in market, it costs me more than double what I pay for in a resturant. I am thinking may be the wholesale price of food is much cheaper than the retail price.

          There is another hot pot resturant at Spadina, just a two bock north of Dundas on the east side at the basement level, AYCE style.

          1. re: par72

            Is that M.Y. Chafing Dish?
            357 Spadina Avenue.

            I walk by there all the time and always wonder what it's like but never go in. I keep meaning to try it. Is it any good?

            1. re: Sevi

              After I try Queen, I never go back to MY.

            2. re: par72

              Yes, there are more varieties if you want them all, there are lots of meat, beef, pork, chicken...lots of vegetables....organs....balls like beef, fish, squid... (the cheaper stuffs).

              But mostly I find that I do not need them all, get a pack of beef, chicken, some shrimp, etc, some veggies, select different types of balls by weight(don't get the whole pack). Just need to determine the right amount to get, I found it cheaper that way if sharing with a group of friends. Not to mention if you are going to get expensive items like Lobster and Geoduck, it is much cheaper by DIY.

              There is one fun part that is missing with DIY, the mixing of different sauces to dip ! And also some of the balls are hand made at a restaurant.

              1. re: skylineR33

                Cost-wise, DIY is only good if you have a family or larger group of friends... it's not really worth it if you have two people.