Restaurant Review: Tasty Pot
This past weekend, my partner in world exploration, Liz, and I went to Tasty Pot to try our first hot pot. I’ve watched videos and have seen posts about hot pot experiences all over social media and in manga, so I really wanted to try some. After some googling, I found that Sharonville, OH, had the chain Tasty Pot!
Tasty Pot started in the San Francisco Bay Area in California in 2014. You can read in The Daily about Peipei Cao and Xiaomeng Liu opening one out of a closed Chinese Sauerkraut Fish in 2020, but I have been unable to find more information about the originators in 2014 that line up with Yelp’s reporting. Yelp has grabbed the story from Tasty Pot’s website letting us know they are an “authentic Taiwanese individual hotpot chain that seeks to provide healthy dining in a comfortable, modern setting” and “purposefully designed to leverage the natural taste of the various ingredients and are seasoned with seasonings imported from Taiwan, real meat bones, and cabbage.”
The Sharonville link in the Tasty Pot chain is easy to get to, right off the highway where 275 meets SR 42. One of (current count) 38 other locations and it was a well oiled machine with delicious food and much to offer anyone with options for many dietary restrictions.
The location we visited had a large dining area outfitted with booths lining the walls for small parties and tables for much larger affairs filling out the center. We were free to sit anywhere; but directed to pick booths as there were only two of us. The table had chopsticks and spoons, and certain spices already for each table. Instead of a traditional menu and waitress, there was a QR code with the table number listed on it. Each person gets to submit their own order by scanning the code, and it walks you through each step. You start with appetizers and then move on to select your pot broth preferences with 12 different types to choose from and then how spicy you’d like it. Next, you select extra meats, then veggies you’d like brought on the side to be added to your pot and lastly your drinks. You get a view of quantity and total as you go and it walks you through. You don’t pay through the app, but at the end in a traditional manner but you can use the app to check progress on your order and to continually order more sides and add-ons as you dine in.
We ordered the Number 4 and 7 pots: Curry Flavor Hot Soup and Kimchi Dumpling Hot Soup. What we neglected to do was read what all meats and veggies were already included. We ordered quite a bit of what was already in our pots and had plenty extra. We also tried the spring rolls and takoyaki appetizers. Liz took on their chrysanthemum hot tea and some boba tea as well.
The wait for our meal was not long, and average considering how we got there shortly after opening and the dining room wasn’t filled yet. They brought out our add-ons first and the pots were nice and boiling when they arrived last and filled to the brim. The pots come in special containers that hold a candle hidden at the bottom to keep your pot boiling hot and you can keep adding in and cooking your add-ons in the broth with a small bowl given to move done and ready to eat items, so it can cool down.
We did not know or eat it this way at first. We kept adding everything in as is, and eating from the boiling pot which was delicious but still boiling! Mine came with many seafood items I wasn’t expecting, such as small clams and shrimp still in the full shell. The fish balls, and imitation crab meat were delicious, though I couldn’t bring myself to break apart the shrimp with it looking at me. The eggs did take a little bit to cook in the broth but hey, eggs are just good. The tofu, tempura, dumplings, instant noodles, and udon were all great additions and everything tasted fresh, non processed, and delicious. The surprise standout that was new to both of us was the Takoyaki. These fried octopus balls were exactly what you want from a carnival like snack. Small little drops of flavor that burst when you bite into them. Topped with sauce and bonito flakes, they were succulent and an easy way to eat my first octopus though I cannot say I could pick out that flavor over the slightly sweet fried dough.
My kimchi pot was a great tasting pot with pork broth, and I chose the second highest spice level. My nose felt that more than my mouth, but I will say it was lost a little by my eating from the boiling pot directly so the heat was overtaking the flavor of spice. As we transitioned to eating using the bowls, I can say the taste was a great balance in spice and flavor and wasn’t overpowering. The kimchi we got extra and ate cold was a delight and also gave a great heat based on flavor not overpowering spice and was a great way to eat cabbage. I wasn’t personally impressed with the lobster balls as they were just straight lobster meat over a fried dough taste I was assuming it would be. That said, if you love lobster, that is the add-on for you.
Liz and I enjoyed our meals and found everything to be a clear taste that lived up to the promise in the about me. A natural taste that that was designed purposefully and well to give us the chance to enjoy each ingredient individually and as a whole experience. We were defeated by the amount that we got (and with the staff pouring in extra broth to keep you well stocked) we had to get to-go containers but we plan to return as soon as we can to keep tasting the menu and to relive the experience with wonderful, varied, unprocessed tastes we were lucky to enjoy.
