J Pot

Service is great. Food is ok.

Okay, I normally stick to highly positive reviews because I like to highlight exceptional food and/or service in the local area, however, I just have to warn people who may not be fully prepared for what they may experience here at J Pot. First, please understand, I have quite an adventurous taste. I love food from all varieties of ethnic background from Vietnamese to Hmong, to Indian, Ethiopian, Mediterranean, Italian, American, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, French, Greek, you name it. I enjoy foods from all over the world. Asian varieties, however, are my absolute fave. I had been wanting to try J Pot since I first heard about it, but just never had the opportunity. Last Friday was my 42nd birthday. I chose J Pot as my birthday dinner of choice. I have to admit, I wasn't prepared for it. I didn't do any research beforehand, so my misconception (which I'm finding is a common one), was that there would be some kind of flavored hot broth over a heating source of some kind, and a variety of choices to essentially build my own pot. I anticipated various meats, vegetables, starches, etc. that I could add, bite by bite into the pot to create my own little custom heavenly soup/pot. I was wrong. These "pots" are pre-selected. There are upwards of 10-15 ingredients in every pot, which is fine, however, most of them include some kind of fish ball or tripe, seaweed knot, squid, or other fishy ingredient. Again, also fine, but I wasn't particularly wanting a FISHY soup/pot. And you just can't get around that option. The whole thing had an overwhelming taste of what shrimp sauce smells like, if that makes sense. I tried to make it more enjoyable by smothering it in the tepanyaki sauce, but it was just not good. My poor husband, who is not as adventurous as I, was in agony, trying to choke it down to salvage my birthday dinner, all the while fighting the smoke from the little stove thing they put it on. He ended up just eating the steamed rice that came with the pot, and picking out whatever recognizable meats and vegetables he could find that didn't taste like fermenting fish. I understand that for some, this is delicious and wonderful, but I can also GUARANTEE that it is not for everyone.... even some of those with adventurous taste. Now, all that aside, I will highlight the GOOD: The loaded gyoza was pretty tasty. The service time was decent. The service PEOPLE were fantastic. (Very attentive, very helpful, very nice. No negative remarks about the people.) The environment was chill. (I did like the sauce bar that was open to come and go as needed.) The wait WOULD have been about 45 minutes, but one of those delightful people (I believe it was the manager on duty), suggested we sit at the bar top which got us served a lot faster. Overall, as I mentioned, this might be a lot of people's favorites spots. For me and my hubby, however.... we will not be returning at any time, ever. (Said in the nicest, sweetest way possible.) I would HIGHLY suggest creating a "beginners" pot with recognizable, palatable items for those wanting to experience hot pot without eating a lot of mysterious ingredients. I would also HIGHLY recommend a "BUILD-YOUR-OWN" hot pot that allows the user to have more personal freedom in their dining experience. If those suggestions were implemented, I'd be more open to giving the place a second shot.

Please don't forget to tell the waiters about your allergies, they have a wide variety of ingredients! Excellent for those who love seafood in soup, excellent service, affordable prices, nice place.

Long story short work going to Need more comment cards Upon arrival at J-pot a bit of a short wait time even tho the restaurant wasn’t busy no idea why, Kimberly our server very polite and friendly made the experience way better described the process on what and how sauce bar happy hour and pots worked explained perfectly and was patient with the questions

Jpot have the best Szechuan in the town!!! Y’all got to try it out. The chicken cartilage with the Chinese dry up is pretty tasty also the strawberry matcha with egg pudding was on fire as well!! I love their service, they are so friendly and helpful. ♨️ ️