Uniboil

SZECHUAN HOT POT! I love spicy food and even better... spicy hot pot! Extra points to Uniboil for opening early, the struggle is real trying to find a hot pot place to eat before heading to the airport in the morning As tempting as it was to order there various other options like korean army soup, noodle soups, and sizzling plates.. I opted for the hot pot since that's what Uniboil seems to be known for. I'm not a fan of szechuan numbing spice so I got the spicy soup with the New Zealand lamb. The portion size for the hotpot was decent. It was comparable to boiling point which I'll use as a standard for personal hot point. Though I feel like Uniboil has way more vegetables and less side item variety. However, the soup was delicious! Way more flavor than I expected. The spicy broth was super tasty for how hot it was. Usually the spicy overpowers everything but their broth did a good job of showcasing both their unique flavor and spice. My friends got the numbing one and it was equally as delicious. Plus the lamb was spectacular, wish they gave more. The restaurant itself is spacious. It has about ~9 tables that can sit 2-4 people. They can combine tables to accommodate for bigger groups. It's clean and the decor has an urban feel with the hanging lights and exposed brick. The service was slow but they only had one guy at the time and he was hustling trying to do everything. Seems like they have their main staff at 11 so for the hour we were there, the guy was solo. Overall the meal was enjoyable and an option I would consider for personal hotpot. The soup and meat quality makes this place worth it.

3 Star. Overall. Nothing too special here. I was hoping for something more original from the higher reviews. MSG is not my thing. Generally okay, but I personally will try elsewhere for now. 4 Star. Service. Friendly owner. Responsive. 5 Star. Plum Drink. 3 Star. Chicken soup base with Pork meat. Portion just "okay", can request to not add MSG to the soup base but of course the ingredients that comes with the pot (tempura, fish ball, meat ball, etc) are pre-made which contains MSG (the kind that you can find at any average supermarket, nothing unique). I'm sure there's gotta be better hot pots here, but certainly not this one. 2 Star. The combo add-on for $4.99 (drink, side, digestive enzymes drink). Owner said they ran out of the digestive enzyme drink which was worth $2 something yet my bill was not adjusted to reflect the shortage. I was just told it's sold out. 3 Star. Checked in on Yelp to redeem free popping fish ball offer, they ran out. Was given 4 substitute fish balls. Okay, that's nice. But it also tastes like your average grocery store bought product.

I got here before the dinner rush on a Sunday night and it was still at least a 30 minute wait. It seems like they're just understaffed. When you do finally get seated and put your order for food in, it's another long wait for the food to get to your table. The food is decent, but I'd rather go to another hot pot place where the service is faster and the wait is less.