Mongolian Hot Pot Fun (Montreal)

Robyn and I went out for some Montreal China Town hot pot action. Apparently, this joint is a chain in China and has only recently come to Canada.

Dinner started off rather poorly, when they asked if we wanted regular, spicy or half and half. Having NO IDEA what they were trying to ask me, I just said regular. It turned out to be the broth that we cook the stuff in. The regulars pretty much seemed to have half and half. Note to self, go with half and half next time.

Then, they bring out a plate of beef and a plate of mystery meat. After further inquiry, we find out that is it lamb. Robyn seems happy, me less so.

While walking in, we spied some rows of veggies, seafood etc. Our waiter thought that we were complete idiots when we tried to ask him if the stuff up there costs extra. He didn't appear to speak english or french, so we ventured up and hoped for the best.

I grabbed some bok choi, mushrooms x 3 types, squash, broccoli, fried tofu etc. Robyn got all sorts of shrimp and fishy type items.

We further appeared like idiots when I grabbed a mini plate to load up. Apparently, EVERYONE knows that you should stack your stuff up on the large plate.

The first cooking went reasonably well and the food was pretty tasty.

More stupidity ensued, when all that salty broth made us thirsty. I tried to ask for water, but had no success. During the next round of bok-choi round up, I noticed a drink dispensing station. It was pretty much the world's slowest drink dispenser, but the water had a deelightful lemon flavour.

The next mini crisis was due to the water balance. Robyn was scooping up her stuff with a slotted spoon, hence no water problems. I did not notice the slotiness and instead was fishing out my food with a normal spoon. Soon, I had my little bowl filled up with liquid and we were starting to run out in the hot pot. The waiter came and bailed us out of our problems with a timely replenishment of broth.

Dessert was surprisingly good - Chinese style donuts and cookies etc.

Total was $40 including tax, tip and beverage station.