Hot Pot Lab

I ordered herbal broth with beef combo. Perfect portion for one girl. I really loved it. Good amount of meat and veggies. It would have been better if they used little better quality ham and sausage.

The service is bad, that lady don’t even know what a spinach is and she doesn’t want to serve us all she does is sit at the counter and watch her Korean drama… The food taste worst and it’s over expensive!!! I rather make it at home and buy and ingredients I’m sure it will be cheaper!!!

My family and I decided to try this place because we’d never been before. I understand why it is expensive because of the cuts of meat and some of the other ingredients. The overall experience was okay. The service was mediocre. I did like that you each get your own individual pot with your preferred broth. We tried a lot of different things. I’d say my favorite parts to put in the soup base were the homemade noodles (which I recommend cooking for awhile in the broth), enoki mushrooms, thinly sliced beef, and the napa cabbage. Also, get the hoisin sauce and put a little on your noodles when you pull them out of the broth. I’m not sure I’ll come back here, but it was an interesting experience. I also think that I’ve had better hot pot, but if you’re really craving it and can’t get to Chicago then this place is ok. Just pay attention to what you’re ordering if you’re concerned about price and pay attention to what your friends are ordering, some ingredients are shareable like the enoki mushrooms, the sliced meats, potatoes, napa cabbage, noodles. Remember, you can always order more, if it’s not enough.

My husband and I opted for this restaurant for lunch. My husband ordered the herbal broth. I ordered the spicy broth at the spiciest level. The spice was disappointing. I was expecting it to be much spicier than it was. The sesame sauce was tasty. It was pricey for what we ordered but we still enjoyed ourselves.

When my friends and I ate here we all got food poisoning. It was good but not worth the stomach ache

I am 100% Chinese, so I am qualified to review this place as the Most Authentic hot pot restaurant in town. All the food here are up to the standard of authentic, like those I taste in China, not mentioned fresh and clean. All the other restaurants in town offer hot pot could not provide food up to this standard.
Based on my personal experiences, I like the tomato soup base. It brings up the flavor in vegetables. Bonus points for the soup tastes after cooking all the meat in there. Hot pot sausage is another dish you must try. The mini eggs taste incredible juicy after cooking in the broth and the egg yolk is very tasteful. I don’t eat lamb personally but my friends like it a lot.
For the dinning environment, I would say it is good for family, nice for a date and fun for group hang outs. It totally worths for the money you pay for. Servers here are very nice and the manager keep checking on us make sure we had a good time.
Anyway, I would say Hot Pot Lab is a fun experience. It would be a good place to treat yourself. :)

My sister and I went here for lunch. We were the only people in the restaurant, which was fine. The food came quickly and was very tasty. The meats are high quality. This restaurant is on the pricier side, but worth it if you are really craving hot pot. Only downside was that the server was very distant and barely said a word to us. We had to hunt her down near the kitchen to order more food. Otherwise, I would definitely go back since the food was really good.

The food was delicious. My husband and I each got the beef combo. It was a lot of food and definitely worth the price. After reading other reviews, we were expecting it to be super expensive. It ended up being less than $ 40 for both of us and that included beer. I can’t wait to bring others here. It’s a fun experience with great food.

This was the first time for our group of friends and we knew we were in for an experience. Well, I am glad one of us did a little bit of research as the wait staff never asked if we knew what we were doing or if we had been there before. So, would suggest a little bit of it before going in if you are not familiar.
The herb pot was good, flavorful and hearty; with the added veggies and meat it was really good. The rest of us got differing levels of the spicy pot and all thought it was delicious. The sauce choices could certainly be better; this was a stark contrast to research options on the Internet.
The potato should go in first along with any root veggie as it takes longer to cook, but almost everything else besides the noodles don’t take that long at all. One piece of advice, either hang onto your shrimp or use the ladle because if you lose sight or control of it they will be quickly over cooked.
I’d like to rate this higher but the help/​service was not the greatest… not sure if it is a lack of experience or what as we were the only group in the place for the longest time.
All in all we would still go back, but don’t have a group larger than 6 as that is the biggest table… guess you could split up your party but…

Always go there if have a group of three or more. Quite good service and pretty fresh food.

This place really hit the spot. my wife and I had the meat lovers and seafood lovers combos one with the tomato broth and the other with the house special broth. the process is a bit unclear to first time guests (even first time guests with a bit of «hot pot» experience) All of the ingredients are good with the exception of the noodles which are GREAT!
There is always room for improvement for example the sesame sauce is a bit bland and old tasting and the waitress was unable to provide any kind of chili sauce which could have been a bit of help to the overall flavor.
Hot pot lab is certainly worth a shot.
Just keep in mind you are in rural illinois not a major city so don’t set your sights too high.

As a 100% Chinese, I have two comments. The quality of the food doesn’t worth you a try at any price. The price doesn’t worth food of any quality.
The seafood sauce was as sweet as BBQ sauce you find anywhere. The Napa cabbage was uncut in whole pieces with root. 7 dollar 5oz lamb has no fat.
I gave one star because I can’t post comment with 0 star.

To Chinese readers. I would suggest prepare hot hot on your own instead of go to this place. Lamb and beef slices from Green Onion are far better.
The good: clean and friendly stuff.
The bad: the sesome sauce has a strange sour flavor. Some meats are not fresh.
Very expensive for a hot pot place.

Went to Hot Pot Lab with a group of friends a couple weeks ago. Food was fresh and nicely served. It could be quite expensive but you will end up paying less if you go there with more people. They have tables for four or six people. Those stoves were super cool. We can finally have a good hot pot in Chambana!

Hot Pot Lab was a really fun experience. I really like hot pot in general so I already had a pretty good feel going into it. The restaurant itself is spotless and modern with a pretty good background track to it. Very important: the bathroom was also spotlessly clean. I felt the food was all very fresh and choice, good quality meats were used (beef and lamb). We got the spicy broth and it was DELICIOUS along with the sesame sauce which was equally as delicious.
Our waiter was very helpful with how the entire process worked and was right on the money with suggesting how much of each – veggies, meat, noodles, etc — we would need to order for two people. Even better the owner came around and introduced himself and was very nice all around.
The only thing is that the meal was a little expensive; it was 70 bucks for two people so 35 each. That’s a bit expensive for Champaign-​Urbana but it isn’t like Sakanaya doesn’t have similarly priced food. I thought it was expensive but not so crazy I wouldn’t do it again.
All in all I had a great experience. Great place to go.

This place had a cute ambiance and definitely had great tastes of hot pot. I initially ordered the mild broth, but switched after trying the spicy (the server was really nice about the switch). It wasn’t long after we put in our order we were able to eat.
So much food we actually over ordered, so I would suggest ordering a few things and adding on as you eat. We got the meat lovers and instead of lamb and beef we got double beef (again server was okay with this as well). The white shrimp paste was so good! Good thing we didn’t have to eat right out of the pots as it was very hot, temperature wise. I had to cool my food on the plates provided.
The service was great and they were all more than willing to help us with anything we needed. Will definitely be my go to hot pot spot!

Fabulous! Very cool dining experience! I came this noon, was noticed that they do special lunch offer. Broth and dipping sauce are all free! Never thought could have such tasty food for around $ 18! My friend and I are so full. I’ll definitely come back!

All I can say is ridiculous.
for 2+ years on this campus, first time, ever, will never visit a restaurant again.
Ridiculously overpriced and not even authentic. well, maybe is only in chambana that this place will survive (not even ‘survive’, it’s only opened for one month). at chicago chinatown you get everything better; better quality, quantity, service, flavor, more choices, at a much lower price.
If you really wanna try authentic Chinese hot pot, maybe little sheep (unfortunately not in Chambana) pricier than AYCE hot pot but really worth the price. Chicagoland AYCE is great as well. Anyway way better than this.
ps. me & my bf spent $ 35 here and we are still hungry. We ordered panda express right after and never though PE could be this delicious and fulfilling.

Wanted to try this place as the availability of hot pot in town is very scarce. The menu is easy to follow and has good variety. The waitress was extremely helpful clarifying any doubts on the menu.
The hot pot was decent considering this small town but the serving sizes where small and expensive. At around 30 dollars a person better food could be eaten elsewhere.

Been to Hot Pot Lab last night with family and friends. The food is fabulous! It was a very pleasant dining experience. Service is decent and friendly.
A+ drink and food for a get together with groups of people. It has the most authentic Chinese hot pot around C-​U area.