Udu Cafe

So far fantastic service. Came on a busy Saturday night and was seated almost immediately. Had a groupon and all the servers still were nice! In the end we realized that there wasn’t a whole lot of variety but what we got was good. There’s normally a 2 hour maximum for diners but we stayed beyond that and were not rushed.
Pros:
— Service — great service, minor miscommunication due to language barriers, not a huge deal
— Space — we got to sit waaaaay in the back, by the rear entrance, plenty of privacy and our own computer screen and mouse. We watched youtube the entire time we were eating
— Food — the varieties of soup base were great! The selections of meat and veggies seemed vast when you first look at the menu but it really wasn’t, they only had the one beef and fish choice.

I love hot pot, especially all you can eat hot pot. I came here for my boyfriend’s mom’s birthday. I had called the restaurant earlier during the day to make sure to book a room for 6 people and a baby. They said OK and said no problem. However, when I got to the restaurant they told me they do not do rooms on the weekends. umm hello? you couldn’t tell me that over the phone, instead they CONFIRM my reservation? So unprofessional of them.
So the actual food, it is good and the meat is fresh. OMG, but the service. its HORRIBLE. it takes like 20 – 30 mins for them to bring you what you ordered, they don’t have enough staff and their operation is so inefficient. Because of that, I do not plan to ever come here again.
I will try iCook next time for my next hot pot experience.

My sister purchased a Groupon for four a while back so we, alongside my two cousins, finally decided to come to Udu to use it. My sister came here twice before and my cousin, once. Both had only stated good things about this place for hotpot so I had high expectations.
We came around 4PM with no wait time. Once we entered, we were guided upstairs to a selection of empty tables. Each table came with a complimentary computer screen. I played with it a little bit and it was definitely not the easiest to use. Plus, the Internet was very slow so we hardly even used it. We focused more of our attention on ordering our food quickly, eating and talking to each other instead.
We ordered a variety of your basic hotpot food: meat, fishballs, seafood, mushrooms, noodles, etc. All were very fresh and good. It was also fun cooking our food in 4 different soup bases. We got chicken, mushroom, spicy and seaweed; all were tasty in their own ways.
Because the restaurant wasn’t packed, our food was served to us quickly. The waiters also worked at a fast pace. We got unlimited refills for our sodas and there was always someone who came to add more water to our pots without asking. Thumbs up for their service. However, side thumb for the waitress who challenged our orders because she thought we ordered too much food and couldn’t finish it. Turns out we finished everything aka 5 rounds of orders.
With a Groupon, I think this place was totally worth it. Without the Groupon, it can still be a good option if they consistently serve good quality food and provide fast service. Great experience overall. Glad I was able to try a new decent hot pot place in Flushing.

Came here last night with a Groupon. They seated us downstairs. The stove only had two settings: high and low; I’m used to eating with stoves that have a wide range of settings and I like to keep my pot at medium temperature. The broth was stark cold when they served it, usually the broth is warm at some hot pot places so it took a while to heat up. The food took a long time to arrive and service was very slow – it was hard to get the server’s attention. The tom yum and the kimchi broths were very overwhelming. The chicken and the beef slices didn’t seem like great quality. They don’t give you bowls to eat your soup with. I understand you can eat from the pot, but some places give you small bowls which is nice because you can let the soup and whatever you picked out to cool before you eat it. The only thing I liked there was the lobster ball. I think I would go back if they made some major changes. For now I think I’ll stick to my usual hot pot spots.

Love going into Flushing for dinner. Most of the restaurants are very good and this one was no exception The place is full of locals, so you know it’s good.
Basically you order a soup bases, meats, seafood noodles, dumplings and vegetables and make your own hot pot at your table. A lot of choices, and it’s all you can eat. Quality was excellent.
There’s also a spice/​sauce bar so you can kick it up any way you like. The wait staff was very helpful explaining how to navigate this cool concept. Dinner comes with a beer or soda.
We loved it. A lot of choices and really cool to cook your own food in the hot pot. If you are little adventurous you will really enjoy this place. Go for it.

I would have put no star if there’s a choice. Very bad service!!! I went there last night (11÷1÷15) with my family for dinner. Theres a plate full of candy on the cashier table, my 12 years old nephew took one candy and my other much younger nephew and niece saw it and said they want it too. But they are not tall enough to get, so I was holding the plate for them to pick. Then a lady was yelling at me from my back, I mean literally yellinglike scolding ‘what are you doing?’. Then I said they are not tall enough so I was holding it for them. Then again she was very loud to the kids saying take one only. Very rude yelling at the kids. will never go there ever again.

Second floor, and they have a new option for hotpot buffet — a $ 15/​person deal where they give you all the veggies, tofu and soda you want to eat, with some fishballs + random side meats (tripe, etc.).
With meat extra, this is still worth it if you love your veggies and tofu.

An all you can eat hot pot place that services fairly spicy soup bases. Although they don’t advertise that the spicier soups will cost 2 dollars extra. I do like that they give one pot for every two individuals, which can be a full pot of one soup or split half pots of two different choices.
They have a large selection of food items but their English translations were different than their actual names so there was some minor confusion in the beginning. Their vegetables and mushrooms were standard, the meats weren’t bad since they didn’t look like they just thawed moments before, and the noodles were ok but they weren’t flavorful/​absorbent of the soup base as other places. I also didn’t like their fish slices. The fish tasted bland and sliced thinner than it should because the meat would fall apart once it’s cooked. Not even the spicy soup base was able to flush out the bland thawed fish flavor. The mussels were pretty big but you only get two per order. It didn’t taste bad but it definitely wasn’t fresh. We had a drink included for the meal and if you order soda expect for it to be watered down.
Big tables and many of them can seat large groups. The staff was friendly and wasn’t difficult to me or my friends. The food did take long to arrive after you fill out the form. Some items never came out, and after ordering it two times, we gave up and presumed they were out of stock. Would’ve been nice to be told if they were out or not.
Not a terrible place but too many factors that makes it a place I’d rather shy away from. If you’re looking for an all you can eat, there’s bound to be better places elsewhere in Flushing.

Came here on a Groupon with a bunch of friends. First off, it did not start off pleasant because the lady scanned in our Groupon and then claim that it was not there. After awhile she asked for help from another waiter and eventually it was found. After all that misunderstanding, we were allowed to pick our food from the piece of paper.
The food just took a little longer than we expected to come out even though it was just raw stuff for the hot pot. The food was not overly impressive. The fatty beef and lamb was mediocre. The only thing I did like was that they had a decent selection of fish balls, lobster balls, beef balls, etc.
Probably will not be back at this place unless they are offering a deal. Think they are a little pricey for full price.

i brought a groupon party of 2 for $ 35! its worthy.

DESERVES 0 STARS. BEWARE OF THIS SCAMMING RESTAURANT. Bought a Groupon for $ 50 for 4 people. Had a sign outside for all you can eat $ 14.95pp. Bill comes with $ 5.67 «tax». We leave $ 16.00 tip. Waiter comes over stating each person without groupon should be $ 27.95 so therefore the bill without groupon should be $ 119. FORCES us to pay him tip for $ 119. FIRST OFF, I told him tip was up to the consumer to give or not and he must be out of his mind to think you should tip on a «ghost bill». He said it was «too little» anyway. He also reminded me that they make money on tips only. THEN, if that’s the case maybe you should provide exceptional SERVICE. You think people just tip you because they HAVE TO? The reason people tip you is because of your smile, kindness, your courtesy.
The waiters and waitresses walk past you with no acknowledgement. Smile? NONEXISTENT. I’ve been to the place 3 times within the last 5 years and I would say it’s horrendous, every time. Save money and go to Fukuoka on Kissena… little sheep or little lamb, icook… There’s no reason to waste your time at this scam hot pot spot.
The sauce is all watered down.
The «ANGUS BEEF» they give you for all you can eat is ALL FAT… and IS NOT ANGUS BEEF.
Stop changing your name, you should just close down.

awesome for hot pot. they have two different menu for all you can eat. its all good. food is fresh. service is good.

Yum! Four stars instead of five only because they don’t offer unicorn or griffin. Great place for a hot soup on a cold day. Service could be a bit more attentive. Popular for dates.

Came here on a cold winter day with some friends for some hot pot. The difference here from other hot pot places is the variety of soups you can choose! There’s spicy, non spicy, vegetarian etc. I chose the Tom yum soup and ordered a feast full of ingredients from veggies to meats. I ordered crab but didn’t expect the whole crab. I thought it was crab meat that was taken out. It was delicious. Nothing better than hot pot on a col day.

Great service everyone is so friendly. Before you eat hotpot you need to make your own sauce which is the hardest part because there’s so much sauces to choose from.

Sometimes you get those hotpot cravings when it’s cold out. Sometimes you go to an AYCE location to stuff your face. Sometimes you wait 40 mins for your food to come but still get rushed out at that 2 hour mark, when you and your friends are just about finishing up anyway but your conversation is rudely interrupted by the staff. With the check. and some rush comments in Chinese. While the table behind you is completely empty for new people. Sometimes.
Overall, I still like this place for the atmosphere, cleanliness and overall quality of food. The service might not be amazing, and they might serve you some resemblance of bland carbonated water when you ask for diet coke, and diet coke when you ask for coke (sprite is sprite though), but I can’t argue with the options of food as a hot pot establishment.
AYCE brings you to about $ 29.99 on the weekends not including gratuity. Beer (it seems like just Coors though) and soda is included. It feels like the possbilities are endless here though (is it just me?) You just mark what you want on the paper and they will (try their best) to get you everything. Sometimes, they leave out a thing here or there but hardly is that ever an issue because you can keep adding to your order later on.
Choose your soup — I like the herbal and the seaweed base. Meats, vegetables, tofu, fishballs, mushrooms they have so many options within these options — I love it. My go to’s — beef, lamb, fish filet, golden fishballs (my fav, but all the other ones are worth trying too), fish tofu, silk tofu, gold stem mushrooms (or go mushroom combo), watercress, bok choy, pumpkin, winter melon and dumplings. Throw food in the pot, sit back, relax and eat.
The only thing I would say that should be added in terms of food/​sauce — is peanut sauce. Most establishments have this as a sauce option, but this one doesn’t (which surprised me), but that’s about it!
~chow!

The idea of Shabu Shabu aka Hotpot is simple, you are given raw food which you cook in a soup base which then you dip in this sauce and enjoy.
Udu café is an AYCE or a la carte shabu shabu place located on Prince Street, on the peak of the hill if that helps.
Came here on a Friday night, didn’t have to wait too long so that’s good news!
The place is clean and filled with people– also good news!
Wait staff wasn’t very attentive– bad news!!! so after 10 – 15 minutes of sitting around, we finally got hold of one wait staff and tell him what we want. I am not sure how well he understand us in English but luckily we got someone who can speak Mandarin so we are all set.
We came with a good amount of people so we did the AYCE and we definitely tried everything on the menu and here are some we really liked:
Beef — a given a ShabuShabu
Pork– actually quite good and high quality
Veggie– I’m not a big veggie person but if you cook them till they are mushy, i’m all for it
Dumplings– all sort and kinds
BALLS– yes i’m talking about the fish balls, beef balls, cuttlefish balls
Carbs– any carbs that’s dumped into flavored soup base are good carbs, Udon is my favorite!
Seafood– I’m not a big seafood person at Shabu but I do enjoy the fish filet!
Now before you eat, you gotta make sure you get yourself some dipping sauce, for the beginners, go for some Shacha Sauce, Soy Sauce, dash of sesame oil maybe some scallion and garlic and you should be good. For the adventurous, add some peanut sauce and smash a raw egg into the above mixture.
Price: pricy in terms of eating in Flushing, hard to determine since if you have a bunch of heavy eaters, you can make this well worth it. our meal came out to be around 40 per person with tips and tax.
Udu is definitely cool to go with friends, just make sure you are hungry before you go or else it might not be worth it to do AYCE.

WHAT THE HECK was in my soup. omg. when i got my typical seaweed pot, there was like a film of. gooey-​ness that just did NOT look. right,… so asked for a new pot but I was too traumatized to eat out of my soup pot… Usually the «grade pending» doesn’t scare me but now I’m going to be more cautious coming here. if i want grub shabu, i’ll probably come with a risk of getting something funny in my tummy.

Nothing beats a nice hot pot during this time of the year. Came here during a weekend night and had the $ 29 all you can eat, all you can drink menu, and had a great experience.
Pretty good service, great selection of items, my gf and I had like 4 crabs and a dozen of shrimps along with all the meat and veggies.
The pot itself is not as flavorful as little fat lamb but at the price and the variety of selections, WE WILL BE BACK!

A hot pot place with a very contemporary décor, starting with the twisted metal and glass exterior. There are two entrances; the Prince Street main entrance is by their bar area and the other is on 37^th Avenue; both can be used to access the staff for seating in either of their two levels. Our seats on the upper level facing the glass building façade is somewhat loft style. The tables are large, with embedded hotplates. A fairly comprehensive sauce station is located centrally on both levels.
An extensive list of options for hot pots, including 6 different choices for the soup base; a single pot can be split in two for two different bases. There’s also a regular food menu if not having hot pot (hard to see why you’d come here for that though) and given the presence of their bar, their alcohol menu is extensive for a Chinese place (cocktails!), but though their beer list was decent, our bottled beers (La Chouffe and Hitachino White) came without glasses; draft Blue Moon came in a big, cold mug. Generally speaking, service is hard to find but since most of hot pot is DIY anyway, it wasn’t much missed.
Our group of 8 went with two pots, spicy/​herbal for one, spicy/​seaweed for the other. Our ingredient list included beef short ribs, pork liver, fish fillets, shrimp, crab, homemade dumplings, shrimp balls, cauliflower, cabbage, taro, mushroom combo, and fried tofu puffs. All cleanly and well-​presented, good quality, reasonable portions. Soup base flavors were ok.
Oddly, the hotplates cycled on and off on their own, but were never off long enough to be a hindrance.
A decent place to bring a group for Chinese hot pot. The modern space makes it even more appealing if you’re bringing people who aren’t accustomed to the grunginess that often accompanies Chinese dining.