Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot

My large family of 23, my BF and I decided to try this place for Father’s Day. We are all of Vietnamese heritage excluding my BF so we are quite familiar with Hot Pots.
Sprawled across two large tables the elders ordered six hot pots (3 to a table) with the works. None of us has ever tried Mongolian style hot pot before but was open to trying new things.
The hot pots came out with the usual division in mild and spicy except the spicy side looked as though it was hopped on chili pepper steroids… Nearly the entire soup was filled with chopped tien-​tsin peppers so every time you try to scoop out some other hot pot goodies it was accompanied by at least a dozen or more peppers. This killed the vibe and made it difficult to enjoy. Not to mention the actual broth base itself had a nostalgic effect and reminded me of mass on a summer’s weekday; when the church’s A/​C was turned off for efficiency because a room full of tiger balm toting, Chinese herbal bathing old Vietnamese grandmas enjoyed the heat, and their poignant odor didn’t bother them one bit.
Not a great taste, definitely not a great memory.
Even though the soup sucked I loved the plethora of different sides options you can choose from. I wish more hot pot restaurants would offer half the variety this place did.
All in all, the variety saved this place from a tragic 1 star and the $ 650 bill for 16 adults and 7 kids kind of helped save face as well.

Perfect for cold nights. I love their $ 22/​person All You Can Eat option, where can stuff myself silly and feel like I definitely got my money’s worth. I always make sure to get copious amounts of beef and lamb, paired with vermicelli, enoki mushrooms, fish balls, and their house noodles. I highly recommend their half and half soup, so you can get both flavors as you’re cooking the meat. The wait can get a bit ridiculous sometimes though, and the service can be slow. Which is surprising, since diners actually do the cooking.

This is my first to try this Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot in Houston. I’ve tried the one in Chicago.
I give it a 4 star (and not 5) even if we were really satisfied because of the price. The one in Chicago was cheaper than this one in Houston, to think that cost of living is way cheaper her, when it’s just the same restaurant.
Our waiter Chris or Kris, was very attentive and polite. He gave us great customer service.

This location on westheimer is the only place I know of that has all you can eat hot pot and discounts. From what I know, they give out coupons to huge parties to keep you returning. I believe my coworker had a big party of 10+ and she received a coupon for her next visit.
Luckily, I was part of her next trip in and we tried our best to dig in and eat as much as we could. The food is delicious and they have lots to select from for their unlimited amounts of food. Meats, noodles, veggies, seafood, etc. They offer all kinds to what you can add into a hot pot.
I personally don’t favor hot pot, but I will eat what is edible! I can’t say no to food, especially for all you can eat. This dinner cost be about $ 26 with a discount and gratuity included.

All you can eat hotpot. They will give you a sheet of paper to check on what you like to order. You can order 3 rounds of food max. Food was pretty good, a bit salty, there was like an inch of oil floating in the pot though.

Little Sheep Hotpot: an unassuming name for a fittingly unassuming restaurant. Little Sheep may very well have the best hotpot in the whole of Houston, but even then this location is really only deserving of two stars. I have been to both Houston locations of this store, the primary difference being that this location provides all you can eat.
Now, all you can eat hotpot is a tried and tested crowd pleaser, but Little Sheep provides the poorest rendition of this business model I have ever seen. Firstly, the price is completely unreasonable. Hotpot is often meant to be a cheap but filling meal, and in many other places (outside Houston) you could easily fill up in a great hotpot restaurant for less than half the price of an all you can eat meal here. At over $ 20, it is not as if Little Sheep serves ingredients of a higher quality or provides a nice ambience. The quality of the meat is similar to what you can find in the frozen sections of Asian supermarkets, and only the cheapest cuts are provided, making it a very bad deal. The vegetable selection is meager, too.
Sadly, Houston is lacking of a legitimate hotpot restaurant of any of the various styles, and while Little Sheep is probably the most well known and maybe even the best, it’s sort of like saying you’ve found the finest wine in a dollar store; it’s the best you can get, but you still would rather not have a taste of it.

Little Sheep has legit Hot Pot! I’m a huge fan of Hot Pot but so many places get it wrong! The spices in the broth have to be just right or the whole experience is ruined for me. Little Sheep did not disappoint and delivered delicious broth and incredible experience.
I came here with a large group of friends we took up a table with several broth stations and tried to order as much as possible. Someone was particularly daring and ordered pigs blood. It was good but I probably wouldn’t order it unless I was just particularly feeling adventurous.
We had just about everything on the menu. The dumplings cooked in the spicy broth were the highlight for me but the brisket was pretty good too! The noodles were all good but very hard to actually get out of the Hot Pot with just the scoops provided. They need to give you some sort of pasta retrieval device.
I think Little Sheep is a great place to go with a group of friends for some fun. If you haven’t had Hot Pot before you cant go wrong with Little Sheep!

Little Sheep on Westheimer is leaps and bounds better than its counterpart store on Bellaire in Chinatown. The service, food quality, food options, and overall ambiance are all significantly better than the one in Chinatown, and it’s my go-​to option for all you can eat hot pot as well as for introducing friends to hot pot for the first time!
For $ 22/​person you have access to their AYCE menu, which is really quite generous and allows you to order up to 5 orders of each item x 3 rounds. You can pick from original, spicy, or both broths. I really love their spicy soup base here because of its deep flavor and amazing numbing ability. Be sure to pick out peppers, whole spices/​herbs, and peppercorns out from your bowl before you eat your food!
My favorite menu items are: sliced lamb (for 2 people we ate 5 – 6 orders of just lamb… it’s so fatty and delicious!), lamb wontons (really well done here), any of the fresh/​homemade meatballs (chicken, beef, fish), and their wide glass noodles (always a table favorite!). You definitely get your money’s worth by ordering more of the meat items, but the hot pot experience is more enjoyable if you can eat your protein with some delicious sides, too. My husband particularly likes the tendon and tripe here. The veggies are all very fresh, I always get bok choy, cabbage, and enoki mushrooms. I didn’t care for any of the premade frozen items, like the cuttlefish/​fishballs, fried tofu, or fish tempura, because they are all pretty lacking in flavor and taste fake (plus you can always buy these things at a Chinese grocery store for when do hot pot at home). Be careful when you order as the right-​most column on the menu is stuff you pay extra for, like specialty items and sauces. I am normally a huge sauce fan at hot pot but since the spicy broth and meats here are so flavorful, I actually really don’t mind using just the broth as my flavoring.
If you want to really strategize, order just 1 – 2 orders of everything that looks interesting during your first «round» and take note of what you really liked to order more of it in subsequent rounds, that way you don’t fill up on stuff you didn’t really care for.
AYCE hot pot is not a cheap meal by any means, but I think it’s the worth the money for the amount/​quality of food, the amazing spicy soup, the great service, and not having to prep or clean up for hot pot!

We got the spicy broth, really has a better and stronger taste than the original broth imo. Love the lamb and beef here. Always so good. Huge option of what you want them to bring out. Lamb, beef, intestine, tendon,
Mushrooms and many more options.
Our bill was roughly 98 $ for 4 people and 2 special sauces.

Get the frozen tofu! After it cooks in the soup, it soaks all the flavor up like a sponge. Everything else we ordered was amazing, as well!

Got our pot, was About to dig in and SAW A COCKROACH CRAWLING OUT FROM THE FOOD!
So freaking disgusting I will never eat here again

This is the first time I’ve tried Mongolian hot pot so I have nothing to compare it to. I ordered the original and spicy soup. It has like a Chinese medicinal seasoning to the soup which is different for what I’m use to but it was very good and different. The restaurant was busy and service was excellent.

TLDR: Ok, it’s good if you want hotpot but don’t want to make it at home.
The first time I tried hotpot, at the Little Fat Sheep in LA, my life was changed. I never used to like hotopot because we usually cook it with just vegetables and vermicelli. Little Fat Sheep opened my eyes up to all the delicious possibilities that hotpot can provide to me. We didn’t go there very often because we lived and Arizona and would have to drive for hours to get there. But anytime we took a road trip, we would always go to LA for hotpot.
When I moved to Houston and saw that they had several of these restaurants, I ecstatic. This location also provides a $ 21.99/person all-​you-​can-​eat option. Finally, I could endlessly stuff my face with hotpot. I ended up going with a group of friends, one of which, was a hotpot virgin. When the food finally cooked, I was a little disappointed. It all tasted the same, just not as good. There was too much salt and msg in the broth, and the flavors were giving me a headache.
I wish this one were as good as the over in LA, but it’s still ok when you’re craving hotpot but don’t want to make it.

The set up was a bit confusing but overall i am a fan.
It was $ 23/​person for all you can eat hot pot
Otherwise you can go individual plate order…
The soup was good but the special sauce somthing was bad. Hoisin, garlic, sesame oil, sriracha… something something… weird.
Waiter misses a few items that i order like the filet fish and the heart of bamboo
Overall, it is a decent place to hot pot.

Update: the last 2 times I’ve been here I’ve gotten sick the next day. I just assumed it was my stomach being sensitive but I was searching the other reviews and found that there have been health violations here. I did some research and it said that they don’t cover the chicken or beef in the walk in freezer. It also said that the containers for chicks. Weren’t covered and there was a container on top. Mgmt needs to properly store things if they want me back!
The food tasted great the day of both times but day after my stomach hated me.
I attached some pictures of the violations but you can just google this restaurant and health violations.
— — –
5 stars!
My friend took me here for dinner and I will admit I was a bit hesitant at first!
I was so wrong! I prefer the spicy broth but we usually get half and half. Just writing this review makes me want to go back!
I haven’t been to the bellaire location so I can’t compare the two. As long as the food stays great, I will keep coming back.
I like the veggies, vermicelli noodles, and beef slices.

All you can eat hot pot? Probably my favorite thing ever. The variety of foods offered here and the beef were super good. Our group got half original soup and half spicy, which is the way to go! We mainly focused on beef and a lot of enoki mushrooms, haha. I definitely wished there were more traditional hot pot items but it’s probably more in the Taiwanese culture. Heads up, dipping sauces cost a little extra and charge by bowl so the sauces can definitely be shared.
Environment was nice and service was quick, it wasn’t very busy when we went on Monday night.

Food is very good. It all seems fresh and comes out very quickly. The wife and I go for the ribeye, pork, shrimp and veggies. The meatball type things are a little odd.
If you like spicy go for that option. There is also a half and half option, but spicy is good and as the evening goes on it gets milder as they add plain base.
Good service. Parking can be a pain.

We had a party of 5 and we went around 6 or so on a Sunday. Definitely beated the rush because we were seated right away. By the time we left, the line was so long I would have left and went somewhere else if I was in it! Lol. We got the awesome deal of 20 something per person but limited to what we can have. My senior parents got a discount lololol. We order 4 orders of the oyster plates and they are colddddd. Overall spending wasnt too bad. We ordered a lot of stuff extra and the bill came about 38 a person including tip. ;)
The soup wasnt as flavorful as I remember it but adding all the meat, veggies, and seafood definitely brings out the flavor a bit. The dipping sauce was okay… vegetables were fresh and the clear noodles. Mmmm.
It’s my favorite hotpot place. Wish they learn how to time manage because the kitchen would lack to bring certain things out in a timely manner… we ordered for extra sauce about midway… didnt receive it until we got our bill lol srsly? Get it together people!

This is my boyfriend and my go to hotpot place. We love it for the fact that it’s a buffet style. It’s very close to the authentic Mongolian style hotpot in china (we’ve tried it in Beijing when we visited). You have the choice of the regular and spicy broth. They give you a sheet where you can order by portions. They also have cocktails and beer available which is a great add on. My favorite to have in my hotpot are the tofus. Both kinds. They are usually quick with bringing out your orders.
It’s a great place to bring a group or family. It’s right next to nu ice shop and yogurtland so you can always grab dessert. The wait on the weekend is crazy so expect to wait a bit.

Setup: various visits
The good: when everything goes correctly, the food makes this the go-​to hotpot spot. I like to mix the sautéed sauce with the garlic sauce for extra deliciousness. Meats are sliced super thin for superfast cooking.
The bad: The wait can be INSANE, especially when it’s cold outside. They can also be a little disorganized. On the most recent visit — they RAN OUT of sautéed sauce. That was almost enough for us to leave, but we had already waited an hour. On top of that, our waiter seemed like he had just checked out for the night. We had to keep reminding him for a bunch of things, some of which never showed up at all.
Observations: Service has been continuously declining over the years. We spoke to the manager who offered some excuses and a semi-​apology. The soup flavor also seems to have dropped.
Overall recommendation: I may try again since it’s much closer than the other location, but more and more people are saying that Bellaire is better (same owners, different staff). This may — unfortunately — be due to the clientele at Bellaire being predominantly Asian. Westheimer seems to be Westernizing things.

Oh no. :(
The service is still always good but there are way too many other Hot Pot places that keep popping up that have sparked our interest and now this happens.

This is the BEST time for HOT POT !!!
If you have a party more than 6 you can call in to make a reservation to skip the long lines! Unfortunately I only had 4 but the 45 to hour wait was way worth every shiver I had as the door kept opening. If this is your first experience you are in for a REAL treat. You can smell the deliciousness of the broth in the parking lot!
As you walk to the hostess to tell them how many in your party you will receive 2 menu’s, pretty much are the same. One menu is the All you can eat and the others not. If you are a first timer I would recommend asking for the Combo/​variety menu. It will be the Laminated menu. You can choose from a seafood and meat platter or all meat platter.
Whenever we visit this place we always order the half and half broth. One side spicy and the other not. The Herbs in the broth is unreal, maybe one of the most flavorful filled broth you’ll ever sip on: P !! Speaking of the goodness, Don’t waste your money on the sauces the broth is plenty flavor.
I recommend always the BBQ lamb skewers, if you order one you may want to order 10 after that. For the people that say they don’t want to try lamb for the gamey taste. My cousin was one of those lol well I convinced her to try it and she said I was right. The BBQ lamb had very little to known gamey taste! If your still not wanting to try it always a alternative to Beef.
Also another favorite Hot & spicy tendon! Not a fan of tendon but the way things are marinated with all the oils, herbs and spices makes this dish full of flavor.
Don’t forget to order your veggies, mushrooms, meatballs, and more mushrooms. Even for the mushroom haters this could potentially change your insight or taste buds.

Three and a half stars in my book. Despite my Asian ethnicity, this was my first time ever eating Mongolian hot pot, and my friends had hyped it up quite a bit. We got the Half & Half pot, with one of the halves being a meatless broth for our vegetarian friend. So for those who have never done hot pot, there’s a boiling broth in the center (over a stove or heat source of some kind) and you are brought ingredients to cook – usually unlimited – until you drop dead. Via food coma. Literally.
The ingredients are definitely a meat lover’s heaven. They have beef, pork, chicken, and fish all on tap at your disposal. Not to mention the various veggies as well. The meat was decent, but I felt like it lacked something, even with rice on the side. It didn’t have the UMPH taste factor that Korean BBQ has; I’d say it was more on the bland side than I had anticipated. The veggies were definitely a relief, though, and helped balance out the pot a little bit. Still, I thought the flavors could use a bit more color and saturation.
Side Note: The atmosphere here is great; lots of big groups (rightfully so), but not overly noisy. Hot pot is a lot like Korean BBQ in that it’s something that is best with a medium to large sized group rather than alone, or with 1 – 2 other people.
Regardless, hot pot is definitely something to be experienced, and Little Sheep does a solid job of providing it. Aside from the food being on-​par, it’s a great place to come after a workout and stuff your face with meat, veggies, and rice. Worth another visit in my book, if for the experience alone.

This is the only place I have ever tried Mongolian style hotpot. I say, definitely try it out. If you have never had Hot Pot, you could compare it to fondue except with savory soupy broth instead of smothering cheese/​chocolate.
For a flat rate price per person, you can endulge in all-​you-​can eat hotpot add-​ins, such as thinly sliced meats, vegetables, noodles, and other goodies. Although you may order up to three rounds of add-​ins, the most I could ever do is two. It’s totally worth it.
The broth comes in spicy, or not spicy (for wimps: P). Can’t decide? Get both with a divided pot. You can also order some dipping sauces to further flavor your cooked food. It sounds like a dream come true.
Service is really great. The servers don’t judge me for how much food I can eat. They just ask if everything is great, and the answer is always yeees.
I stumble out of Little Sheep, stuffed. Oh sweet, there’s a frozen yogurt place and karaōke in the same plaza to digest! Could it get any better?

We were seated quickly and explained the menu and just how the hot pot experience works waiter was very friendly and quick as well.
This place was a hit everything was great tasting and the chicken broth was of the best flavor.

Every day since eating here I want to come back and stuff my face a second time.
Delicious.
They bring the food and you pop it into the broth, dish it out, and enjoy!
Unfortunately,
:(The floors, empty booths around us, and the ladie’s bathroom were all absolutely disgusting. Even after eating more than I have ever eaten in one sitting, I could not make myself use the facilities — and I had a hour drive home!
I do not see this mentioned in any of the reviews from my Unilocal friends, so I am sure I caught them on an off day.