Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot

Yes, yes, and YES!!! Never had authentic Chinese food until I visited Shanghai for business in ’07 and fell in love with it. Completely changed my outlook on Chinese food. Little Sheep is a well-​known chain in Shanghai and was amazed when I Googled and found one in SD! Had to come down (from Vista!) immediately to recreate that amazing hotpot experience. And this one doesn’t disappoint!
I love the spicy but we usually get the half-​and-​half pot. Tried many of the different kinds of meat, fish, and veggies and have always left full and happy! Service can be spotty and I’ve had to get up from the table to get noticed for water, more napkins (I sweat like a pig with the spice), or anything really. But, still giving 5 stars because of how incredible this place is.
I know it sounds stereotypical, but you can tell how good it is by how many Chinese people eat there! Typically, I’m one of the few white faces in the sea of Asians. Just typing this is making me think I might head there for dinner tonight…

Went there for lunch. The service was very poor. We were seating in the bar area with individual broth pots. The lunch combo came out for both of us at the same time but only one of our broths came out. We checked with the Asian guy in uniform and all he said was «its coming out!» Then we saw the people next to us, their broths came out and no food. What a disorganization. Finally we had to check with the Latino man behind the cash register in order to get the broth. He was the only person who served us (and our bar neighbors) since then. I felt there was a lack of staff in there. Also for the hot plate that I used, the display was entirely broken. One can only tell that it was working by touching the pot and feels the vibration. Things are worn down. Service isn’t good. I am still coming here because I like their lunch combo…

It is between here and Taegukgi Korean BBQ House off Clairemont that vie for my favorite restaurant in San Diego. Little Sheep has endless options, awesome portions, and an enchanting addiction of broth, meat (ish items, yum), and veggies to put contending shabu shabus to shame. I get everything that I can’t get from other restaurants, i.e. pork blood, quail eggs, small intestine, bittermelon salad, and the effing in-​house made noodles. Hallelujah. We always get the wiseass server (love him), who clowns on other servers. They got sake too. Curry, spicy, garlicky deliciousness. Ok, it’s my favorite restaurant in SD.

Came here on a weekday a little after noon and boy was it packed! I mean, around that time, there are quite a bit of people waiting outside to have their names called. My girlfriend and I arrived around 1PM and didn’t get our names called until an hour later! I’ve never waited that long for food, but since my girlfriend and I had plans to come here for quite a while, we were patient enough to wait so that I could at least give this place a try and I’m glad I did!
As soon as our names were called, we were seated at a booth next to the entrance. Since I wasn’t familiar with the menu, my girlfriend took care of the order for us as she had explained to me how it worked. Though our server tried his best to sell the add on items to us, we stuck with our gut and kept our order simple since it was just the 2 of us and we wanted to take advantage of their Lunch Special $ 9.95 before 3PM. First, you have to select a soup base which we chose «Half and Half» (original and spicy). Then you select your Meats & Seafood which you have many choices to pick from. Afterwards, you select your veggies, noodles and any additional sides you’d like. It’s simple and straight to the point, but can be confusing at first if you’re not sure of how to order. They do close after 3PM and reopen again later at 5:30PM on weekdays.
Overall, the food is good and the prices are reasonable. I would highly suggest to come early to avoid all the wait. Would I come again? Sure, why not?!?

I’ve never had Mongolian Hot Pot before today so I have nothing to compare it to but I really enjoyed Little Sheep. We arrived shortly before noon, were greeted promptly, and our group of 5 was promptly seated. I first noticed that it smelled like bad BO, so be ready for that. After a few minutes, you got used to it though. The space was a wide open with plenty of tables. There wasn’t anything really exciting about the décor, but it was nice enough.
We explained to the waiter that 4 out of the 5 of us hadn’t ever had Mongolian Hot Pot before. He was nice and walked us through how everything worked for the lunch special (which was $ 12). Our group ordered two yin/​yang broths and 5 plates of meat. We got chicken breast, two types of lamb, and two types of beef. Just about a minute later, two waiters walked out with two large soup bowls to go on the two burners on the table. The broth started to boil right as they brought out the five plates of meat, veggies and noodles. Everyone agreed that we would probably just go for the spicy broth next time. It had a good zip to it without burning your mouth.
Jack, the one guy in our group who had eaten MHP before, explained you throw the noodles in and then whatever you want. Pretty straight forward. At first we through in one or two pieces and waited. After a bit, we just started dumping stuff in because we were impatient. Everyone in the group kept looking up from their soup and nodding their heads about how tasty it was. We decided Little Sheep was on the lunch rotation after about 5 minutes into the meal.
One suuuper minor thing: We had 5 guys paying with cards but they only take a max of 4 cards at a time. Not a big deal, but know that there is a limit when paying with cards.

I guess from reading the reviews the lunch special price went up from $ 10 to $ 12 :(Honestly, I still think that’s a good price. For the amount of food they give and for a hot pot place being in SD, it’s really not bad at all!
Anyway, I love coming here for the lunch special when the schedule allows. I like getting the half-​and-​half pot, because you can choose which broth you want to cook your food in, and for someone indecisive like me, having two options is awesome! I usually combine them in my bowl to make a mild tasting soup.
The service here is… terrible. It takes a while to order and it’s difficult for them to see you if you’re calling for attention because it’s such a large restaurant. After they drop all your food off, they kind of just forget about you. I mean all you really need are water refills but it’s nice to have a waiter/​waitress that constantly checks on you with a smile.
Oh yeah, make sure you ask for the dipping sauces (which are free), otherwise they will not give them to you.

My first time here was due to Unilocal!I wanted a new Asian culinary experience and I’m so glad to say that hotpot is AH-​mazing! Forget forever (what’s it called) or that melting restaurant. This place gives you the same experience but much more casual and fun atmosphere! My dining compadres that first came with me, are now all hooked. We literally crave hotpot. Ok here’s some helpful hints … It’s gets busy on the weekends so call ahead to make a reservation. Just tell them someone in your party has a birthday and they will accommodate.
You can bring your own bottle of wine. Cheapest corkage fee ever. I think it was $ 7/​bottle. Definitely under $ 10.
Next, vote someone in charge to make the group order (usually it’s me). You will get a menu listing (like when you go to sushi bars), so order for the group a variety of meats (beef, chicken, shrimp, and tendons are a hit), and get the mixed veggie basket! A basket has a variety of Asian veggies, very cheap and full of goodness! Next, opt for the mushroom basket. I think it’s 4 – 5 different varieties. Then make sure u order noodles! The fresh thick noodles are my fave. It’s 2^nd item from top in the noodle categories. Also udon noodles are good here too.
Be bold and if you can, go for the spicy soup broth. It’s so good. You can pick out the chilies if your a weakling like me.
Ask your waiter for all the free condiments. Extra raw garlic, chopped garlic, cilantro, scallions etc. add some of these condiments to your lil bowl, add broth then add your cooked ingredients.
The only tricky part of eating here is cooking. When there’s too many cooks in the pot, it can get irritating! I’ve lost my shrimp, egg, meats that I had situated in my ladle because some one dumped more ingredients in the pot and then mixed it all up forgetting I had a little special something brewing on my side of the pot.
But it’s a lot of fun. Affordable! Yummy! Team building and bonding with friends!
Highly recommend!

This is an update for the new price of $ 11.95. When I first ate at Little sheep several years ago, things were different! They had white bowls and the lunch specials were $ 10. Also they had baby bok choy in the lunch special. Now they switched out the greenery.
For $ 12 lunch, I would still say it is worth it! I know some places that increase their price while skimping on their portion but I was happy that at Little sheep, the portions were still plentiful. I am still willing to pay $ 12 to come back. It is understandable that food prices need to slowly rise with the times.
I took both of my parents here and 4 of my nieces for lunch. That’s 3 adults and 4 kids ages 6 – 12 and we ordered 5 lunch specials, with sodas. Everyone absolutely LOVED it. It was their first Mongolian Hotpot experience. Gratuity was included so total, I paid $ 76 for 7 people, but we had over ordered the food when ordering 5 portions and had to togo 2 boxes of food along with 4 containers of broth.
It was kind of nice to know that if I had ordered 4 or even 3 portions of food, that it was enough to feed 3 adults and 4 kids. So much food! I’ll be coming back :)

first time having Mongolian hot pot and I would say that I’m indifferent about it. Little sheep is a franchise as I have seen multiple locations so I knew that if I were trying this the first time, I had to try it from those that offer the best. I got the yin and yang hot pot which was both the white broth and spicy broth with angus beef, and an assortment of veggies. The bamboo shoots look like gross giant earthworms or tentacles. Their Mongolian kimchi tastes okay, strange and def not traditional Korean tasting. The hot pot dumplings are cylindrical fish cakes wrapped in rice paper, which threw me off when they call it a dumpling. They offer one tool which was a perforated scooper to collect your food from the hot pot but the problem with this is that the broth was seasoned with all these different ingredients that were floating around in the broth which often get captured when digging up with the scooper. As a result, when I would retrieve some meat let’s say, and it would challenging at times without picking up a bitter bean, red pepper, or green onion stalk, etc. Also, it’s best to experience the items with soup as there are no dipping sauces like shabu.
For an hour wait (it was a rainy sat night), I’d rather have shabu or boiling point even. I’ll stick with BBQ from the Mongolians.

Little Sheep is great! I recommend going during lunch (before 3pm) because the lunch special is a pretty good deal with an acceptable amount of food. There are also add ons ($ 1-​$ 3) if you’re still hungry. The downfalls about lunch time are: A) the lunch special because the price went up from $ 9.95 to $ 11.95. New year, new prices. AND B) the wait. Luckily for my boyfriend and I were seated immediately, but afterwards, people had to sign in and there were so many people waiting.
The lunch special entails a choice of broth (yin yang is popular because it’s half regular/​half spicy), protein, noodles, meatballs, a little bit of crab, and vegetable. Like I said, it’s a good amount of food for one person. Personally, I love their angus beef, it’s delicious. The ribeye is also tasty, though. Next time, I’d like to get shrimp because I feel like it’d go well with the meal. «I love the flavors» is what my boyfriend kept saying as he was eating, especially with the spicy broth.
It’s a huge restaurant, so it’s quite crazy how busy it gets during lunch. Overall, I loved little sheep and I’m definitely coming back.

After going to a few Little Sheep locations over the last couple of years and loving my meals, I can only say that this review is for the location because of our experience there.
Halfway through our dinner, the lights went out and we wound up eating in the dark. Thankfully, the power outage didn’t affect our hot plate, so our eating continued. We used our phones to light the table and proceeded to finish our meal.
When the time came to ask for the check, our waiter came and itemized our order and have us the full tally — didn’t even take any percentage off, regardless of the power outage! When we asked if he could still run credit cards, he said that they prefer cash but if we needed to, we could write down our credit card numbers and their expiration dates and that he would run them when the power came back on. That’s how credit card fraud happens. Needless to say, we paid in cash. I’m just blown away that they charged us the full amount — where’s the service?!

Delicious. Nutritious. Cheap for Mongolian BBQ… Lunch special here is 11.95/person. The meal comes with your choice of broth (Vegetarian and Low Sodium Broth options available), a large plate of noodles, mixed veggies, mushrooms, tofu and your choice of meat (i.e. Sliced beef, pork belly, scallops or shrimp etc…). Request the hot oil if you desire the heat!
It was about a 15min wait before we were seated. My friend and I ordered the yin/​yang soup which allowed us to split the broth and order our choice of broth, served in generous portions. I ordered the mushroom vegetarian broth with fish filets… super yummy!
The broth: both our broths were delicious… It had some roots and dried fruits of the Chinese medicinal herbs my mom used to take, including garlic, Goji Berries, ginseng, cumin… But delicious! Very «fragrant» and smoky here. Throw in some enoki and shiitake mushrooms, greens, daikon and you got some sort of witch’s brew superfood combo.
The entire time my friend kept muttering «so good… so good». Word. Very enjoyable meal. And I have plenty leftover for takeout in preparation of another rainy day from this weird storm!
Parking is easy, in a bigger lot with other stores. Service is not personalized and they don’t really smile at you, but I still found the employees were attentive, and easily waived down. I will definitely come back here for more… Goood lunch!

Little Sheep is one of my favorite hot pots! Hot pot itself is one of my favorite ‘activity dining’ experiences. There’s something fun about your food being brought to your table raw and having to work a little for your meal. Plus your food comes out piping hot and fresh tasting.
The broth at Little Sheep is so delicious. I always get the spicy broth, but sometimes will yin-​yang with the regular broth. It’s so flavorful, robust, and warming with so many spices. One of my favorite things is to eat some of the garlic cloves at the end once they’re soft and full of the broth flavoring.
There are so many different options for items to cook in the broth. The beef and lamb mix is always a good choice for meat. The meatballs are really tasty as well — I always get lamb. For veggies I like the napa cabbage, baby bok choy, and mushrooms (basket if we’re super hungry). The tofu is always good too. Lastly and my favorite, the fresh noodles are so great to cook in the spicy broth. I love that I can can cook them to the consistency of my choice and eat them piled on the soup spoon with some of the broth.
The other great aspect of Little Sheep is that you pay for each item you order separately — there’s no fixed menu so you can order as much or as little as you’d like. In the summers they will do an all-​you-​can-​eat special on Tuesdays.
Little Sheep is definitely worth your dollar. You will leave full, satisfied, and smelling like hot pot from all of the steam.

Wow… Pretty good but very pricey. If you Chinese/​Cantonese make sure you ask for the sauces. You know what I mean when they come out. Holla.
Get the ying/​yang pot. Best of both worlds. One side hot and spicy and the other mild.
The spicy side is not even spicy to be honest.
The broth on both side is very tasty and healthy for you. I recommend just getting the platters for all cause to me its the cheapest and best deal in the house.
Wish they can bring back the ALL you can eat to save money.
The wait was will worth it. You might get lucky at the hotpot bar. FYI.

«You reek of Asian food!» my flatmate remarked as I returned from a Little Sheep rendezvous.
It’s true, the rich smell of lamb and broth will cling to everything you bring in this restaurant. Worth it but a little more ventilation wouldn’t hurt.
We came on a chilly Tuesday evening hoping to take advantage of the AYCE special. My friend overzealously ticked off meat selections until our server informed us they don’t do AYCE anymore; it’s only a summer special! Wish I knew this before I donned my buffet-​pants.
The half & half broth was perfect for our table. I loved the kick that the spicy broth added to all our selections, especially the enoki mushrooms.
Our server went MIA a few times and we had to flag down another server to ask for water and such. Other than that no complaints. A meal here can get pretty pricy so watch it on the premium meats or don’t come ravenous unless they start offering AYCE again.
The quality meat selection and cheap Sapporo will probably lure me back eventually.

Although it was my second visit to this place, it was my first time actually eating here. However, it was not my first rodeo, I’ve had hot pot plenty of times. After all, hot pot is one of my wife’s favorites things to have.
The first time I checked in here, at the last minute, our group decided we didn’t want hot pot and grabbed AYCE Korean barbecue instead.
So we came here Saturday evening around 5pm before hitting up December Nights. Surprisingly, there was no wait and we were seated right away. They didn’t bring water, but will do so if you ask. We’ve been in a drought, so I’m definitely okay with that. There’s plenty of parking in this shopping center.
Ordering is straight forward. Select your soup base: regular, spicy, or half and half (aka Yin and Yang). Choose your spice level (we went medium). Finally, decide what kind of meats, veggies, noodles etc you want in your soup base. #DecisionsDecisions
We went with Yin and Yang at medium spice level (usually safe when you’re trying to determine a restaurant’s level of spiciness). Then we went with a bunch of seafood and our favorite veggies. We didn’t want noodles. We added a side of rice and kimchi.
Everything came out in a timely manner. First our soup base, then a few minutes later a tray with our meats and vegetables, and our sides. We were pretty hungry so ordered a lot of items. Be careful how much you order, it may not all fit in your soup base. We had to make room by removing some cooked items before we could add our final veggies.
Be aware of where the grill control is so you can adjust the temperature according to your needs. Our hot pot turned out great. We didn’t want to over do it and eat too heavy because we planned on possibly eating at December Nights or afterwards. I gravitated more to the spicy broth, but it was nice to have both options and different flavors. Hot pot is great for cold nights.
One thing you’ll notice when you enter is the smell of hot pot (meats, noodles, and veggies cooking). The smell gets in your hair, on your clothes, and on anything you bring into the restaurant (purses, bags, etc.).
Another thing to watch is how many items you check mark. It can add up especially if you’re hungry and not really paying attention. That being said, this place is pricey… veggies could be a lot cheaper.
⁴⁄₅ — Food
⁴⁄₅ — Service
⁴⁄₅ — Décor, cleanliness, environment
²⁄₅ — Prices
Despite the negatives, this place overall was nice. I would definitely return.

Have had hotpot before but love the yinyang. Half hot half orginal. No complaints on either broth.
Had pork belly and beef with dumplings and veggie platter. All the normal items like radish, potati, etc…
Best deal I have seen for amount of food. Lunch special under $ 10 with a drink, count me in!

MM, sooo good! Buuuut be warned– the smell will stick to you, your clothes, your bag… basically everything! Trust me, it’s so worth it though.
I’ve been here a small handful of times now, and this place definitely hits the spot, especially on colder days. If you’ve never had hot pot, then you are totally missing out! I regret all my wasted years just over looking this place. Glad we finally gave it a shot, because now we can’t get enough!
The potent smell seeps through the walls, I swear. Anyway, you’re given a clipboard with all their offerings to fill out, think sushi menu-​but larger. You can choose your broth (s), half/​full/​double orders, etc. We usually opt for half spicy, half regular broth-​low sodium. honestly though, is there really even a difference with low sodium options?! They always taste the same, like low sodium soy sauce– is there really a point? I digress…
My personal preferences and recommendations: always order more meat– you don’t realize how much they shrink until it’s all gone, noodles are a definite must, as is pumpkin, both are bomb dot com. I admit we usually stay pretty safe with our choices though– the usual beef, pork, seafood, veggies, nothing too out there. They have some pretty out there selections though– typical Asian things like pork blood, goose intestine, tripe, and what not.
The broth is so flavorful, it’s a roundhouse kick to the mouth. MMMAZING. There’s all sorts of goodies in the broth, I don’t even know what most of it is. Wait till you get toward the end of your meal and fish out those garlic cloves! They’re so soft and my friends love eating them! I usually only eat a little bit of it, not a fan of garlic breath for days. haha. As if the smell isn’t already stuck on everything, I don’t need it internally as well.
Service has been a mixed bag, not horrible, but some days slower than others. The utensils are also not always spot free and/​or dry, usually find water still sitting in the spoon/​bowl once we’re seated. Also have had to ask for new tongs and what not on some occasions. hence the minus 1 star. It’s not horrible, just wish they’d have a little more attention to detail.
I highly recommend this place, but as mentioned, be prepared to literally be immersed in the smell and have it linger on you. Another reason I opted for 4 stars instead of 5, some vents or fans could probably help to minimize the aromas, but I guess it’s all just part of the experience! I mean smell is a key factor to tastes!

If you like soup… Come eat here!
I’ve been here twice now and both times were during the lunch time rush.
— Both experiences were consistent.
— Very good service!
— Clean restaurant
— Great selection
They really seem to work hard to get everyone seated and served right away. They asked me if I knew how it works and I let them explain it to me both times to make sure I had it right! Both times we were seated and helped right away. Our drinks and soup were brought out very quickly! I am definitely impressed with the customer service!
Our soup was very tasty and delicious! The sides were brought out very fresh and exciting! My son (7 yr old) had never been to a place like this and he loved it!

Can you say, «WOW».
My diet simply won’t allow me to come to this place as much as I would like but what an awesome dining experience here. It was not my first time ~ it will not be my last. There are so many great reviews for this place and some of them just don’t do it all the justice they need.
As soon as you walk in… the smell tells you it’s going to be fantastic. Be sure to check out all of the photos on here to get an idea of what Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot is all about.
If you’re not familiar with this type of dining and food you’re going to love it.
Simply delicious. Awesome meal. Terrific service.

Wer Hot Pot mag wird diesen Laden lieben. Brühe, Fleisch und Gemüse per Karte ankreuzen und loslegen.
Ich kenne die Little Sheep Restaurants noch aus China, absolut authentisch. Einziger Unterschied ist der Preis. Für zwei Personen haben wir hier 50USD liegen lassen. Haben uns nicht überfressen und haben keine vergleichsweise hochpreisigen Produkte gewählt. Für den Preis gibt es den Abzug. Personal sehr freundlich und das Restaurant sehr sauber.