QT Pot

QT Pot stands for Quality Taste Pot and it’s pretty good! During this winter, this place really hits the spot! This little place is very similar to the famous Boiling Point without the extra lines. Service is pretty good and it is typically what you would expect from an individual hotpot place.
House Special Hotpot — Has. almost everything. Pork, Beef, Lamb veggies, egg and clear noodle. I usually pair this with a side of rice because of the appetizer below.
Salt Pepper Chicken Wings — these are delicious! Especially with the fried garlic! Mixing the garlic with rice for awesome taste! Works well with the chicken wings too!
Lamb Skewers — pretty good! It is quite game-​y but I like game-​y.

I had lunch at this place and it was pretty good.
I went with my friend and we got the #1 and #4. The portions are much smaller than Mongolian hot pot but is a decent size for lunch. There isn’t much noodles to fill you up and not a ton of meat either but you get a variety of stuff in your pot. The broth wasn’t very flavorful and as a result, a lot of the content of the hotpot was also bland.
The service was just ok! Overall this place wasn’t bad, the food was ok :)

Service okay. Food okay. Nothing special. Waitress added more water to our soup. We ordered two different pots and chicken wings. Unfortunately she did not bring us our wings and luckily was not charged for them. Won’t be coming back here.

QT Pot not only has a fun name, it is a fun concept! I had hot pot before, but it wasn’t my type of party. I like Japanese and Korean BBQ but never have I thought of immersing thinly sliced meats into a boiling pot of broth. My husband and I shared 1 hot pot and it was enough to feed both of us. Since we aren’t naturally «soup people», we thought the soup experience was fun but nothing to write home about. The chicken wings are worth coming back for, though! They are so crunchy and have lots of flavor. They come served with finely minced peppers! The service was great and kind. The restaurant was clean and a popular destination for couples.

YES! I’m totally in loooooveee. If only this restaurant wasn’t so far away from home!
I had the vegetarian hot pot (see photo) which was fabulous. So essentially, you get a big metal bowl with hot broth and raw veggies and either rice or noodles on the side, over a box with a flame in it. You wait for your veggies (and meat, for non-​veggies) to cook and voila, a HEALTHY and delicious meal! The broth with mine was a little bland, but they have dipping sauces they provide and the chili garlic was an awesome touch.
Now, my boyfriend had the curry pot, and I had to try a bit (not sure if the broth is veggie on this one, my best suspicion is no, but I needed to try it!) and I couldn’t stop stealing spoonfuls of his broth. Soooooo delicious.
We had the calamari to start (or rather, end, as it came after our hot pot came out) which was FABULOUS. Literally some of the best calamari I’ve ever had. I was scooping out the seasonings from the bottom of the basket after the calamari was gone.
All of the servers were super nice. My only complaint is that our hot pots got SO hot and we were waiting for someone to put out our fires for awhile before someone finally did.
PS. these bowls are big enough for two!

AMBIANCE: The place is decorated nicely, better than it once was with the older establishment and owner. Looks much more clean now.
SERVICE: The owner is very nice and smiles a lot. Service is on and off depending on the waiter/​waitress. You have to wave them down to get anything for you, and they might even forget. The more you call on them, the more they seem to want to ignore you since they think they’ve already finished their business with you. Would definitely help if you spoke Chinese, not all the waiter/​waitresses understand much English.
FOOD: Your water comes with a cucumber, fancy! This review is for the SALT AND PEPPER CHICKEN WINGS and INDIVIDUAL HOT POTS. I am a fan of their chicken wings, almost as good as Golden Chopsticks in National City without the long drive out and back. This is a nice place to stop by and grab a meal if you’re in the area. They serve Chinese family style dishes which I have not tried and individual hot pots which is the reason why I come here. Somedays you just don’t want to share and want your own pot, that’s alright. This is a good place to get that individual hot pot of yours and you can always share that individual hot pot as well, it’s well enough food for 2 people. I enjoy the flavors though it may be a little bland, but that’s what the dipping sauces are for! I typically order the house special or beef hot pot. The lamb has pickled cabbage, which I do not enjoy, but you might! Great food to have on a cold or rainy day. You get a lot for a decent price! Make sure to ask for those dipping sauces, there’s 3: the peanut sauce, bean curd sauce, and sate chili oil sauce. This place is no Boiling Point for individual hot pots, but it might be the next best thing in SD. Tell me if you know of any place better, i’ll definitely want to try it out!

This cold rainy weather really put me in the hot pot mood. I’ve driven by this place over a thousand times and I finally stopped in.
All the reviews I’ve read say the hot pots are all pre designed. I was a bit turned off by this. I’m adventurous in what I eat and sometimes it’s nice having some pre designed options to choose from when I don’t feel like thinking too hard about what I want to eat. Other times I’m in the mood for something specific and I like to be able to pick and choose exactly what I want. And with hot pot it’s nice to be able to try a few things, eat and then maybe try some more things. Also, I have kids and they are ever changing. One day they happily eat chicken hearts and eel and the next they pick at anything that’s not chicken breast as if it’s going to kill them.
I was pleasantly surprised when, along with the regular menu, I was given a create your own hot pot sheet. It was a standard cyo sheet where you just check all the ingredients you want. You pick a broth then you pick any animals, veggies, noodles, etc. that you want. They bring out the hot pot containing your broth and then all the other stuff comes out on the side. You throw things in the pot in your preferred order and eat. Yum!
Now I’m not used to getting my own pot except for the occasional shabu shabu place. It was kind of nice. Especially since I wanted a simple broth and my husband wanted to try the curry. Both were delicious and we were happy to have that option. However, we also agreed that if we both wanted the same broth, we could easily share a pot and just order enough ingredients for the both of us especially if we want to finish with porridge, Korean style… And when do we not want to finish with porridge?
Everything was delicious. Broth was very tasty. Meat was a good quality. Veggies were fresh. I do wish they had pea sprouts, but that’s just a preference. Also had the salt and pepper wings which are sinfully delicious. Perfectly crunchy covered in garlic and green onion.
Service was friendly and fast but we did walk in right at opening. They did get quickly busy and everyone seemed happy. Writing this is really making me want to go back right now…

Great food with a great price! And very very filling porportions as well. Went with my boyfriend and we shared a hot pot and it was delicious
Their pot stickers and fried chicken was yum too!
Will definitely stop by again next time Im in San Diego!

It’s been cold in San Diego which called for something soupy for dinner. QT Pot hit the spot! Between three people we shared the House Special Pot and the Lamb with Pickled Vegetable Pot. It was the perfect amount of food. When the check came out it was only about $ 10/​person which I felt was very reasonable. Definitely would come again.

I’m a big fan of hot pot, and QT Pot definitely hits the spot when I’m craving! The hot pot presentation here is really similar to Boiling Point — with the individual hot pot and fire box — but what I really love about this place is that it’s never super crowded and you get a huge amount of food for only $ 10-​$ 15!
I always get the #1 because it has all my favorite hot pot ingredients: enoki mushroom, beef, and tofu. My brother has tried most of the other pre-​set hot pots on the menu and says they’re great as well.
If you’re eager to try some of their other foods, I highly recommend the salt and pepper chicken wings! Of all the restaurants I’ve been to around the Bay and SoCal, no where comes close to making salt and pepper chicken wings that are as flavorful and crispy!
The servers at QT Pot aren’t always the most attentive, but I think the quality and quantity of food you get for the price really makes this place 5 stars.

My family and I had Christmas Eve Lunch at QT pot and had a great experience. The hotspot portions were perfect and customer service was great. They have quite a few hot pots selections so it’s nice to try them all out when you have the chance. They also offer not only hot pot but Chow mein and rice dishes as well. Ive also heard about the Garlic wings and decided to give them a try. The wings were AMazIng! This restaurant is right next to Bolsa. Parking structure is not too bad. My family and I will be coming back for sure!

I feel right at home whenever I come here. The restaurant owners are so personable! I love them.
This is one of my favorite hot pot places in SD. The seafood (#2) with extra veggies is my favorite. The pots are large enough to split between two people. The broth is soupy and could either be spicy or no spice. The best part is that they have satay, fish paste and chili for dipping!
The regular food is great too! I love everything fried, and the cornstarch batter makes everything better. The salt and pepper chicken wings and squid are to die for. The extra flavoring/​topping for the wings and squid is really yummy when paired with rice.

QT pot… wonder what it stands for? Quality time? QT (cutie)?, quiet time, quite tempting? Okay okay, QT stands for Quality Taste! And you’ll know this when you drive in the plaza as the whole business name is strewn across the store front.
Parking during busy times (lunch, weekends) can be a pain, but most of the time than not you’ll easily find a spot.
I have had several kind of hot pot experiences including communal and single. This is the single version, you get your own pot.
Keep in mind, they have other items like wings (heard they were bomb), fried rice, etc.
If you do the hot pot, you’ll choose a pre selected hot pot (it tells you what’s in it) and it will come out piping hot with its own fire box. Don’t fret, the fire will burn itself out after 20 minutes. The broth will be boiling hot until then.
If you are not super super… super hungry, I recommend sharing one pot and getting either an extra side of rice or noodles (it already comes with one).
The portions are hugeeeeee and I ate maybe 65% but I could have easily stopped at 50% and been super full.
The broth is going to be a love or hate. What I like about it personally us that the broth isn’t too heavy or salty. It’s very «clean» tasting which might translate to bland for some. Not for me! Tasted healthy.
I recommend adding some spice (provided on table) to the broth, of to use as doing for the meats or vegetables. The yellow red one is so good… it has a sesame taste to it and kicked my broth up a notch.
My method for tackling to eat this is to use the small rice bowls they gave you and scoop in rice and or noodles and then use your fork /​chopsticks to grab meats /​veggies into the smaller bowl for you to eat. You can also use the spoon to soup up the broth into your bowl.
The lady that helped us was very nice.
Lunch is reasonable!!! Under ten dollars for a huge meal.
Check it out !!!

If ur lookin for a good soup, highly recommended to try this resto! Never fails to satisfy me and hubby! :)

I looooove hot pot! Especially on a «cold» San Diego night… (By SD cold it’s really like mid 60s, but my peacoat is up in full force!)
I love that the hot pots are individual sizes and soooo affordable about $ 10 – 15 bucks each. You really only need 1 to share for a party of 2 and then opt for the rice.
But as fatasses we of course got our own. The BF got the #1 special and I got the #2 seafood one. We also ordered 2 beers and the chicken wings. The salted pepper chicken wings was so good, tasted just like Phuong trang salted garlic chicken one. Great crunch! My seafood hot pot was amazing! One thing was I asked for spicy and it came out to be normal. I had to add my own spice. The flavors were good but I think I liked my BFs favors better. It was more meaty and mine tasted more seafood ish.
I think I just love the idea of having my own individual size pot. I’m so used to the shared hot pot style. Whenever I’m craving hot pot I’ll be coming back to this one.

As a fan of Chinese food, hot pot is the one staple for which I don’t particularly care very much. I don’t really enjoy experiencing the heat of sitting next to a pot of boiling water, and hot pot lacks the carefully crafted gestalt that really defines Chinese cuisine in my view. I’m also lazy, and I’d rather not do the cooking for myself when I go to a restaurant. As such, I admit I didn’t enter QT Pot with a whole lot of optimism. Unfortunately, my visit didn’t really improve my perspective, but – silver lining – it didn’t make it worse either.
We began with appetizers: the salt and pepper chicken wings about which others rave and the lamb skewers. Both were pretty great although my personal preference goes with the lamb skewers. Because cumin never fails to be delicious.
Our hot pot arrived and was set upon the burner, and my first thought was that the bowl was rather small for the amount of broth and foodstuffs provided; it made the consumption of aforementioned stuff somewhat awkward. Eventually, after having successfully boiled my own animal flesh, I ate a piece and found it somewhat flavorless as the requested medium spicy had apparently been downgraded by my infamous white boy status. The result basically tasted like boiled meat, something more along the lines of British cuisine than Chinese. If I were to return, I’d have to ask if they can do it Sichuan-​style, which, as the name suggests, tends to be more flavorful than the standard variety.
Nonetheless, I’ll still give them three stars on account of the appetizers as well as the excellent service.
Summary: Not so hot pot.

Unfortunately I think my first hot pot experience was a BUST! My date and I got the «medium spicy» version, but it didn’t taste like anything but maybe chicken broth flavor?
Lucky for QT Pot, the lamb skewers and the salt and pepper chicken wings compensated for the lack of hot pot action. The lamb skewers cooked a la grill with a spicy dry seasoning rub were enjoyable. (I’m not really into lamb, but these were very good.) But the highlight of my night was definitely the salt and pepper chicken wings. They came scorching out of the fryer and almost burned my fingers. They were light, crispy, and just a little bit spicy. Potentially the could give National City’s Royal Mandarin’s chicken wings some competition.
In the end, I wasn’t impressed with the hot pot at all, so I’ll be back for more chicken wings, sides, and maybe a stir fry or two.

Great Spot!
Perfect food for a cold day in SD.
The salted pepper chicken wings are to die for. Must TRY…
Had order the House Special and Lamb.
Both are good. Perfect Size for 3 people.
Lots of Meat. Broth was on Point!
The cool thing is that you can order your very own hot pot.
Staff was pretty good. Awesome Cucumber Water!
Customer Service was not bad.
Will come back again.

I went back to try their hot pots. The broth is a little bland compared to other restaurants but that can be fixed with some Shacha sauce. The hot pot size is huge with plenty of meat, tofu, fish balls, etc.
Pros:
— Large hot pot
— Good service
Cons:
— Broth needs more flavor

Hot Pots are a no go here!
I came here with my boyfriend through several, hyped up recommendations. The customer service was… weird. The servers would hover then they would be no where to be found.
I ordered Hot Tea & was not pleased. The tea was not strained & there was plenty of tea leaves & pieces of tiny sticks in the cup that made it uncomfortable to drink. The Hot Pot looked big & we decided to share the #1 & Beef Skewers. The Beef Skewers were dry like jerky. & the Hot Pot… It was flavorless & we had to ask for salt. It did come with 3 different sauces but the items still lacked flavor even after being drenched in the sauces, I had to ask for more. You can choose either noodles or rice on the side & there is clear noodles on the bottom of the Hot Pot.
There is room for improvement.