Mini Hot Pot - Duluth

Overall 3.5/5I went to J's mini hot pot around 8 PM on a Wednesday night and I had to wait about 30 minutes to be seated for 6 people. I was surprised how busy the restaurant was at such a late hour during the middle of the week. The parking in front of the restaurant is also quite limited and always packed. There is parking nearby though such as behind the building in the next door plaza or a little further down the road by the bank.The interior of the restaurant was very nice and well renovated. The ceramic pot that the hot pot tins come in is aesthetic, the booths are comfortable and the tables are quite spacious. The food comes out pretty quickly and sometimes through an automatic robot.The menu is quite overwhelming but I choose the Angus beef as my entree. Once you choose your entree, you pick your broth (I chose the beef bone broth but some broths are extra) and you can pick the spice as well. The entree comes with a large bowl of sides such as vegetables, fish cakes, egg, noodles, etc. I did order a side of rice as I prefer rice over noodles. I assumed it was going to be extra but I was not charged. They gave me a large bowl of rice which I appreciated and had to give half to my friend as it was too much for just me.Overall the meat was pretty good, I wouldn't say it is the best quality. I would put it in the hot pot and end up picking out tiny pieces of meat. However, the quality of the vegetables and other sides were good. I'd say the service overall was good. The only issue I had was towards the end my friends and I had $10 gift card each. We were told we werent able to use more than one gift card per party which is not stated on the gift card. It was also confusing because they originally included tip since there were 6 of us in the party but now that we were planning on using the gift card, they removed the tip? I don't understand the logic or the system but we were quite confused and unpleased to not each be able to use all of the gift cards.

BE CAREFUL, since 2023, they increased prices from $14 to $23 for same meal. There is minimum spending $20, if you order less, they will charge $10 sharing fee. So many extra charge applied and automatically add 18% tips. So double check your receipt.

This was the first time that my daughter and I had ever had the Mini Hot Pot experience! Many thanks to our server, Oscar! He was the best! He was very patient and walked us through step-by-step, how to prepare our food. What a wonderful experience!Dietary restrictions: Mini gluten-free options! Prepared with care!

Quaint spot for hot pot. Clean atmosphere. Robot delivery is kinda cute. The broths are unseasoned (beef vegetable) so you have to rely on the sauce bar to flavor accordingly. The beef and seafood entrees were more than enough for two people. I didn't enjoy the glass noodles though, and should have substituted them for an alternate. But the veggies were plentiful, which I really enjoyed.

Food was amazing! Did the Angus beef combo and gf did the pork belly with chicken broth options. Went during a weekday when they weren't busy but i hear long waits can happen during the weekend. Our waiter was super polite and restaurant/bathrooms were clean. Would definitely recommend!Food: 5/5