Hot Pot is Hot Pot; who eats it for lunch?
But that’s what happened one Friday afternoon at Hot Point Fusion Cafe. You can’t argue with hungry Asian teenagers, you know? (Especially a bunch of them)
Although the streetscape on this stretch of Macleod isn’t exactly pedestrian-friendly, the relatively short walk (5 minutes) to the 39 Avenue C-Train station aids with the navigation to this place.
The front doesn’t offer much of a hint of the décor inside, but thankfully that’s about the point where the lack of descriptions for this place stopped.
Like many Asian cafes in Calgary, Hot Point offers the usual mix of blended bubble tea drinks, “afternoon snacks” such as chicken wings, Taiwanese salt and pepper chicken (too bad I didn’t try it this time), curry fish balls, and noodles. Interestingly, this place also offers mini hot pot where each person gets their own individual pot with ingredients already cooked for you (and only for $9.99 per pot!). A small a-la-carte extra ingredients menu is also available as well.
This time around, we ordered three hot pots and three bubble tea drinks. Since this place had a minimum purchase policy, the ordering process led to annoyance; somehow we had not noticed the policy written on the menu and the waitress did not make it too clear at first. After the food arrived, the displeased reaction we had did not seem to affect our opinions as much though.
With the boiling food that we ate, we had some drinks by our sides to cool down slightly….. or else we may have started to sweat!
The décor photos came before the food photos in this post, but I actually started to take more notice of the décor after the food rush worn off. Our dining environment was simplistic and the food was very yummy… and most of all, cheap!
Ratings
Service – 6-7/10 – I felt like we could have been served better, but we were too focused on the food anyways to be bothered by this.
FOOOOOOD – 9/10 – As in the intro, Hot Pot is Hot Pot, so forget aesthetics. It’s heat that attracts, and this hot pot has done well at engaging us hungry fellows. Portions could be bigger though, but that probably will come at a higher cost.
Value – 10/10 – The Bubble Tea were priced at the average price point (around $3 to $4) but the Hot Pots are definitely bang for the buck!
Location – 7-8/10 – This rating has to sustain a hit of sorts due to the heavy car traffic outside that led to the narrow side walk in places. Transit is the best way to access this location since the C-Train station is 5 minutes away while Route 10 runs right on this stretch of Macleod.
