Another Dive into the Tasty Broths

On my travels I like to eat. I know, quite shocking. A human going out and getting food. It’s like if I said, “man, when I travel for a while, sometimes I like to sleep.” Like, duh. But still, yes, I was on a trip a little ways from my house, and I found myself feeling slightly peckish. I happened upon a hot pot place, KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, and I had to try it because, well, it’s hot pot. It’s one of those kinds of foods that every once in a while you’re just in the mood to have. Sometimes you just want to dive into a pot of soup big enough you could bathe. That’s the hot pot experience.

I’ve already covered this concept before, over in my review of another hot pot place, Seoul Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, but in case you aren’t aware, let's go over the basics. A hot pot place serves a big old pot of soup for you to eat. After you choose what flavor of broth you want (from a preset selection), it’s set to boil right in front of you (although you can control the temperature if you want) and then you’re allowed to order sliced (and balled) meats and lots of veggies, rice, and noodles. Throw the meats, veggies, and other accoutrements into the pot, let them cook, ladle your soup out, add some flavorings if you like (such as garlic, soy sauce, sriracha, and more) and dig in.

The first hot pot place I found was actually a restaurant within a restaurant back in Indianapolis, a Chinese hot pot in the back of a Szechwan buffet. That one was just hot pot if you were eating in the back area, but most hot pot places now offer an option to do either hot pot or Korean barbeque, which is basically just the same ingredients cooked at your table on a flat top instead of with broth. I prefer hot pot, so when I went in for KPOT I stuck to what I liked: soup, and so much of it.

The selection at KPOT, as far as broths are concerned, isn’t bad. There were the usual choices – Szechwan, Miso, Herby, Tom Yum – but I went with something I hadn’t seen at other hot pot places before: Korean Seafood. It was marked as hot, but I was hoping it wasn’t quite as spicy as the Szechwan I’ve had before, which was just hot enough that I didn’t really get to enjoy the taste of the food. Thankfully the Korean Seafood wasn’t really that spicy at all. With that said, you have to like seafood flavor to enjoy this as, along with the tomato flavor of the broth there’s a rich, briny quality to it. I liked it, but it was strong.

As a bonus, the broth did come with seafood in it. Sure, it was slightly overcooked because it was used for broth, but if you wanted some shrimp, clams, mussels, and other bits in your soup, it’s there and you don’t even have to order more for your meal. I found it to be a nice treat, enjoying that they actually served the fish in the pot instead of straining them out, but I’m sure others might disagree.

I will note, though, that if you are gluten intolerant there’s only one broth that’s safe for you: the Gluten Free Clear Broth. This is the blandest and most basic of the soup bases they have at the restaurant. Thankfully you can pump it up as there’s a buffet set up with a huge selection of sauces and seasonings. My wife grabbed a cup of the gluten free soy sauce they had available, along with diced garlic, and said the soup was pretty good that way. So just be prepared, if you have an intolerance to gluten you will likely need to do some assembly on your own to get the flavor where you want it.

The selection of options for what to cook in the hot pot was also somewhat lacking. Bearing in mind that I went at lunch, so options were more limited, I found that the meat selection was fine, but not great. Some beef, some pork, some chicken, all the usual selections. They did have a fair bit of seafood, although almost half isn’t available at lunch, and an okay (but not super diverse) selection of veggies. None of it was bad, and I think most people would be happy with what was on offer. Just in comparison to other places, like Seoul Korean, I found there just wasn’t as much stuff that I wanted to order here as elsewhere.

Not that any of it was bad. To be clear, the food was delicious. The broth was rich and flavorful and everything I ordered came out fresh. It was all very tasty. I’m sure I’m being overly picky, as I’m supposed to be in a review, but I just remembered what I was able to get at other places and while this didn’t feel paltry it also didn’t seem like KPOT really put in any effort to stand out or be different from other places. It had a fairly standard, expected selection that you could find anywhere, and the only real thing I noticed that was special was the seafood broth. The lack of more soup options for different intolerances is even a knock against them, really.

This felt like “baby’s first hot pot”. If you’ve never had it before and you’re curious what hot pot is like, then KPOT fits the bill. They just don’t do anything wildly interesting or special with what’s on offer, feeling like just another hot pot and barbeque place just like all the others. Of course, they’re also a massive chain, with locations along the Eastern Seaboard, into the Midwest, and down to Texas. Then being middle of the road makes perfect sense when you figure they’re trying to appeal to the widest audience possible.

Although, looking into it, Seoul Korean BBQ & Hot Pot is also a chain, just a smaller one with less locations. I’m surprised they’re as good as they are, but I will admit they also have the same vibe and similar (albeit I think slightly more diverse) selection on offer. Chains are like that, all catering to similar tastes for what people want. None of them are as interesting or as weird as that one hot pot place within the other restaurant back in Indy, and that’s sad. It would be nice to find something that specific, that interesting again.

KPOT is fine. If you find one near you I’m sure you’ll enjoy the experience, especially if you’ve never had hot pot before. But as far as actually being a special dining experience, this really isn’t it. There’s nothing bad about the food, and I’d be happy to go back again when the need for a big pot of soup strikes. But would I go out of my way to recommend the place? No. It’s hot pot, just like most other hot pot places. You go, you eat, you get full, but once the meal is over, I doubt you think back fondly. It just is.