Think about, for most of us (mostly me) think about making a normal meal that includes anything other than a PB&J, corndogs, or leftovers, it's not really the putting-everything-together-part that is the real demoralizer--it's the cooking part. "Am I doing it right?" or "Do I really have to watch/stir/continually add stuff to this?" Here's where the beauty of HuHot comes into play. You grab a bowl, and go between the three self-serve stations which consist of:
1) Meats.
2) Vegetables.
3) and various sauces.
Then all you have to do is walk (or "wok" for you racists out there. Which, by the way you'd be wrong anyway, because there is no wok at HuHot!) over to the huge, open-to-the-public circular grill and
they cook your food for you!
After you finish you can go back as many times as you would like, which technically makes this place a buffet.
But the setup and ingredients that HuHot has to offer takes the quality up from a "Normal Buffet" (which has the same basic quality as most restaurant dumpsters), to at least a 4 1/2-Star Quality of Food. Since there is no absolutely pre-made food combinations, the problem with us rating HuHot is "what do we rate?" This time the ratings we give will reflect the overall experience we had with the quality of the food, so if you want some good suggestions on what to get (or what not to get), I recommend reading transcripts, or listening to the audio reviews.
Let's see what the group has to say about HuHot this week:
Curtis
Allan: Tonight I am here with Curtis at the HuHot Mongolian barbecue. It's kind of like a free-for-all here. It's an all-you-can-eat place where they make it for you if you pick the ingredients. So Curtis, what kind of favorite combinations did you find here?
Curtis: One of my favorte combinations would have to be the Chinese noodles with shrimp, water chestnuts, spinach, baby corn, maybe some mushrooms and probably top it all off with a little bit of the classic samurai teriyaki sauce--which I thought was pretty good, pretty sweet. And another thing that I really love is they have sweet chili sauce at every table, which is something that I lived off when I was in South-East Asia, and it really complemented everything. The soup was a little cold, which turned me off, but other than that I really liked my experience here today.
Allan: Alright, cool, is there anything else special you wanted to add....? Or did you want to rate your food?
Curtis: I would love to rate my overall experience here at HuHot. I'd give it 4 and a half tacos.
Allan
Curtis: (Mario-like opening theme music) This is Curtis with Taco Tuesday Reviews, joined here by Allan. Allan how was your experience here at HuHot today?
Allan: It was delicious, I got one of the recipes--one of the little booklets they have here at HuHot and kind of just made my own modifications to it. I mostly followed it fairly closely. I love the chicken and the pork, so I threw it in there. They have a great yakisoba noodles (I think is what it's called). And then for the sauces I added a couple ladles of "Khan's Favorite," a couple of "Samurai Teriyaki," a half of the "Kung-pow..yow," couple ladles of "Sherry,"--I'm assuming that's not alcoholic, but if it was it tasted delicious. And one ladle of the garlic oil.
I went back for a second time and got basically the same thing except I added a bit more spice to it, but it was a fantastic combination. The flavors went together well--just the right amount of spicy, just the right amount of flavor.
Curtis: Alright, sounds like you had a real good experience. What would you rate HuHot today?
Allan: I probably rate it a 5
Curtis: Alright folks, 5 out of 5. You heard it.
Jolene
Allan: (floating exotic sounding intro theme) With us, is, Jolene. Jolene, what type of combination of food did you get tonight here at HuHot?
Jolene: So the first plate I got was pad thai noodles with shrimp, broccoli, onions, bell pepper, and I did a lot of the hotter sauces. I think I realized I only like pad thai noodles with actual pad thai, and my broccoli on that plate wasn't totally cooked, it was pretty raw, but good flavors still. But my second plate was the favorite: I hade yakisoba noodles--they were tasty, with water chestnuts, onions,
tons of mango, and sweet & sour and spicy sauces, and I liked that a lot.
Allan: I didn't even see mango up there, were there any other fruits up there?
Jolene: There was just mango and pineapple that I noticed. But very tasty.
Allan: Alright, and you liked your second combination the best, right?
Jolene: Yeah, I favor the second the best, it was sweet and spicy--it was a good combo. And the noodles were much better than the pad thai.
Allan: You know I really love those yakisoba noodles. I got those both times--definitely a good choice. Anyway, enough about me, how would you rate your overall food experience here at HuHot.
Jolene: When I heard we were going here I was a little apprehensive because I don't eat red meat, and I assumed that's all they had. But they had a variety of sea-foods, so that was nice. I would come back I think it's a really good idea. So I'm gonna give it 3 and a half tacos.
Kevin
Allan: (personalized theme song for Kevin) I'm here with Kevin today. Kevin, what combination--what was your favorite combination of food here at HuHot?
Kevin: I really like adding the pork, and the chicken, and the beef altogether and throwing some Chinese noodles on it, then peas and carrots. And most important of all: baby corn--baby corn is key to any Asian meal, because they're delicious. And then I like to get the sweet & sour sauce and some the not so sweet and sour, and some of the teriyaki sauce--you mix it together. And then some of the garlic chili to add a little bit of spice-that's really good. And then, you know, you throw some rice on it and
BAM! Perfect.
Allan: Now speaking of baby corn, were you contaminating other people's plates with baby corn throughout the night?
Kevin: Marc likes to think that my baby corn may have fallen in his food, but I think he confused my baby corn for pineapple, and kind of screwed himself on that one.
Allan: Anyway, back on track: How would you rate your food experience here at HuHot?
Kevin: I'd have to rate it pretty high. The service was really good, our waiter was good about getting us drinks and stuff. The food was excellent. So I'd probably give it 4 and a half tacos
Marc
Allan: (intro theme for Marc) Marc what did you procure this night at HuHot?
Marc: Unlike Jolene and here weird ideas, red meat is the best! So I ate red meat--beef. That's all I ate. But then the first time my combination was yakisoba (*noodles*), and then I got some good broccoli, and other good stuff. And the sauces--the first time, were amazing.
Allan: Do you remember what sauces they were?
Marc: Yeah, I'm trying to think real quick. I had two and a half not-so sweet and sour, I had two Teriyaki and I had three-quarters Sweet Chili and it was amazing. The broccoli was done amazingly well. And then the second time I went back I got pretty much the same thing, but I put pineapple and lime juice in it--not a good idea, they didn't taste good. So I only ate half of it. And then I went back the third time and got a crap-load of beef, and I got some yakisoba with the Chinese noodles and then the same combination and it was amazing.
Allan: So Marc, with your overall experience here---
Marc: Five
Allan: --Marc gives it 5 tacos.
Matt Baugh
 |
| With his eyes open in a photo! |
Allan: (breaking news intro song for Matt feat. Allan and Kevin) With me is Matt Baugh tonight--you always have to say "Matt Baugh" when saying his full name. It's not just "Matt."--With me is Matt Baugh here at HuHot, and here he is going to talk about his food tonight. Matt Baugh, what kind of combinations of food did you get tonight, and what was your favorite?
Matt: Well so far it's been the yakisoba mixed with just about any other protein, and mixed with just about any sauce. I love the yakisoba noodle, it's a very, very good noodle
Allan: Yeah, I'd say it's probably-- if you had to compare it between an Italian noodle, it's like between a spaghetti noodle and like angel hair--it's not super thin, it's not super thick--it's this nice in-between.
Matt: It's a very delicious noodle, it's a good noodle. Kind of ramanee, but way not disgusting.
Allan: So what favorite combination did you have here?
Matt: So far I've liked the yakisoba noodle with the zucchini, and their sauce is just delicious and I like it with....
everything. I like the peanut sauce curry and I like to mix it with green curry. It's really good curry. And then they cook it for you and you put it on your plate and you take it back to your table and you get to eat it there with your friends. It creates a very delightful experience for everyone involved.
Allan: Oh, he thinks we're his friends, I really like that part of the review. So, Matt, before you take that bite, how would you rate your food tonight?
Matt: I'll give it 4 tacos.
Kira
Curtis: (Intro music--a cappella guitar solo?) Alright, this is Taco Tuesday Reviews, I'm Curtis, I'm here with Kira. Kira how was your experience today at HuHot?
Kira: My experience was good, it was really fun to create your own little stir fry dealio. The soup was arlight, but I didn't come here for soup. But I was pretty impressed with the selection they had, I just wished that they always had some shrimp on hand. But besides that it was really good.
Curtis: Nice. Anything stick out to you? And what would you rate it?
Kira: I think what stuck out to me was the different flavors of sauces they had, and the variety they had, but I don't have anything else to say about it.
Curtis: And your rating?
Kira: Oh, my rating. Ill give it 5. It was fun.
Curtis: Alright, 5 out of 5 ladies and gentlemen.
Miranda
Curtis (speaking for Miranda): Hi this is Curtis with Taco Tuesday Reviews. Unfortunately and sadly enough, Miranda couldn't make it to our interview at this time. But she did tell me it was very good. That is all. She'd probably rate it about 4 tacos.
Anthony
Curtis: (Slap bass with lyrics intro) Alright I am Curtis with Taco Tuesday Reviews, and this it Anthony Hernandez. Anthony, how was your experience today at HuHot?
Anthony: Well hey there Curtis, it was quite delightful. You know it always surprises me how good this place is, and the amazing combination of things they have. They had the numerical value of how many combinations you can make and it took up an entire flat-screen tv, it was right up there. [Googolians] of combinations.
Curtis: Googolians. Alright, anythign stick out to you tonight? And what would be your rating for HuHot?
Anthony: I just kind of stuck with a pretty simple dish: beef, noodles, some potatoes, some sausage slices--things like that. I had their Asian salad--a little too fruity for me. Meal was pretty good, I had it a second time with some fruit--like mango and pineapple on top--little too much for me, I'm not a big sweet, sweet pasta/chow mien guy. So that was pretty good--the appetizer was pretty good too, we had those wontons with crab and scallions insides--really, really good with sweet & sour sauce. So overall I'd probably rate it at about 4 tacos.
Josh
 |
I've never seen Josh so
excited before! |
Curtis: This is Curtis with Taco Tuesday Reviews, I'm joined here with Josh. Josh, how was your experience here at HuHot?
Josh: It was very good, I was very delighted with the way the food was and the choices that you had.
Curtis: Alright, anything stick out to you? And what would you rate your experience tonight?
Josh: I would rate it at 5 tacos because I like usually going to Chinese buffets and getting the Mongolian Grill, and this is what it is the whole time. I just wish they had more shrimp, that's all.
Emily
Curtis: Alright this is Curtis with Taco Tuesday Reviews, I'm here with Emily. Emily how was your overall experience today at HuHot?
Emily: It was really great.
Curtis: That's good. Did anything stick out to you about your choices, or any special ingredient you really liked?
Emily: No.
Curtis: No? Alright, so it was "great," but nothing really stood out. So what would you rate it? Out of 5 tacos what would you give it?
Emily: I would give 4 tacos.
Dallin
Curtis: (Intro breaking news music) Taco Tuesday Reviews with Curtis, I'm here with Danger Dallin (danger,
danger). Dallin, what did you get tonight, and what was your experience overall here at HuHot?
Dallin: I got a lot of different things. First thing I got was a pad thai with their blend of pad thai sauces they suggest. I didn't really like it, plus the main flavor was just kind of
bleh. So I abandoned the whole guided recipe thing and started just throwing sauces together and that's where it's at, really flavorful. My favorite is, just the Chinese noodles with sausage and chicken--the sausage is really good, it's my favorite. And started off with teriyaki sauce and then the Khan sauce, and I just throw a bunch of hot sauce in it, and that's where it's at, I like it, it's good stuff.
Curtis: So what would you rate your overall experience tonight?
Dallin: I'd say 4 out of 5.
Curtis: Alright, you heard it live from
Danger Dallin (
danger DANger).
So HuHot does have these little recipe cards you can use to create a meal, there were a couple of us that did that (and some of us even modified the recipe a bit to fit our taste. But if you know what particular tastes you have (more spicy, more sweet, etc...) then I wouldn't recommend using them. If you want to try the combinations of the highest rated reviewers, check out Josh, Kira, Marc and Allan's reviews. If you want some pointers from of our "foodies'" reviews, look at Matt Baugh and Jolene's. Whatever you decided on getting for the night, you should save room for this awesome idea, the little s'more tray:
It comes with a little bunsen burner with which to make s'mores at the table!!! It's like a fondue setup, but for s'mores! Anyway to sum it up: HuHot is a fantastic place to create your own meals without the hassle of cooking or cleaning up the dishes afterwards. So this week, our average review for HuHot is 4 and a half tacos.
Check out HuHot's menu pricing
here. And if you'd like a sneak preview at the different combinations of food you can create check out the link right
here.
