QT Pot (Mira Mesa)

QT Pot or Quality Taste Pot has been open since about September and we actually went a few weeks back but only got a chance to put something up until now. I hope to give it another try at some point down the road. They serve small hot pots that are more than enough for Anh and I. We used to go to Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot fairly often, but we switched to E & Drink when it opened because of location, the better price, and their hot pot lunch specials. Recently we have simply done hot pot at home whenever we are in the mood.

When eating out, one hot pot is typically a good amount of food and getting two would be a little overkill for us. That means we had to fill ourselves up on other goodies! I don’t know what we were expecting with the Sausage Skewers, but these reminded me of Lil Smokies from the market. They were salty and along with the cumin seeds gave it a smoky finish. I’m not sure I’d order it again but they weren’t bad.

The Salt Pepper Chicken Wings were quite tasty. Bold and rich in flavor and moisture, the meat came right off the bone to our delight. The spice levels were just right and I couldn’t get enough of the crispy garlic, green onions and peppers. One of my favorite places to get this is Golden Chopsticks down in National City. While theirs is amazing in its own right, it tends to be a little greasier with a thicker batter. QT Pot’s version is not mess free, and if you are one to like layers of crispy skin you might prefer the Golden Chopsticks version. I won’t choose one over the other because I can make those kinds of decisions around here. These wings had me constantly asking Anh if they were real.

It was really busy by the time we ordered and it didn’t look like they had enough people waiting tables. There was a ton of commotion throughout the restaurant but the food is what we came here for. On this night the hot pot was not bad, but not amazing either. A few things were off . The House Special Hot Pot came out warm. It took a good ten or fifteen minutes to heat up to cooking temperature. The broth itself is a little more subtle than the other hot pot places we’ve been to. There were a lot of things added to it including beef, lamb, shrimp, fish, pork meat balls, pork belly, intestines, ear, crab meat, bean curd, fried tofu, spinach, and probably more things I missed. The lamb made an imprint on the broth and took center stage on your senses. If you don’t like the inherent taste of lamb, I’d suggest getting a different hot pot option. For me it just didn’t quite hit the spot. Maybe I wanted more spice or maybe it was more beef flavor to the broth that I was searching for. The quantity was there with plenty of meat and vegetables to fill us up.

There was about a quarter of an egg shell in the soup we found about halfway through. Not the end of the world, but perhaps it was another sign they had to rush a bit because of the crazy crowd they had to serve. It took us a good while to track them down to fill our cups of water. We were sitting in the back of the restaurant where there is a concentration of tables. While we were waiting for them to bring our check I noticed a family get their hot pot. What I witnessed was something I would not want to experience had I come with hungry children. First thing was they didn’t get their utensils or bowls yet. It took seemingly an eternity to get someone to bring them. When those were delivered they still couldn’t eat it because it wasn’t hot.  The gel that comes underneath the hot pot to give it heat was not lit. The waiter came by and noticed it at the same time and lit it. They probably had to wait quite a while just like we did for their hot pot to come up to temperature. We went up to the counter to pay and left restaurant feeling bad for them.

I get it was fairly new and I can’t knock them too much for bringing another hot pot option to San Diego. We’ll go back to try it again, and hopefully it won’t be as busy! I’m looking forward to trying the regular Beef Pot, maybe one other snack dish, and of course, the chicken wings!

QT Pot
9225 Mira Mesa Blvd., #110
San Diego, CA 92126

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