I’ve always been a big fan of Asian cuisine as a whole, especially anything involving Thai chili peppers and pork belly. Chelsea is slowly expanding her tastes and trying new things, so we figured it was time to try KPot, a cook-your-own-food Korean buffet in Syracuse.
Just a warning, if you don’t know how to cook, do NOT go to KPot. There isn’t much in terms of instructions and if your server doesn’t really know how to cook, you’re on your own. Also, everyone in your party has to get the same options of either JUST hot pot, JUST bbq or both, you can’t get hot pot while two other people in your group get bbq and the fourth gets both. All party members get the same option. As this was our first time, we both opted for the double feature and got the BBQ and Hot Pot option. The novelty of KPot is that there’s a smorgasbord of raw proteins and vegetables and you get to cook your own food with your own sauces. The sauces are not prepared for you, but there’s a set of common Korean and Japanese sauces listed in the wall with the ingredients underneath so you have a bit of a guideline for how to make Thai Peanut Sauce or Ginger Ponzu but it isn’t a recipe and instead just a list of ingredients that are found in the sauces.
There’s a sizable selection of thinly shaved proteins that are frozen and meant to go in the hot pot, such as ribeye, chicken, lamb, pork and beef belly, prime rib and beef tongue and you are given a several options for what you would like for your hot pot base. Chelsea went with Japanese Miso (a savory/umami dashi broth base with fermented soy beans and salt) while I dove face first into Spicy Szechuan (ginger, sichuan peppers, garlic, fennel and anise). For the hot pot portion your server will turn on a hot plate built into the table and while you are selecting your add-ins for the hot pot, the large bowl of broth is brought to your table. We picked our fixin’s and Chelsea decided to add the ingredients to make Thai Peanut Sauce with shaved chicken and beef. Meanwhile I doubled down on the heat and made my own blend of chili hoisin sauce with kim chi (spicy fermented cabbage), sriracha zucchini, beef, pork belly, bok choy, enoki mushrooms, shitake mushrooms and oyster mushrooms. You pour your choices into the soup base, let it simmer for a couple of minutes and then dive in. We chose to get white rice with our bases, but there are also ramen, udon, vermicelli and other noodles available to add in to your broth.
For the Korean BBQ option there’s a large amount of entirely raw proteins ranging from bulgogi (a savory garlic, soy, ginger, sugar and sesame based sauce) marinated beef, chicken and pork, garlic chicken, raw squid, calamari, crawfish, oysters and tons more. Your server will turn on a BBQ grill plate in the center of the table and you just cook your own proteins on the grill. There’s limited instructions for how long to cook each item at the tables, but they don’t explain what to do exactly. The grills are also safe for oils and sauces as long as you don’t just drown your proteins in oil. We chose a few options, cooked em up and just enjoyed our hot pots. Thankfully I know how to cook, so we were both able to enjoy the BBQ and try some new things.
Overall, it’s a solid place. The decor is very modern with stone walls and neon lights and a sizable bar. We will definitely go back, but I think next time we will skip the BBQ option and just go hard on the hot pot because that alone is more than enough. Not getting the BBQ just removes your options for cooking the raw proteins that aren’t suitable to cook in the broth of your hot pot, which does unfortunately limit your proteins to the shaved options but there’s enough of a selection in those to make it still worth it once you add in some vegetables and noodles. $78 before tip for two hot pot/BBQ and a boba tea was a little steep, especially when you consider you literally have to cook your own food. Next time we go we will save a few bucks and go for just the hot pot because the broths alone are absolutely delicious and I can shovel down some pork belly like nobody’s business. Unfortunately I somehow missed taking a picture of my Szechuan hot pot, so you don’t get to see the beautiful red color and all of the fun stuff I put in mine.
3019 Erie Blvd E
Syracuse, NY 13224
315-960-0012