Hot Kitchen

I’ve been coming to this jernt since I stumbled upon it heading out for the night three years ago. I didn’t want a lavish place, but a nice comfortable hot spicy jernt, and I found it! Albeit, only had appetizers and broccoli beef HOT and a few cocktails. Service was very good, but service will always be very good if you walk into the jernt like you own it, and when I’m in NY, I own them all!!! Mind you, this isn’t for everyone who cannot handle spicy hot food. I’ve been eating jalapeño peppers like cherry tomatoes since I was five years old! And yes, the chili is good for folks, it’s loaded with vitamin C and prevents lesions from forming in the heart ventricles, but on the weaker folk, it’ll tear several holes in your stomach! In either event, you’re still around to talk about it!!!

This is one of the worst hot pot experiences in my life. I ordered the spicy beef broth and it’s filled with Chilis, peppers, peppercorns (like a million shit load of it that each bite is a tiny crunch of sadistic reminder of how expensive this shitty shit is), and some sort of weird lemon grass thing. I don’t know if it’s lemongrass per say but whatever it is I don’t want it near my mouth again. Not to mention the oil in the broth nearly made me require the heimlich… I think I unwillingly gulped down the Tin man’s personal fuel supply. To top it off, the food was expensive. Fucking A. No, fucking F rather.
I haven’t tried their actual Chinese food and I may come back for that if the world runs out of food one day and this place is the only place that is open. I usually don’t write such scathing reviews but damn, it is just… yeah.

You know it’s a good sign when you walk into a place and the hostess, the passing waiter, and a few of the nearby clientele look at you with that «What’s this guy doing here?» look on their faces. Everyone stops eating for the faintest moment, and it’s only slightly awkward. I sort of imagine that this place must be where the Triad kingpins, who don’t want to be seen in Chinatown, must come to have their meetings.
That being said… this is my go-​to Chinese food joint in this part of midtown. The «Noodle w/​spicy diced chicken» and the «hand cut noodles» are winners. You also can’t go wrong with the fish filet in hot bean sauce or the ma po tofu.
Consistency is not this place’s strong point, which is why only 3 stars. Some days the spice levels are better than others. I chalk this entirely up to whether or not the guy taking our order informed the kitchen if we were Chinese or not. Its no wonder my Chinese co-​workers are reluctant to come here with me… its because they’re served sub-​standard food while I’m around (at least this is what I tell myself. There are probably many other reasons why they dislike dining with me: belch: :fart:). However, I fully intended to keep crashing their lunch get-​togethers any chance I get. So there.

Very local Szechuan food (I say it as a person from the region of Szechuan). Service is also nice and careful.

So happy to be introduced to this place by my Chinese friends! I can’t handle typical Szechuan spice, so we ordered mostly mild & non-​spicy dishes which were all delicious — a good sign, because they don’t rely on spice to heighten the flavors. The service was quick & attentive, and the place overall felt clean, warm, and not too loud — a rarity among authentic Chinese restaurants.
After stuffing ourselves with 5 substantial dishes + complimentary dessert (wonton soup, sauteed pea shoots, boneless whole fish with pine nuts, bacon with green leeks, pork with mustard green preserve), the bill came to $ 20 per person which is not bad for Manhattan.
Can’t wait to go back to try their hot pot!

Had an excellent lunch here last week. The only downer was the shame in knowing it took me so long to try it, knowing my co-​worker at Bloomingdales was a big fan.
I got the twice-​cooked pork (belly) lunch special that came with a side of rice and two little spring rolls (or they offer soup). $ 8!
The portions were generous, IMO, for the price. But more important, the pork was fantastic. It had just the right amount of that Sichuan heat and the meat and leeks blended together so well. I damned near went back for another to bring home for my wife.
This’ll now move into my starting rotation. The food tasted fantastic and prices are certainly reasonable.

Hot Kitchen may look like a garish jumble of red and black from the street, but the inside is actually white-​tablecloth and wine-​glass fancy, and packed with 98% native Chinese speakers, so the food is both mouth-​burningly hot and pretty close to authentic.
Service was also several notches above Chinatown and Flushing counterparts — when asked which appetizer he’d recommend, our waiter actually smiled and insisted that we go with the scallion pancakes (which were actually incredibly greasy, but it’s the thought that counts).
Baby bok choy was delicious, and, though swimming in several layers of oil, was green enough for me to believe that I was eating something healthy. The mei yun beef tasted like fried crispy beef candy to me with very little actual beef-​flavor, but this would be the dream dish for a meat lover with a crazy sweet tooth.
Gold star #1: they offer brown rice for no extra charge.
Gold star #2: there’s complimentary dessert if you know how to ask for it. It’s rice balls in a slightly sweet, wine-​based rice broth. Put that way, it doesn’t sound very appetizing but it’s a nice, warm end to the meal, especially during the winter months. I fumbled a bit and asked for «tang yuan,» and the waiter understood!
NEXT TIME: water-​boiled fish, diced crispy chicken with chili, hot and sour diced cucumbers, pork soup dumplings

I love spicy and I love Sichuan food, one of our friends introduced us to this place and I fell in love and have eaten there about 5 times already in the past month.
Sichuan is an area in China that has a very different flavored food than the ‘traditional’ Chinese food most people are used to. In general, food is spicier and has a distinctive chili flavor to it. Personally, my favorite type of Chinese food.

I’ve eaten at the restaurant as well as ordered for delivery a few times. The restaurant is filled with Chinese people (shows how authentic it is!), I was very pleasantly surprised with integrity of food (even fried food) when ordering for delivery.
Service has always been good, waiters have always been helpful, patient and friendly.
The food:
Sichuan Cold Noodles — fresh noodles with sweet and spicy flavor with light peanut flavor
Pork Soup Dumplings $ 7
I’ve definitely have had better soup dumplings before, but these weren’t bad considering soup dumplings are not a typical Sichuan dish. Definitely satisfies the craving!
Chicken with Chili Sauce $ 9
LOVE the chili sauce on everything, a delicious simple dish. Chicken soaks up the chili flavor so well!
Sichuan Wonton in Red Chili Sauce
Great appetizer!
Diced Chicken with Crispy Chili Peppers
Hands down my favorite dish here! Chicken is flavored perfectly and I love the crispy chili peppers! Perfect with a little rice. I can eat this all day!!! (Still amazing when ordering it for delivery)
Diced Fish with Fried Chili Peppers
A great twist to the diced chicken, this dish is actually spicier than the chicken above. In addition to chili peppers, there’s also numbing peppers in this dish. Personally I love the numbing peppers, but not everyone does, my husband would choose the diced chicken over this (he also likes less spicy dishes), but I like both!
Sautéed Water Spinach with Fresh Garlic $ 13
I’ve never been a fan of veggie dishes at Chinese restaurants. It’s good, but for the price, I rather order a meat dish, or something not as simple that I can’t easily make myself.
Slow Grilled Lamb Ribs
Very tender and flavorful! Great if you’re in the mood for ribs
I’m a big fan of Hot Kitchen! If you order take out or delivery, make sure you call the right location as there are currently two. Would most definitely recommend to others and will be back again real soon!

This place is really a great deal. They have a true authentic take on Sichuan– traditional, so appeals to a more Chinese customer base, but it’s in a nice, white table cloth setting. The thing is the hot pot. Although we didn’t do that when I came with my parents on a Saturday night around 7:30 (it was busy– we reserved a table by calling 30 minutes before). Came here with my parents. We had:
— the three peppers chicken with dry chilies, green pepper which was like «Dry Pepper Chicken», very good– less fried.
— the Ma La Tang… added beef. This is kind of like a prepared hot pot. It’s pretty unique and spicy but honestly hard to down given it’s sort of an oily base.
–The Assorted spicy wok, great value and portion again– you get an assorted spicy array of shrimp, beef, lamb, tripe (if you want it)
–dumplings in chili oil — seriously delicious. Amazing chili sauce and pork flavor.
–the Chinese broccoli — perhaps my favorite dish here, or any at Sichuan restaurant. I just love the spicy/​sichuan peppercorn taste to these fresh veggies. The lunch version comes with a tasty spring roll (or soup) and yummy veggie frie rice.
–Dan Dan Noodle. Deliciously authentic board noodles, minced pork and greens– much better than Han Dynasty’s which is too flavorless and mushy.
I’d definitely recommend if you want a more authentic take on Sichuan, good food and value and plenty of spice. They do have more «American chinese» dishes if you must.

My friend sent me a list of must try noodle places in Manhattan and based on the pictures he was very excited to try this place. I was the first to arrive and noticed that I was the only non Asian person in the entire restaurant, which I took as a good sign that the food here would be very authentic. The place is pretty spacious with several tables in the front area by the bar and a larger dining area in the back. The person who greeted me was very nice and took me straight to a table so I could sit and wait for my friends. When my friends finally arrived and we started going over the menu to decide what to order. Our server was very good at explaining each item, we ordered cold noodles, hot noodles, scallion pancakes, beef soup, and pork sliders. I was really surprised at how good the cold noodles were! The idea of cold noodles just didn’t seem right to me but these were delicious, the flavors and texture of the noodles was really good. The scallion pancakes were crispy and flaky but way too greasy for me. I tried blotting them with a napkin to get rid of some of the grease since I thought they were done well except for being dipped in greasy oil. The pork sliders were great, a bit spicy for me but really delicious! Overall the food was good and the prices very reasonable.

Good grill fish Chinese style but failed in numbing pepper fish. Uncooked and tasteless oily a hell.

It is well worth it to come here for the lunch specials. The food is decently portioned, cheap, and tasty. It might get crowded after noon on a Friday, but noon or before should be okay. We only waited about 15 min. for a table when it was crowded. It’s less crowded during other days of the week.
Pork Soup Dumplings (小籠湯包) — If you’re a hardcore Xiao Long Bao person, these might not be the best as the skin was thick. I’m not picky about my soup dumplings, so I liked them.
Double Cooked Pork (回鍋肉) — This is a must order for lunch. Surprisingly, it’s not too oily and they give you an abundance of both pork and leek. More leek than pork, but that is expected. The leeks are my favorite part anyways.
Fish Fillet with Hot Bean Sauce (豆辦魚條) — One of my favorite ways to eat fish (besides whole with the head still on) is stir-​fried with a thick cornstarchy sauce. I liked this dish because of that, although the flavor was more sweet than spicy.
Pork with Garlic Sauce (魚香肉絲) — My second favorite dish here. The pork strips is stir-​fried with a lot of vegetables (wood ear mushrooms and bamboo) and the garlic sauce tastes authentic and not like Chinese takeout.
Beef Brisket and Potato (土豆燒牛腩) — The brisket is pretty tender, but I enjoyed the potatoes more. They taste weirdly similar to french fries, except braised.
Sauteed Hand Cut Noodles w/​Vegetable (新疆炒麵片) — I would not recommend this dish. The noodles were more like squares of dough and had an unpleasant starchy texture. I also didn’t like the sweet tomato sauce the dish was sauteed in. If you add beef or lamb, the meat itself is good.
I’m not sure if I would come here for dinner, but lunch definitely yes.

Our noodles tasted like soap and the scallion pancakes were mushy. Everything else was OK but tasted like any old takeout joint.
Immediately got food poisoning after eating here so will not be back…

I’ve dine-​in once and had take-​out a couple of times when I was feeling for some extra spice in my lunch.
Hot Kitchen always seems empty when I walk in during lunchtime, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to be seated. The staffs are quick and attentive.
Their food can be a bit on the oily side but they definitely have the flavor. I enjoyed the Double Cooked Pork but was a bit disappointed in their hot and sour soup; it was warm when they served it.
Overall, I’d come back because they have an extended menu and even hotpot.

I went to Hot Kitchen and ordered Generic Chinese Takeout item on the lunch menu. If you are looking for cheap Chinese Takeout in midtown this is probably the closest you will get.
I ordered the Sesame Chicken which included Vegetable Fried Rice and Egg Drop Soup for hold up… $ 8!!! THE CHEAP STUFF.
$ 8 though?! You won’t get a full meal like that anywhere around here unless you hit up some street meat. The food was pretty good, not as good as my local Chinese takeout but this place is really more of an authentic Szechuan specialty restaurant. Food though wasn’t overly greasy and it was filling.
Ill try the other dishes some other time but in terms of lunch this is a good spot for a pretty good filling lunch for under 10 bucks. 3.5 Stars!

I’ve eaten at this place twice: once for hot pot and once off the regular menu. The hot pot menu is definitely more expensive and personally I would pick an all-​you-​can-​eat hot pot place downtown vs this one. It was a long time ago, so all I remember is that the stuff was very fresh for hot pot.
Today, we started off the meal with hot and sour soup $ 5 — it was served at perfect temperature + w lots of pepper + conservative portions (the large portion divided exactly into two bowls).
The scallion pancakes ($ 5) were super crispy. They came in eight pieces. I probably loved it more without the soy sauce.
The spicy wok ($ 28) was what I looked forward the most. It had super thinly sliced giant slices of potatoes, cauliflower, giant corn, bamboo shoots, celery, lotus roots, chicken, beef, tripe, sausage, squid and sausage. I asked for it to be Sichuan-​hot and they definitely made it authentically numbing! I thought the dish was kind of salty but very authentic regardless.
Service was great! Waiter came by and filled out water multiple times without us asking — something you don’t experience often at Chinese restaurants. I’d say go on a Sunday night at around 8:30p if you want stellar service!

I usually do not give 5 stars from just one dining experience, but Hot Kitchen is an exception. I had lunch here today with my friend and tried the following.
* Sichuan Wonton with Red Oil
* Spicy & Aromatic Wok Series Cauliflower
* Ma Po Tofu with Minced Pork
The red chili oil for the wonton was spicy and sweet, the dry hot pot cauliflower had the perfect texture, the fresh bamboo shoot slices were so tasty and the Chinese celery so precious! The Ma Po Tofu had Sichuan Peppercorn sprinkled on top and had some chopped leek. The tofu was nice and soft, and the red chili oil had good flavor inside its spiciness.
After my recent culinary adventure trip to Chengdu, China, I fell in love with the blue green Sichuan peppercorn which has a stronger numbing power than the red one. Looks like Hot Kitchen cooks a whole fish using it. That is my target for next time.

Five star for hotpot meat and vegi choices, three star for sauce, three star for price level (about twice as much as 99 favor taste, and 99 is all you can eat type) and five star for services. So in total four star.
Not too many places in midtown area serve hotpot, what is even better is that there’s no line even during dinner times, so no need to make reservation at all. Convenient to the most.
Always as good as you thought. Unless more hot pot places open in the neighborhood, I’m gonna stick with it for a while.

The place was alright, went to have business lunch with coworkers.
Cozy little place, not too big, pretty authentic Sichuan cuisine, there is that numbness, from Sichuan pepper, that I look for in Sichuan cuisines. The spiciness isn’t all that bad. I didn’t think it was that spicy, but I think my gums begged to differ. I have pretty inflamed gums right now, and in pain (but it might be something else, the spiciness probably just didn’t help it that much or it became a catalyst to the problem.) But yeah, I’m probably going to have to go to the doctor to get this checked out… Despite the extra medical bill, I think I would still get this again next time. That’s how much I like it.
Anyways, we ordered the chuan bei liang pi, a fish dish, green pepper and eggs, last b but not least, spicy cabbage. The fish seemed good, my coworkers did enjoy it quite a lot. I mainly just finished the liang pi, and it was very close to what you get in sichuan.
The egg dish isn’t worth getting, in my opinion, it isn’t that hard to make at home, and the taste isn’t all that unique. I don’t really understand why they have it on the menu, cause personally, I don’t think it is that interesting of a dish.

Easily one of THE BEST and most authentic Sichuan cuisines in the city! Aside from Hot Kitchen’s specialty in Sichuan cuisine, this newly opened HK midtown branch also offers a wide variety of Chinese Northwestern Region cuisine, which consists mostly of beef and lamb dishes, and uses less spices.
For appetizer, my favorite was the «Mung Bean Noodle with Spicy and Peppery Sauce ($ 7)». Mung Bean is a.k.a. green bean, so the texture was very slippery and chewy.
For soup, I recommend the «Stewed Pig Feet in soup ($ 12)», the portion is big enough to share among 4 – 6 ppl. The pig feet was stewed long enough that the meat and skin were really soft, and they came off the bones easily. The soup was a very light but flavorful broth. I’d like to think of this dish as a slight preparation for my stomach before I was about to devour all the spicy and oily food later on.
For main courses, my favorite was definitely the «Fresh Whole Fish with Sichuan Green Peppercorn in Spicy Broth ($ 26)». OMG! One bite and I was in heaven! The fish was so fresh, tender and juicy. I love peppercorn in my spicy food. Actually now that I think of it, I think I like peppercorn more than chili peppers, that’s probably why I enjoyed this dish so much. The whole fish was covered with huge amounts of pepper, peppercorn, chili peppers, etc. The broth on the bottom was filled with beansprouts, green bean noodles. To sum it up, I’m definitely ordering this dish every time I’m back in this restaurant.
Other main dishes I recommend are «Slow Grilled Lamb Ribs ($ 29)», this is a signature Chinese Northwestern style dishes. The rack of lamb was so fresh and the meat was so tender and juicy. The cumin sprinkled on the top of the lamb ribs totally hit the spot! Other than that, «Smoked Tea Duck ($ 22)», «Double Cooked Pork Belly ($ 16)» and «Fried Corn Sauteed with Duck Yolk ($ 14)» are also really delicious.
Service was attentive. Interior decoration was modern and chic. In terms of price range, I personally felt that Hot Kitchen Midtown is cheaper than the average Chinese restaurants in the city. I’m almost certain that the «Slow Grilled Lamb Ribs ($ 29)» was the most expensive dish I saw on the menu. Most appetizers are less than $ 10. Most main dishes are between $ 12-​$ 22, and some specialty dishes are from $ 22-​$ 29. Reasonable prices for the authenticity and portion of food.
While I didn’t get to try their hot pot this time around, I saw other tables ordering it and it looked/​smelled so good! Definitely coming back in the future with more friends craving authentic and spicy Sichuan food!