Lu Gi Restaurant

AYCE HotPot, good service, For a $ 25 dinner I ate as many plates as I could and it was satisfying.

For the menu and price of the AYCE hotpot, you can’t complain too much. First, positives: good options, ok service, good vibes. Negatives: didn’t bring out some of the stuff we ordered, you are limited to order the same items by 3 times, can’t take out the little bit of leftover that we ordered but couldn’t finish so the food went to waste.
I was in a party of 7 total and my favorite thing was the beef ball, not the beef tendon ball. Just order everything, you won’t regret it. Too bad the fish balls with roe were on the 23.99 menu…

Solid buffet-​style hot pot. The seasoning of the soup is great, the service is fast, and the food is all pretty good quality.
They have a wide variety of typical items: meat (different cuts of beef, pork, as well as meatballs), veggies (such as enoki, spinach, achoy, cabbage), seafood, and carbs (rice, rice cakes, and noodles).
I also got a beer to treat myself, but it wasn’t really a good option for AYCE since it took up a lot of space in my stomach– oh well Asian beer is refreshing nonetheless. For a $ 30 dinner I ate as many plates as I could and it was satisfying.

Unlimited food, all you can eat, whats not to love?

Came here on a Saturday afternoon. It was one of those rare hot days in the middle of November so not many people in here. Lunch is $ 19.99 for regular AYCE or $ 21.99 for deluxe version. We ordered from the $ 19.99 because the selection was already enough. We ordered our first round of beef, fish balls, quail eggs and pork intestines. Everything was real fresh especially the pork intestine. It tasted real clean. Believe me, I know my pork intestine as i use to watch my mother clean them as a kid for our noodle restaurant. Quality of the beef was great. Not to Ok fatty and not too lean. It was just right. There was 3 of us and we ended up ordering 4 plates of beef and they were real generous with the portions each time.
As for their soup base, it was only okay. It wasn’t spicy at all. I’m not sure if it’s because they saw that we didn’t really speak mandarin or we just didn’t ask for spicy. The flavor was lacking and disappointing. The condiment bar was even more disappointing. For being a hotpot place, I would think it’s important to have flavorful broth and flavorful dipping sauces but it didn’t.
Finally was it worth the price? Yes because the quality of food is good. Would I go back? Probably not because it wasn’t flavorful enough even though quality was good.
On a different note, parking is difficult in the lot. Consider parking on the streets or the 168 market parking lot across the street.

Too slow!!! And food is not fresh enough also meat is not good too… feeling disappointed

Hello my Unilocalies,
Hotpot? $ 19.99 for all you can eat, WHY NOT? I personally love hotpot on a cold weather just like today. Parking here is a little difficult because there really isn’t that many spaces, we had to wait about 10 minutes for someone to leave to be able to find a parking, that was a little inconvenient. We came here around 9pm had to wait about 5 minutes which wasn’t that bad.
I came here many times before but that was way before they even had the «All you can eat» menu. This place is more like a homestyle hotpot where everyone share one pot unlike boiling point or jackpot hotpot. Right now they have 3 options, first you can not have all you can eat choice but I personally believe it’s not that worth it because the meat is already $ 8 per plate. Second, they have a $ 19.99 per person all you can eat where you can get pretty much most of the items on the menu. Third, they have a $ 23.99 per person is where you get the premium items, like better meat and more choices of fish balls etc. I love how they have half spicy and half regular pot, therefore; you get to have two choices, if the food gets too spicy you always have the other half to cool it down.
I really like their soup base, a lot of hotpot places make their spicy side either not spicy at all or just too numb. My all time favorite item from this place is their marinated tofu which comes with the spicy side of the pot. The tofu has so much taste in it since they cooked it inside the spicy pot which adds the perfect taste into your whole meal. If you like tofu I definitely suggest getting that, you won’t regret it. They also have a lot of dipping sauce for you to choose from, if you want satay like myself you have to ask them personally to give you a little bowl of it.
I took my boyfriend here for the first time and he loved it, he told me it is definitely more worth it than «Element Hotpot» on valley, which made me very happy since I introduced it to him. We were both very satisfied with our order, their service was pretty decent, they were very fast with brining out our food and sat us down really fast too, I was very surprised since they were very packed.
Overall, 4 stars for service, 4 stars for food and drinks, 4 stars for environment and decorations and 4 stars for cleanliness. Might come back again in the near future.

So I’ve been boycotting all hotpot places until I recently found out Lu Gi has all you can eat, which offers more food and is less expensive than Boiling point! I was like OMGGGG! I was super excited!
Service is WAY better than Boiling Point. Workers kept coming every 10 mins to see if we needed anything, they came around with water constantly and always asked if we needed more soup. I was very impressed.
Of course I got the tomato veggie pot. Although the I absolutely hate tomatoes, this pot tastes nothing like tomatoes or like ketchup. Idk how to describe the taste, but it’s just delicious. So trust me, even if you’re not a tomato fan, just try this pot out.
LuGi hooked it up and KENNY LU (the owner) brought us amazing and fresh portions everytime.

AYCE Hot Pot
$ 19.99 for all you can eat has some good menu choices. If you have a larger group you can go for the next price to have everything off the menu if you like it all. All the food taste fresh here at this small place. I wish they had satay sauce then maybe I didn’t try asking if they had any. I tried the other sauces it was ok then really just like my satay sauce, sesame oil and soy sauce my favorite hot pot sauce combination. The hot pot meal was very delicious. I would come have hot pot here again soon.
Parking here is terrible with a small parking lot you will need to park at the 168 Market parking lot then walk over which is good after you ate so much. Eat more and walk it off after a large meal is a good idea.

If you’re hungry and looking for a homestyle hot pot, this is the place to be. The taste of the soup after the cooking was done was just like how my mom used to make hot pot. That being said, there isn’t a whole lot of «special» to this place. Our pot was split between a regular and a «suan cai» broth, but I could hardly tell the difference. Meats were finely sliced. After our initial order, it was hard to get the waitress back to our table for seconds… she should have just given us the order form again, to fill out seconds. $ 20/​person for all you can eat… I guess it’s less trouble than being nickle-​and-​dimed for each item.
Pet peeves: they didn’t offer individual ladles for each of us to cook. So, we wound up just having one person doing the cooking… this kind of kills the fun of hot pot. Also, for our party of four, the booth was rather tight, not much space for all those food plates. They need to invest in some tray tables for more space.
PS, parking in the front is often full, but the lot across the street by the 168 always has space.

Heard good things from people so decided to try it myself. The food was very good and the broth, both spicy and non spicy, was tasty. I was actually very surprised with the service. Typically ayce is hectic and it’s hard to get meats you want right away, but our waitress was there all the time when we needed something. So big plus for service.
I do want to preface that I went when it was past lunch rush and on a Sunday, so the place wasn’t necessarily packed.
Overall it was a pleasant experience and I was most certainly full and satisfied after it all.

My first time at this spot for ayce hot pot.
We opted for the 19.99 deal which is more than enough since one of our party was a vegetarian.
Opted for ½ spicy and ½ water broth.
The broth was spicy but not boiling point spicy which was pleasant.
Quality of the beef was excellent.
The pork slices were fatty yet packed with flavor.
The fish balls and squid balls were ok.
Their complimentary tofu was pretty tasty.
Their sauce station was clean and offered flavors
Peanut, sesame, chives, chili bean curd, garlic, and chili paste (which you’ll have to ask to bring out a dish)
I didn’t really enjoy their sauces as I was hoping they’d have TW BBQ satay sauce :(
I would come back to try out the 23.99 which offers 16 more premium options.
Service was good. Had our waters topped off twice. Didn’t have to struggle for more broth as they poured more to keep the pot from burning.
Single Restrooms available for both sexes which was clean on the men’s side.

I used to eat here a lot before Boiling Point opened up in Irvine. Loved the sauces that they offered here. Fresh ingredients provided daily. The broth has a unique flavor and it is very spicy, supposedly it’s Taiwanese style. Recommend ½ regular broth and ½ spicy broth. The restaurant has interesting operating hours so be sure to check the hours before you go there. I love the Taiwanese flavor at Boiling Point better because it’s sweeter. I would still come back here once in a while because the Taiwanese broth here has a unique and delicious taste of its own.
Customer Service = Adequate
Price = Reasonable
Atmosphere = Decent
Limited parking spaces available in front of the restaurant. If needed, you should park across the street.

This place is so homey!
Come here with a small group of close friends, or your family.
You all have to share one pretty decent sized hot pot so it’s very intimate and it feels like you’re eating at home. I really liked how it was AYCE.
The server was really nice.
Definitely coming back.
It’s a very nice place for a dinner gathering.

Like Hawaiian food, I’m also a stickler when it comes to Chinese food. Or Taiwainese. However, when a new Unilocal friend, suggests Taiwanese Hot Pot and I notice that the entire restaurant is full of nothing but Asians, my stomach felt that something good was coming its way. And it did. Multiple courses too — as it’s AYCE. $ 20 or a few bucks more for premium menu items.
But first — I should mention a few things. Parking. Tons of parking if you don’t mind street parking or crossing the street as there’s a huge empty parking lot across the corner. I parked there. There were no signs saying I couldn’t.
The wait can and might be long depending on when you get there and how much people are eating. The wait for us was about twenty five minutes. I have no idea if reservations are accepted.
Service was good. The dining area is small enough that the servers can’t miss you when you wave them down. Service was quick too. No waiting around for refills or placing subsequent rounds or even refilling the propane tanks heating the portable stove top.
I joke about places where you pay to cook your own food however, I had a positive experience at Lu Gi’s Restaurant and I’d do it all over again.

They always seem understaffed to me – rather, I see one waitress working and once in a blue moon someone from the back will run out to deliver a tray then run back in… but really, the poor waitress is doing most of the work.
Quality-​wise, the premium beef is top notch; a beautiful red with just the right amount of fat to meat ratio. The lamb is also fresh and delish… but avoid the chicken breast, which is frozen, dry, and pretty gross. Their house-​made shrimp balls are also fantastic, as our their fish balls with roe and fish balls with pork. Broth is also not salty or oily, and feels very clean until the very end when you have all that crap floating in it from the meat.
Their frozen tofu and mushrooms come in gigantic blocks/​chunks, which is rather inconvenient to eat – or just too much in one go, but it’s not too shabby. Sauces are pretty basic, though you need to ask them for the satay sauce – make sure you do!
Things I tend to be iffy on… I LOVE intestines and tendon, but I’ve had to take out dirty looking pieces of fat and random body parts (one of the tendons had a hard bulging nubbin on it that was kinda gross) and it makes me wonder what the hell I’m eating sometimes. Veggies also look clean, though I’ve had to take out some dirt or (dear god please don’t let it be a bug) some weird dark thing that I quickly stuffed under some napkins.
Another thing that irks me is that they will forget orders we’ve picked OR give us something else, EVERY SINGLE TIME without fail. It’s almost like they look at the list and go «they wanted blood rice cake? NOT TODAY BEETCHES!!! –gives random of the day-​» They’ll also start cleaning before closing (around 11 instead of 11:30) and you’ll smell ammonia or whatever their cleaning stuff is while eating. Last time, their last call came at like 10:45pm and we felt very rushed while eating.
Overall, I do like that they have a lot less sodium than other hot pot joints, and that it is all you can eat. I just get frustrated with getting wrong/​missing orders and I wonder if I’ll get cancer from eating weird crap attached to the organ meats… you’ll enjoy this place if you stick with premium beef and lamb, and maybe order ONE veggie and look through it thoroughly before eating. Good luck!

Solid restaurant for AYCE hot pot. You can tell that their meat quality is better than the rest of the AYCE hot pot restaurants in 626, and they have so many more options. Also, everything is really fresh here. They have a sauce bar but it was kinda dirty… I didn’t really need to use sauce cause I felt like everything was pretty flavorful.
It was about $ 30 a person, which is actually pretty pricey especially when I can eat at another hot pot restaurant for $ 20 and be completely satisfied. Parking is so annoying here since it’s a tiny parking lot with a bunch of restaurants, and almost always full.

Go-​to hot pot spot!
I usually do AYCE here with my family; it’s just so much more worth it. The beef, pork belly, tripe, shrimp, ma-​la tofu, etc. etc. etc. is just so good. And of course, they have a small make-​shift sauce area. They don’t have the Sa Cha there, but you can just ask for some and they’ll bring you out a bowl. This place definitely hits the spot when you need something hot on a rainy day.
Service is ok, I’ve had good and so-​so service here, depending on the waitress really. If you do regular hotpot you can actually take your leftover soup to-​go. If you opt for ayce, then you’re out of luck so eat as much as you can!

Lu gi was my favorite hot pot place before Boiling Point and Jazz Cat existed in San Gabriel Valley but lately I’m wondering if my palate has changed or the spicy Taiwanese soup has changed on me.
Before, their $ 19.99 all you can eat special, I used to go super crazy with ordering a la carte like their AAA meat, shrimp, and veggies. For two people, it would still come out to $ 40. I love their place but recently the experience isn’t quite there anymore. I tried their AYCE special and I wasn’t as impressed as before. I would say that their service is excellent since we were the only people there late afternoon.
I would say that their dishes doesn’t seem as fresh but their shrimp is really good.
I would go if you haven’t tried it.

MmMmm what’s awesome for dinner? HotPot!!! What’s more awesome than HotPot? AYCE HotPot! That’s exactly what the BF wanted, and what the BF wants, the BF gets.
It’s pretty reasonably priced — $ 19.99 or $ 23.99 with additional choices. It’s unlimited servings of whatever you want for the menu option.
You can choose between 2 mild options — sour cabbage, or napa cabbage — which already have some items stewing inside and a spicy option. We went with the sour cabbage and spicy (half-​and-​half). I’m so glad we did that because the spicy version is way spicy, to the point, after an hour of it, my BF waved the white flag and surrendered. The broths were a bit bland at first, but as you cook and go, it gets more and more flavorful. Did I mention there was stuff already inside? Ready for you to eat? lol.
Service was fantastic, the food came out very quickly. Our servers were always coming by to collect empty plates, or refilling our pot of soup.
They have a sauce bar so you can create your own concoction. Only complaint there — you have to ask for recipes from the servers. What might help is putting up some recipes and blends (favorites). What we ended up LOVING, and it’s almost like the ‘sacha’ /​bbq sauce tasting:
2 scoops of sesame
1 scoop of the ‘pink’ spicy
¼ to ½ scoop of the green sauce. ALSO, add some garlic in it. It tastes better that way. And then stir and taste… adjust to your tastebuds.
We couldn’t get enough of the enoki mushroom and premium steak (only available with the 23.99 option). Everything else could be sparingly ordered. We call this the MF (Mandi-​Fan) diet. :D However, there’s a bit of MSG in the soups, so drink sparingly! We were quite thirsty afterwards.
We shall be back.
Parking — the parking lot is SMALL. The lot is shared amongst 4 restaurants, and one being a seafood restaurant. I know I shouldn’t suggest this — but after hours, feel free to park at Mission Hardware, or across the street where the 168 Market is. But you didn’t hear me say this.