Royal Pot

I went here for the first time and got the all you can eat hot pot buffet. Amazing value at $29pp, I shared a split spicy and regular broth. They bring the meat out separately and everything else is buffet style. Lots of interesting veges to choose from and it seems very fresh.You can also buy beer (Tsing Tao and Corona only) and soft drinks separately. I saw other negative comments about service but I had a guy serving us and he was very friendly and kept checking if we needed more soup etc. A simple but nice atmosphere with the buffet upstairs. I’m told they’re open every day except Monday.

We bought a voucher from Groupon. We had the small prawn pot combo. The big pot came as a stir fired prawn dish. Once you finish the prawns they then add stock into the dry pot makes it a prawn based hot pot. The portion doesn’t look too big but definitely enough for 2 people. The combo came with some side dishes and a jug of plum or passion fruit juice. The host was very nice and friendly but the waitress was a bit rude - she just marched in and started to collect stuff from us without any heads up or ‘excuse me’. Otherwise we had great time here and the prawn pot was very delicious.

The concept is interesting and the guy who makes it is quite nice. The waitress needs to polish her customer service skills. I would have given 4 stars if there was a friendlier waitress without an attitude problem. The prawns come split and deveined which is good and you get gloves to shell them. After that you can choose to cook other food in the pot like a hotpot. The serving size is quite generous, but if not on something like groupon can add up to be quite pricey. The flavour also becomes a bit one dimensional after a while.

The customer service completely can't speak English. You have to be Chinese to order a meal otherwise you just struggle. Inside is extremely cold and quite, like on a funeral. Pot meals are without any specific taste, like throwing everything to the one pot, boil and stir. Nothing special. Just fish was pretty good, the rest - misunderstanding.

Hercules street in Ashfield is undergoing a rejuvenation with a number of new restaurants and cafes popping up along the strip. For those that like their food hot and spicy, grab a group together and get some hotpot action at The Prawn Pot. Choose your spice level - mild, moderate or very spicy - and a heart-shaped prawn-laden hotpot is brought to the table. Once you’ve consumed the prawns, staff will top up the hotpot with chicken broth to cook your chosen dishes. We enjoyed premium lamb and beef slices, smashed prawn, green leaves and noodles. It’s messy but fun eating!