Boiling Point

[Hokkaido Milk Tea and a cute kid]

Hot pot is never just any meal to me. I have strong nostalgic attachments to it. Growing up we had hot pot every Thanksgiving, with a side of obligatory Peking duck as the turkey. This tradition represents a utopian period in my life before the diaspora of my family from the once small town of Torrance. How appropriate it was then for us cousins to choose Boiling Point as the place to catch up, laugh, and cry (from both laughing and the spicy food!)

[House Special Hot Soup]

[Seafood Hot Soup]

The moment you step through the doors, you are smacked with a pungent whiff of fermented tofu, aka stinky tofu. I personally love the smell. It reminds me of the night markets in Taipei. This place specializes in individual hot pots, so its not a communal hot pot for the table. They have around a dozen different hot pot flavors like Seafood, Taiwanese Style (super spicy), Lamb, etc. Then you can order "add-ons" separately to add to your hot pot like dumplings, fish balls, stinky tofu, ramen noodles, etc. The hot pot comes lit with a fire underneath so the soup stays hot, plus you get free refills of the broth if you run out. There is also a sauce station with garlic oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, etc. for you to concoct your own dipping sauce. I ordered the Seafood hot pot and I was breaking out in a sweat by the end of the meal. Not from the spiciness per se but from the sheer heat of the boiling soup. So good.

[playing Draw Something while waiting to be seated...]

Boiling Point is opening up a few new locations because the demand is pretty high. We waited almost an hour for a table on a Friday night. The Monterey Park location is small and it is difficult for them to seat parties over 4 people. But trust me it's worth the wait.