Hotpot Session Robinson’s Magnolia – It’s not hard to look for a hotpot buffet near me because the hotpot buffet in Manila, Philippines has tremendously increased over the years. After strolling in the mall, we found Hot! Pot Session that offers a lot for a cheap price.
After attending the McDonald’s Kiddie Crew orientation, we decided to go to Robinson’s Magnolia for a change. We were surprised to find many people in the mall considering that we used to see that the mall was not crowded in the past.
After walking and buying some books for my toddler, we decided to eat dinner earlier than the usual time. So we checked the available restaurants to see where our hunger would be satisfied at an affordable price.
All-You-Can-Eat Hotpot Buffet Menu
After entering the mall, we saw lots of posters about many restaurants we weren’t familiar with. There’s this barbeque buffet and a Korean chicken BBQ restaurant. But what caught our attention was the all-you-can-eat hotpot restaurant.
Long before the samgyeupsal buffet ruled the country, hotpot buffets were more famous. However, since we’ve been crazy about Kdramas, our tastebuds were also influenced by the food that the oppas and unnies have been eating.
Going back to our topic about hotpots, Hot! Pot Session is a hotpot buffet where you can enjoy different kinds of soup bases. There’s satay, sukiyaki, miso dashi, and pork chicken soup bases you can try.
Spicy lovers can choose among spicy mala, kimchi, spicy miso, and laksa. However, Hot! Pot Session also has one special soup base, and that is tonkotsu flavor, but you have to add 50 PHP (0.88 USD).
The server told me you can change your soup base when you finish your first order, so you can try others if you want.
I chose Spicy Miso while hubby chose Pork Chicken Soup. The spicy miso soup wasn’t as spicy as how I imagined it to be. However, it had the hint taste of miso and a little bit a spicyness, which was perfect for the chilly weather when we dined there.
Hubby’s Pork Chicken Soup wasn’t so bad either.
While it may look a bit bland based on the color of the soup, you’ll get a rich and filling flavor when you give it a sip. Even our toddler, who dislikes any other soup besides miso soup, liked it.
The next time we go back, I’ll surely try a different soup flavor so I can compare which one’s the best. I wanted to enjoy sipping on the spicy miso so I didn’t change into another soup base.
What can you cook with your hotpot soup?
There are lots of goodies like meat, balls, veggies, noodles, and eggs. For meat, you can choose between beef brisket, beef short plate, pork collar, pork belly, and shrimp.
You’ll find seafood bun balls, Singaporean balls, scallion buns, mushroom balls, scallion chive tofu, and green fishballs in the freezer. There’s also gindara tofu, lobster balls, and cheese balls on the other side.
Above the balls, you’ll find vermicelli, ramen, and egg noodles. Along the row, there are also fried tofu sheets and black fungus. Going upwards, you can get enoki mushrooms, pearl mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, corn, and pork blood.
On the menu, there are also appetizers and sides such as boiled and fried dumplings, shrimp tempura, and chicken karaage.
We also got stir-fried fire fish cake but you can also order marinated cucumber and Mala and egg rice. Just a reminder that the fish cake is spicy, so if you don’t eat spicy things, you might as well don’t order that!
To describe how it tastes like, the fish cake has a mala flavor, meaning you’ll get the hint of chili in your tongue once you take a bite. It didn’t matter to me as the spiciness was just right for my tastebuds.
However, for my husband who isn’t a fan is spicy things, he’d rather save the fishcake for me.
The chicken karaage was okay for me. But surprisingly, my son didn’t like the chicken karaage but ate the shrimp tempura instead.
Some days he just ignores his chicken karaage like that, which is great, so that he gets to eat other kinds of food apart from fried chicken. For me, the taste of the chicken karaage wasn’t so bad.
But, of course, our favorite to enjoy when dining at a hotpot buffet in Manila is the beef and pork slices that we get to enjoy with our customized sauce.
We ordered beef shortplate and beef brisket plates to cook with our chosen soups and ate until we were full.
Hot! Pot Session Dipping Sauce
A hotpot experience can’t be complete with the perfect hotpot dipping sauce. And yes, at Hot! Pot Session, you have lots of condiments and toppings to choose from.
A big jar of hotpot sauce sits next to the unlimited drinks: gulaman and wintermelon juice. Moving over, you’ll see chili sauce, oyster sauce, satay, black vinegar, soy sauce, and coriander.
Then, there’s peanut paste, chopped chilis, white sugar, and chopped garlic. A huge jar of sesame oil ends the list of condiments you can include in your hotpot sauce combo. There was even a slot for sesame paste and spring onions but they were empty during our dinner.
If you’re asking, “What’s the best hotpot buffet sauce?,” or if you’re afraid to mix and match the condiments, Hot! Pot Session has got you covered.
Above the condiments section, Hot! Pot Session has prepared 2 different sauce mixture so you can just get them to enjoy with your hotpot dishes. There’s the Hot! Pot Session Signature Sauce, and another one called Peanut Sauce.
Hotpot Buffet Price
Hotpot buffet restaurants in Manila differ only a little in prices, except for Good Luck Hotpot, which offered a higher grade of meats. With Hot! Pot Session, you only pay 698 PHP (12.30 USD) on Mondays through Thursdays.
But from Fridays through Sundays and on holidays, you’ll pay 798 PHP (14.06 USD) to enjoy everything on the menu.
Hot! Pot Session Robinsons Magnolia Review Conclusion
I like how you can get your own hotpot soup at Hot! Pot Session Magnolia. It lets diners customize their own soup and cook whatever they want so long as the hotpot restaurant offers.
What’s your best hotpot experience in Manila? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!
