I believe the original Boiling Point is located in San Gabriel Valley, but this is their first Orange County location. If you’re lazy like me, you can appreciate Boiling Point’s take on hot pot, where they already have everything thrown into individual pots, removing the need to actually pick out and cook things yourself. Their specialty is their stinky tofu hot pot and I have to admit it’s pretty good, though not as stinky as it could be. Maybe all these Taiwanese restaurants are trying to appeal to Americans and toning down the stinkiness, but I’ve yet to find a place that serves truly stinky tofu in California. You try getting this stuff in Taiwan and you’ll feel like your nose is being assaulted by some horrible tofu monster.
A few things I should mention: I don’t know if it’s on purpose, but the wait staff here is exceptional at forgetting that you exist. Maybe it’s because their seats go really high up so they can’t actually see anybody inside the booth, but we waited a good thirty minutes before getting our check. They also forgot about us on more than one occasion, including forgetting to bring me extra broth after I requested it to cook my side of noodles. If you can get past the horrendous service and questionable management, though, you’ll be treated to one of the better hot pot places in Orange County.
Hokkaido Milk Tea – I’m not sure what differentiates the Hokkaido milk tea from their regular milk tea, but this thing tasted like…flavored milk. Very oddly flavored milk. It’s not bad, but nobody at our table ended up finishing theirs, so take that for what it’s worth.
I ordered the stinky tofu hot pot which doesn’t come with beef, so I added a side of beef to throw in. I was expecting it to come out raw so that I could cook it in the hot pot, but they brought it out pre-cooked. A little strange, but still good when dumped into the broth.
House Special Hot Soup (organic fermented tofu, pork intestine, meatball, salty veggies, quail egg, green nira, cilantro, pork blood, enoki mushroom, kamaboko, pork slice, nappa, tomato, fishball) – If you’re not used to Asian cuisine or you’re not an adventurous eater, some of the stuff in here might sound a little gross to you. But if you’re an experienced eater like I am, oh man. So good. Stinky tofu, pork intestines, and pork blood? Awesome. And the fact that I don’t have to cook it myself? Even more awesome. If it’s your first time here and you’ve got an open mind, I’d definitely recommend starting out with this. I promise it tastes way better than it sounds. Just close your eyes, start putting things in your mouth, and thank me later.
I don’t know what this is called in English. Or Chinese for that matter. Just somehow figure out how to order it and throw it in your hot pot.
Boiling Point
14140 Culver Dr
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 733-2211
bpgroupusa.com
