Lao Ma Tou Santa Barbara

This was my first experience eating at a Chinese hot pot restaurant. At first, my friend and I didn't had a clue how this restaurant work. I noticed an electric stove in the middle of the table, that's when I realized that you have to cook your own food. The menu has several options of what ingredients to select. We decided to ask the waiter for recommendations. The waiter didn't spoke English fluently, but he was still very helpful. We selected the beef and shrimp which looked very fresh. For vegetables, we selected the mushrooms and lettuce which the lettuce was not necessary. We also order fry rice, but the fry rice was too much with the other items already ordered. Our intention was to order the level 3 of spicy broth, but the waiter told us that it was very spicy. We told him that we grew up eating spicy food, but he convinced us to select the level 2 of spicy broth. I am glad we listen to the waiter because it was really spicy, but we were able to handle the level. If you don't eat spicy food, then get the level 1 of spicy broth or get the combination between not spicy and level 1 of spicy broth. They told us to put the meat when the broth was boiling. The beef and the shrimp were cooked in less 2 minutes. The restaurant has free appetizers and dessert. They also had different types of sauces. I really like their service since they were checking that everything was good. I also love that everything was clean. I will highly recommend this restaurant.

Just Fantastic! As a Chinese, I really like the real Chinese dishes compared with a lot of American-Chinese dishes such as Orange Chicken.... The bubble tea is also good! They also have hot pot! Service is great! I would like to give them 10 stars if possible!!!