Little Sheep - Union City - Unknown

Updates:
Recent visits by friends informed me that the soup quality has lowered.
Reduced from highly recommended to unknown.

Visited on: Often. Latest visit: Sep. 23, 2006

Comments: Highly recommended

Ordered items:
Premium lamb, beef, intestines, winter melon, bead curds, frozen bean curds, assorted vegetables
This is the basic broths: red and white. Have a taste of the white before you put anything in it.

Order as many items as you like, and put the thinly sliced meat into water.

A few seconds later, ready to eat!

Everything else goes into the pot, doesn't that look yummy!

General description:
This is one legendary hot pot place, originated from China, one of the most popular hot pot chains there. With good reason, too. The soup base consists of dozens of herbs, which not only gave it a distinct flavor that is aromatic and earthily powerful, but also has holistic medicinal quality that balances the body and nourishes the ki. The hot pot has two types of soups: white and red. Just in Little Sheep’s case, red does not come from hot pepper oil, like so many inferior hot pots, but from spices. The result is that the spiciness only stays in your mouth without going to the stomach that made your next bathroom visit a truly interesting experience. The herbs also help with digestion, so even if you eat a lot, you don’t feel bloated.

The way to eat a Little Sheep hot pot is to do it like a shabu-shabu with the thinly sliced meats – take a slice of meat, dip it into water, wave it around until it is cooked in mere seconds, and just eat it. Everything else should be put into the pot until fully cooked. However, remember that ingredients will absorb the broth, so if you are not sure about your palate toughness, do not things in the spicy section of the pot for long, or just order a plain white pot (though you'd been missing out if you do that). What’s special about Little Sheep’s broth is that it is fully flavored, so they’ll not give you any dipping sauce, making it an anomaly of Chinese hot pots, but in a very good way. Thinly sliced lamb is very tender, better than beef, and their frozen bean curd is a must try, most excellent and goes very well with the broth. If you see the broth running low, ask for more broth.

This Little Sheep is the first direct operated Little Sheep in the US, other franchise spots are in the LA area. I like the one in Monterey Par, CA very much. The Union City Little Sheep is slightly different in the cuts of meat it uses and presentation is a lot better, but all these are reflected on the price. Call to reserve before you go, otherwise it is going to be one long wait.

Basic information:
34396 Alvarado Niles Road
Union City, CA 94587
(510) 675-9919
Hot pot items from $3.50 and above