Kento Bowl

My aunt, who is probably the thriftiest person I know, took my brother and I here solely because there was some sort of deal for buy 2 get 1 free personal hot pot. We decided to all get different soup bases for our three pots — regular, spicy, and milk. Yeah that’s right. Milk hot pot. We thought it sounded kind of intriguing on the menu, but in reality it didn’t add much to the hot pot experience, except perhaps that it frothed a little more when it was bubbling.
For the meat, we had beef, lamb, and fish — all were pretty good but nothing super special. They also give you these little baskets with the usual hot pot stuff like vermicelli, tofu, fish balls, etc.
What I really liked, though, was the condiment bar, with all the sauces you could want to have with your hot pot. Satay sauce, peanut sauce, sesame oil. Check check check. Takes me back to some dingy restaurant in the back alleys of Taipei — I mean that in the best and cleanest way possible.
When we were there they kept the door open, which made for some pseudo-​dangerous situations. Every time the wind would blow in, the fire under the hot pot would flame out like crazy, forcing us to pausing our pigging. HOW DARE THE FLAME GET BETWEEN ME AND MY FOOD. Anyway I feel like this could be better managed, somehow.

After searching high and low for a good hot pot place, I was pleased to find this one in April. With the mixed reviews, it was ultimately the menu on the website is what drew us here.
The food is fresh, and the options are varied. Sauces are delicious. Have really only ever ordered the hot pot (i.e. not tried any of the other meals on the menu).
Everything was yummo … ample portions and a decent price. Obviously probably more affordable if you were to recreate at home — but one expects to pay a bit more when you go out.
Wait staff were super friendly. We were so delighted, we promptly went back the next week.
Parking was definitely not a problem, once you figure out there is a lot behind the restaurant. It is a bit off the beaten track, but a lot of fun.

We heard one of our friend mentioned about this place… Finally had chance to try it out on last Sat.
We ordered two hotpot combination (lamb and beef). It was pretty good portion for two girls (i couldn’t finish all the rice noodle at the end). The soup base was pretty tasty, and its free MSG.
The best part of the experience was the services… all the waitresses work there are super helpful and nice. one of them delivered the wrong food to our table… but we end up had that as the complimentary dish :)
They also give you free sour plum drink after the meal…

I was craving shabu shabu yesterday so I came here with my family. I LOOOOVE their Shabu Shabu soup base! If it’s your first time going, I suggest you start with mild and if it’s not spicy enough for you ask them to add more or just add more chili yourself. because their mild is pretty spicy. The service was great. The restaurant is kinda hidden, but try this place out!

We family of four had a hotpot dinner there. We ordered «Yuan-​Yang» pot (half spicy, half none spicy) and beef, lamb, etc. The spicy broth flavor was not as good as what the hotpot broth powder we got from Chinese supermarket. They did offer all kind of dressing for self served.
Waitress and waiters are very nice. Somehow they still forgot to serve what we ordered. After we followed up, they only brought over what we asked, other we didn’t ask (we thought they’ll realize) they never served. I think this is somehow due to their managing way. Need some improvement on tracking what had not served.
In general, this is a good restaurant for hotpot, though the spicy pot flavor is under what we had expected. The dining environment is good. But we probably will not go back for hotpot. Maybe will try their other dishes next time.

Came in Jan 2011 with a couple of friends. Price is decent, good variety on menu. But…
It needs some improvements, hopefully they work out the kinks soon.
— brought us wrong items at least 4 – 5 times (e.g we ordered fish balls, got fish dumplings; ordered chicken skewers non-​spicy, got spicy one… etc.)
— ran out of small plates for the sauce, had to wait
— the squids are not clean properly (disappointed)
— asked multiple times to get the checks, waiters gone and never come back
If they improve, I would come back again.

Contrary to the other reviews, I had an excellent dining experience here. I came with my uncle and we pigged out to the max… we both didn’t even eat dinner that day since we ate so much. Everything here was so flavorful and NOT drenched in oil like other Chinese restaurants (extra bonus points for me!). What’s really neat about this restaurant is that you can pretty much «customize» your own meal by picking what broth you want AND creating your own dipping sauce by mixing your own ingredients!
a few blurbs…
— if you love spicy food, this is THE place for you! The spicy food here is hot, hot, hot — just the way I like it! BUT, be careful. Their mild is really spicy, so don’t even bother going past mild. You can always request more spice, anyway. And it’s crazy to think that they have five levels of spiciness… I could only handle mild.
— Their broth for the shabu shabu is so flavorful! I don’t even think you would need dipping sauce.
— I got the original and spicy combo. It’s nice because it adds more variety.
— did I mention that the food here is cheap? AND good quality?!
— their dipping sauce is unique. It’s sooo cool that they don’t use MSG and that one of their sauces uses 32 different ingredients… and their sweet sauce does not contain any sugar at all! They come naturally from nuts.
— I’m impressed that this restaurant is more health-​conscious… they use fresh ingredients and avoid putting too much salt. the flavors naturally come from veggies, nuts, herbs, etc.
the food:
— spicy cucumber appetizer: Oh my goodness. This was SO delicious. Each bite made me yearn for more!!! It’s pretty refreshing to eat, too.
— onion pancake: I love how it wasn’t drenched in oil… and still tasty!
— shabu shabu: such a good price for what you get. It can seriously feed two. and it comes with a bunch of veggies and fishballs. Yum! They have so many different flavors… so hard to pick what to order!
— kobe beef: dip it with your sauce and you’re golden.
— spicy wontons: probably my favorite!!! so cheap and filling and flavorful!!! Oh how I crave for some right now!
— lamb skewers: so tender and spicy, of course :)
— chicken skewers: not as good… opt for the lamb skewers instead!
— plum juice: not bad. A bit more on the sour side.
— the house special dessert: refreshing and healthy
the service:
— a bit on the slow side, but worth the wait.
— the owner is so friendly! although there are some communication barriers, she does her best to help you out and pick what to order!
— in fact, she noticed we originally had the chicken skewers, but immediately took it away and switched it with the lamb skewers because she said they’re so much better. How nice!
— also, they’re pretty generous. They refill your soup broth if you’re running low.
I feel like Kentobowl has a lot of potential. It’s literally a hidden jem in my opinion, since it’s tucked away between random buildings across the Cupertino post office. It can honestly become the next Verde Tea Café if they served pearl milk tea because you can come here to buy cheap, but filling appetizers!
Ugh… writing this at 2 am was probably a bad idea. I suddenly just got SO HUNGRY! I want some Kentobowl. Right now.

DIY sauce mixes are nice. When it’s not too busy, one of the waiters is extremely attentive. Lots of soup bases to choose from, and a variety of other entrees and appetizers if you don’t want hot pot.
One of the better hot pot restaurants in the area.

went there for the 2^nd time in 2 weeks. our group had 2 hotpot, not bad. the house sweet sauce wasn’t as good as i remembered from last time though. i got the beef noodles with thick noodles. the soup, texture of the noodles and the beef w. tendon were all pretty delicious. we got the red bean pastry, which wasn’t what i expected as it was more like a bun than flat cripsy pastry, but it turned out to be pretty good though, nice soft texture, almost felt like i was eating a moon cake. however, because we went on chinese new year, the staff was quite busy so we didn’t get as much attention as we liked, ie. the soup for the hotpot and water were not filled as frequently as we like.
one really delicious thing here is their free kimchi appetizer… sooooooo good… the spice was just perfect and i would totally buy it in bulk!
will go back again. as a matter of fact, going back this sunday.

At first we were little hesitated when we saw the rating from Unilocal.However our dining experience ended up being second to none. We ordered shabu shabu hot pot combo. The portion was good with great soup base. The server was really nice and patient in introducing us the menu and providing us with a great service including adding soup multiple times. The boss lady also gave us free plum juice with great hospitality. Overall this is certainly the greatest hidden gem hotpot place in Cupertino! We’ll certainly be back for more, perhaps trying their mala tong next time!

Despite the awful reviews, we decided to give this restaurant a try. We love Asian hot pots and have been to many.
This place, although located rather far away from convenient spots (although still in Cupertino), has very descent food. We came to have their signature hot pots. Their soup base is healthy with Chinese herbs, can’t taste any msg but natural and not-​so-​salty flavor. Their spicy soup base is great too, compare to the Mongolian little sheep hot pot I like this restaurant much better. They give you very generous amount of fresh meat, and good quality veggies, mushrooms, tofu, and clear noodles, among others. We came for lunch – but it is in buffet form for dinner – which I think is very good deal for about $ 15 – 17 per person.
They provide special-​made sauces, and normal sauces for you to mix and match yourself. Everything is fresh instead of questionable looking like some other hot pot places in Milpitas.
Their service is great, very friendly and efficient – constantly asking us if we needed more broth or water. They even gave us plum juice for free.
I really recommend people who appreciate Asian style hot pot to give it a try.

Very bad. Order a noodle with soup. The vegetable there is not fresh. The chef forget to put salt there.

If there is a option for 2.5 stars, I’ll give this place 2.5 stars.
The décor is modern and quite nice, food is okay, service is not good because there were only 3 people to serve 45 customers.
I went on Friday night with friends. When I arrived restaurant, there were 3 tables available, and waitress was setting up a table for me. I told waitress that I need to get thing from my car and I will get back in a min. Guess what, when I came back, all the table were taken. That’s not a good sign for service.
Their menu is pretty attractive, and it can better if they can add some explanation for hot pot section.
We tried Fried Egg and Lamb Skewers for appetizer. The skewers are yummy and good with beer! Fried Egg is super hot when you bit it, the dipping sauce is way too sweet.
Then, we have regular and spicy hot pot combination. We also ordered Japanese beef, meat combination, seafood combination, udon noodles, oyster mushroom and vegetables.
For meat, only Japanese beef tastes good and looks good. Other ingredients don’t look tasty. But the way they place vegetable is cute, like a grass in a basket. The broth is okay, we expect the spicy to be very spicy, but it is not. In other word, the broth is light.
Back to service, we had waited for a long time to order. We needed to ask to get our bowls, chopsticks and water. When I looked around, there were people raising or waving their hands at each table.
In the end, our bill $ 96 dollars after 10% discount, kind of pricey for 4 people because they didn’t feel full. However, I’ll give a try next time for personal hot pot.

If you’re used to hot pot like the ones served at Hot Pot City or at Shabuway, I would like to caution you … this place is definitely different.
The hot pot here is more Taiwanese compared to Japanese hot pot, in terms of the ingredients; such as herbs put into the broth.
When my party and I came in, it was decently busy and noticed first thing the scent of gas or flammable liquid. I saw that each person had their own little stove top that kept mini pots hot throughout the meal. The menu is in Chinese and English and can be a little difficult to read. I had the Spicy Broth, which was probably not a good choice even though I was asked on how spicy I wanted it to be. I ordered the broth with Australian beef. You get to choose the broth and order of meats.
The portion of beef I got was limited to 5 palm size pieces and came with the usual enoki mushrooms, but also came with greens, glass noodles, fish balls, tofu and beef balls. You get to make your own sauce, which I had trouble with … they should recommend combinations for my party was confused. I ordered my brother to be mild/​medium, but it was hot enough to send me into a coughing fit. I got through it though.
Definitely, wouldn’t come here again based on portions and the freshness of the ingredients everything besides the vegs were frozen and sure tasted like it.
Service is just fine though, I’d rather take my lunch money and go to Shabuway instead.

Went with another couple. Was a good place if crave the hot pot. Food was filling. Only had the individual hot pot for myself and for me it was good enough. Wasn’t hugely stand out-​ish but definitely one of the hole in the wall places I would check out.

My girlfriend and I have been eyeing this place for awhile since we are new to the area and it’s conveniently located near our house. We came in on a Friday night about two hours before they closed; it wasn’t busy at all. But it took them about 10 minutes to seat us and hand us our menus. The service was lacking; you get the feeling as though everyone hates their job. The portions of the shabu-​shabu were meager at best and you can definitely tell the vegetables have been sitting out for awhile and were not at their freshest. We also ordered the lamb skewers that took them about a good half hour to cook and arrived at our table cold. Go figure.
In the end, definitely not recommended. If I had to choose a shabu-​shabu restaurant I’d waste the gas and go all the way to Hot Pot City instead.

It takes some daring to walk into the unknown and try Chinese hot pot if you have not had it before or been advised of what you are getting into. The waitress struggles with English and my first attempt to order totally failed; but, she was quick and gracious in correcting my misunderstanding of what I had ordered. In fact, she was quite sweet and accommodating. 5 stars for effort and understanding of a novice like myself on these matters.
The experience was interesting and I plan on going back to try it again without the stigma of having totally embarrassed myself. I had no clue how to make the sauces, what to eat and in what order. Anyone interested in being my guide next time will be much appreciated. Still so much to learn and so little time to learn it all.

Went to try this Shabu place for lunch based on a recommendation from a co-​worker. It’s around 11 – 12 bucks for a shabu combination and you get your own pot to eat out of. You have to make your own sauce, but the sauces are kind of weird. I think they needed to add a recommended combination or how to make sauces for dummies for dummies like me. They give you a decent amount of food to make, but more veggies and accessories than meat. The soup is ok as well. It’s no little sheep thats for sure. I’ll say if you live around the cupertino area its not bad to try… but this location is cursed as this is the 3^rd restaurant here in about 1.5 years.

First off, they weren’t that busy on a Sunday night. However, service was still very lackluster.
The food was suitable if you were on a diet, the portions were very lacking. Naturally, given this case, you think to order rice right? The rice came out hard and almost uneatable. We asked for new bowls of rice only to have them come out and tell us that they were out of rice. In addition to running out of rice, they also ran out of several drinks and dishes on the menu as well.
I’d only recommend the skewers as the shabu portion was a huge letdown.

This place is tucked away in the most unlikeliest places, the far western end of Stevens Creek Blvd, across the street from the Cupertino Post Office.
We decide to give this new place a try. It turned out to be very different from the nice but mostly traditional style of Chinese food in the Silicon Valley. It reminded me of the newer, more innovative cooking that had swept China, Taiwan and Hong Kong in recent years.
It has a self select, cook to order portion with the spicy style of the far Southwest Chinese food called Guo Qiao Mi Xian, a noodle in spicy soup.
We elected to order off the menu and let the chef do everything. Along with Guo Qiao Mi Xian, we ordered a ham hock slices side dish, shredded potato salad, BBQ lamb on skewers and a fried tofu side dish. Both the hock and fried tofu came with some interesting dipping sauces. The Guo Qiao Mi Xian came with some more grounded hot pepper since we ordered low temperature just in case.
The décor also reflects the cross between modern and antiquity in larger Chinese cities as new buildings got decorated with bits and pieces of torn down old homes.
It was surprising to find this newer style finally coming into Silicon Valley as «authentic» usually means traditional. This place certainly points the way for the next wave of Chinese food on the West Coast.