Tsim Sha Tsui Cafe

Glad to have this hotpot establishment in Evanston! I really like how they serve individual hotpot instead of the traditional shared ones. Portions are great, plenty of hotpot soups and additions to choose from. I recommend going for the lunch special — comes with dumplings and drink and cheaper compared to the dinner hotpot. The space is pretty small. So depending on time of day, you can expect a wait.

Favorite Asian Chinese restaurant. Best in cold Evanston winter. We have tried hotpot, rice noodle, fried rice and some dished. All are really good.

I’m a fan. This delicious hot pot place is located right in the heart of downtown Evanston across from the Whole Foods market. Although it’s not the best hot pot I’ve ever had, it was a pleasant surprise to find and perfect for a frosty winter night.
You get your own mini hot pot and the broiler plates are built right into the table. So to start, you pick a broth (chicken, herbal, or schezuan). I like my soup spicy, but after consulting with the waitress, she informed me that the schezuan was extremely spicy so to compromise, my boyfriend and I got one of each to test out the flavor. When my pot of chicken broth came out, I was very happy that I had chosen plain chicken because a whole platter of accouterments also came out — sliced green onions, red chili pepper oil, minced garlic, cilantro, soy sauce, jalepenos, etc. so that you could customize your pot any way that you like. I ended up making my broth spicy, but not as oily and overly spicy as the schezuan soup was. Relative to my bf, I could still drink my broth without the spiciness being too overpowering. As a table, we ordered full plates of meat, veggies, and other add-​ins. This restaurant had some traditional items such as sliced lamb meat, beef balls, quail eggs, etc. but also some unorthodox items such as corn cobs and instant ramen noodles. Out of everything we ordered, my favorite were the fatty beef and lamb slices, hand-​pulled noodles, watercress, and fresh ramein. For only 50 cents more than the instant ramen noodles, this is a much better deal and unless you just like the taste of ramen.
The only con I had was that the quail eggs did not taste very fresh and the sliced meat came out frozen instead of thawed. Although it’s not the authentic shared experience of a large hot pot, the customization of your own mini hot pot is a fun twist and great experience.

I don’t know why people rave about this place their hotpot is simply — not. that. good.
It’s a little overpriced for hot pot (compare to boiling point) and the quality of ingredient can be sub par.
I ordered the kimchi beef hotpot combo and swapped beef with lamb. The lamb that came with the hot pot was frozen. Frozen. You might want to defrost it next time before you put it in the pot because it takes time for it to defrost and cooked through while other ingredients in the pot gets mushy.
Also, they are missing sesame sauce in the tray of sauces. Sesame sauce is a must have for Chinese hotpot. Enough said.
Service is fast and efficient though.

Worst Chinese food around town. Order lamb hotpot … Tastes disgusting and the portion can’t feed a cat. The beef chaw mian is hard and burned I think the chef is not cooking in the kitchen. Anyway i won’t be back

I had been looking for a decent hot pot place in/​near Chicago for years. Stumbling upon this place was the BEST. It’s a newish place — very clean. Their hot pot is very reasonably priced and DELICIOUS. I went twice in the first week and when I introduced it to my parents (foodies originally from Hong Kong), they were tempted to go for dinner two nights in a row!
Definitely worth a try, especially now that winter is coming. Hot pot is usually just super fun for big groups of people, and this restaurant makes it accessible for daily fare with even just 1 – 2 people. They’re never very busy — it would be such a tragedy if they didn’t survive. They’re SUCH a great addition to the Evanston area!

New Chinese hot pot place on Chicago avenue near Northwestern in Evanston. Came here with a group of 8 for a work lunch last Friday. We came in the middle of the afternoon so the place was basically dead.
No one in my party got hot pot, so I guess we were missing out on their specialty. Service was pretty poor. Someone in my group was trying to get vegetarian dumplings with her lunch special bc she was vegetarian and they still ended up bringing her dumplings with some kind of meat (they said they didn’t have meat but I tasted one and it definitely did). This was after several back-​and-​forths about how she didn’t want meat in the dumplings.
I got the pepper chicken chicken entrée as the lunch special. It was fine, nothing special. The honey-​flavored ice tea they give with the lunch special is really good tho! Someone in my group was originally from China and she said her food was pretty average and soggy so I took that as a huge negative, since she would be a better judge of quality than me.
Won’t be coming back!

Have you ever cooked soup at your restaurant table? No? Try it here!
Here’s what I experienced:
I didn’t know what to expect, so I ordered the soup, an appetizer, and two entrees just to be sure. That is a ton of food folks, so you likely won’t need so much…
The Soup:
1. Choose a broth. Vegetable Schezuan is good if you’re vegetarian. Don’t worry, it comes plain, you can add as much or as little spice as you like.
2. Choose ingredients for your soup. Hand pulled noodles and one or two veggies is plenty. (I went overboard and ordered more than I needed.)
3. Choose a protein, unless you like fried tofu, then skip it and order that entrée for your soup. (I ordered both, and the fired Schezuan tofu was much better than the soft plain tofu for the soup.)
While you wait, (or eat your appetizer — I had the veggie dumplings, not bad, but not amazing), check out the glass table and round burner denotations on it. Then, check near you knees, that’s where the burner settings for the table stove top are located.
When the spices for the soup arrived, (they give you like 8 spices to add to the soup in a little tray), and then the broth, it started to make sense. The waiter turned on the burner on the table, set the broth down to boil, and then brought out the noodles, mushrooms, and bok-​choy.
After two or three minutes, the soup was spiced, cooked, and ready.
Other dishes:
I added the spicy Schezuan fried tofu entrée to my soup, and it was a really good dish on it’s own merit, so I’d order it again.
The mushroom noodle dish was also decent, but the soup really makes this place what it is. It’s amazing how something as simple as watching a hot plate boil your dinner in front of you makes dinner more interesting.
Just be sure not to put your personal items on the table, (in case you burn them accidentally), and you’ll do fine!
Don’t forget the spoon!

Located close to Northwestern University. I came with a friend last night for dinner.
We shared the lamb hot pot set and ordered extra ramen noodles. They gave A LOT of meat and a good amount of the vegetables and other miscellaneous items.
My friend has never done hot pot before, so I had to teach her what to do. She had a lot of fun cooking the food. I really likes that we were given a large thing of condiments to make our own sauce. I got to cater my sauce to my taste which was really nice.
Service was really good. The waiters came by and checked on us multiple times. They also filled our water multiple times.
Loved this place and I would definitely come back! Perfect food for rainy weather!

Soup on a cold winter day… I’d say Tsim Sha Tsui could not have opened at a better time this year to take full advantage of the sad stressed cold NU student population, a large number of whom live across the street/​down the block from their storefront.
And when I say take advantage… I really mean it. As the only dedicated hot pot place in down, they are free to charge whatever they want for their small portions and tack on an extra charge for their sauce/​condiment bar and friends still say «it’s not bad» and go because it’s close and the prices are only a little ridiculous.
AYCE in Chinatown beats the shit out of this place. A la carte here, spinach was like $ 4 a portion. The broths are fine, the condiments are good, I can’t complain either when it’s cold and I want to meet friends for hot pot and they’re too far away from Chinatown :(
The combo they have are a reasonable deal. $ 12 for a «lunch» portion that has some noodles, and I feel a good amount of full after eating it. I’m not sure if it’s because the msg really bloats me though, because I do feel pretty thirsty after eating here :\
Delayed review, but my general opinion on this place after several visits still stands.

I’ve been to this TST twice. Once for hotpot and another for lunch. I really love the food. Their fried rice was very authentic and their fried shrimp was perfectly done. The stock of the hotpot is very good as well, thou I do not agree on them charging for sauce/​condiments. I really wish they had an option of a shared big hot pot instead of a personal one with everything already in the pot. I actually like to eat my hot pot a certain way but cos everything was already in the pot, i was unable to.
I feel the hotpot is overpriced, thou there is a variety of ingredients it’s really insufficient. And althought it comes with rice, they do not bring you rice unless you request for it. And my order of dumplings never came despite having asked them twice.

Had to try this place because there’s no hot pot restaurants in the North Shore and was a little disappointed.
Traditionally hot pot is enjoyed by the whole table with sharing and mixing of chosen ingredients that are raw however it was merely a serving of a large bowl of soup that was essentially cooked before it arrived to the table and it was a matter of keeping the bowl hot.
I ordered the Kimchee bowl which was tasty but not very filling. Only 5 – 6 thin slices of beef and then mainly Nappa cabbage and cellophane noodles with a few fish balls. My friend ordered he lamb bowl which appeared smaller in portion.
I left having to get a bubble tea around the corner at Joy Yee’s to feel satiated.
Service was nice and friendly.

Food: The food was mediocre at best. I ordered the Kim chee bowl. Frequently, I found myself biting into gelatinous balls of an unknown substance. The pepper steak chow fun was very oily, however, the meat was tender and cooked to my liking.
Service: They were definitely very nice and courteous. The initial order that was brought to the table was incorrect and the server gladly took it back and corrected the mistake.

I decided to go on a culinary adventure last night. This is a hotpot restaurant. I wasn’t 100% sure what that entailed until about half way through my meal. So I’ll do a public service and break down what to expect.
The middle pages of the menu have the hotpot options. So you choose your soup, and the ingredients you want to put in your soup. They have a bunch of choices like cabbages mushrooms beef noodles or dumplings. I went chicken broth here. First they bring a tray of fixings to make your own custom sauce. It had garlic, soy sauce, cilantro, satay, etc. bring the soup onto the heating element within the table and it starts coming to a boil. Then they bring your ingredients on separate plates to the table. I got some rib eye, scallops, radishes, Napa cabbage. You just mix in the sauce you made into the hotpot soup then you put the various ingredients into the soup and let them cook a minute or two. Once your ingredients are ready you scoop them out of the hotpot with some soup into your bowl and eat. And there are little buttons under the table that adjust the heat for the hotpot. I didn’t know that and it started a rolling boil until I figured it out.
This place is fun because you get to customize your whole meal and I’ve never had an experience quite like it. The only thing comparable is a Korean now where you grill your own meats. Go here if you’re looking for a unique experience.

What is better in the middle of winter than a nice steaming bowl of soup that you get to customize? The menu is a bit daunting if you are totally unfamiliar with hot pot, which we were. But the waiter quickly explained how it works and it made total sense.
Went with the chicken broth base, beef, mushrooms, lettuce, dumplings, mussels, rice noodles and udon noodles. The result was a delicious soup. I will admit that when they bring everything to your table it is a bit of a rush trying to get your soup made and boiling but by the end of it it was very enjoyable. Extremely filling as well and for a reasonable price for a date night.
I personally really enjoyed the beef, shitake mushrooms, dumplings, and udon noodles. Will hopefully make it back soon to try more. And its BYOB!

Finally a hot pot place in Evanston!!! That’s the good news.
This place has nice electric burners built into the table, rather than the ones that I see at other places that they bring out with the gas. I was always slightly scared that I might touch the table and be burnt, but that was not the case.
It’s just basic hot pot, broth, ingredients, cook it yourself. Not much more you can get from a typical hot pot experience. The portion size in on the small side, and I do feel it was kind of pricey for the food that we got.
The restaurant is also really crowded, and the wait is fairly long (~30 minutes). However, you could go wander around Evanston, and they call you when your table is ready.

This place was just scrumptious. Apparently a «hot plate» place is where you order your own toppings for a soup and your table has electric burners built in to cook your food for you in front of you. I’m completely new to that and most of the food on the menu, so I kept it simple. I ordered the garlic seafood fried rice plate. It was delicious. Spicy but not crazy spicy. Garlic is a scrumptious touch. Not too much egg. Had scallions, shrimps, and mussels. Probably about 3 – 4 each and they werent large! The dish overall was plenty for once person for about $ 13. Worth every penny and very filling. The server was also very good. Wouldn’t let my water cup go empty. Explained the menu to me when I asked.
High quality place! Give it a try!

I’ve been here three times now so it’s time for a review! First things first — HOT POT IN EVANSTON. Yes. I’m pretty sure if this was the worst hot pot in the world I would still frequent this place because there is nothing that tastes better than hot pot during a cold Chicago winter.
Luckily for me it isn’t the worst hot pot place in the world. But it’s also not the best. I’ve found the soup to be overly salty (and if you get spicy soup then it’s pretty much inedible in the end tbh and I’ve seen one friend manage to convince the servers to adjust the spice level in his soup but otherwise… Good luck). If you’re like me and you like mild to medium spice, get the chicken or fish broth and ladle some chili oil into it.
I’ve had the lamb combo pot and didn’t like it that much because while there was a decent amount of food it was all veggies AND all the soup evaporated. So I suggest ordering your own toppings, but keep in mind this place isn’t into generous portions (which is funny because I’m pretty sure they’re owned by Joy Yee’s who is quite into generous portions).
Basically, food is aight not great and prepare to spend 20 bucks if you want to leave full. I would recommend the fatty beef over the other meats and also the spam and cooked ramen noodles.

Being Cantonese, I’m often craving Hong Kong style food, so imagine how excited I was to find Tsim Sha Tsui Café opened in Evanston. I got their chef’s special vegetarian chow fun which is a surprisingly flavorful dish! They don’t skimp on the quantity (enough for 2 meals) or quality of ingredients (king oyster mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, etc.) either, so I’m impressed that you get all this for $ 13.
On the other hand, their hot pot isn’t as filling, unless you order side dishes to supplement. Note that:
(a) each hot pot is for one person.
(b) all ingredients you see in the photo of their restaurant menu for both meat and veggie hot pots are included.
© it’s $ 10.95 for lunch, and $ 12.95 for dinner at the time of writing.
(d) it takes under 10 mins to thoroughly cook the hot pot at a heat setting of 5, but turn off the heat to minimize evaporation of the broth.
(d) if you’re ordering the vegetarian option, specify that you want vegetarian broth.
If you come in large groups, they take reservations by phone.

Came here to eat one cold night and it was perfect! Each person gets their own electric stove that’s already built into the table. The menu has a wide variety of vegetables, meats, etc for you to choose from. You can either order a la carte or get one of their combination bowls. I got their lamb combination bowl. Before they brought the food, they brought a large basket type thing with 8 small bowls of hot pot condiments. These include sauces/​flavors like hot pepper flakes, satay sauce, cilantro, green onions, soy sauce, raw garlic, etc.
The hot pot came with everything already in the bowl so you just have to turn on the heat and wait for everything to cook. It’s nice that they allow you to control how hot the stove is yourself. The combination pot came in the regular broth by default. There are various other broths available including a spicy one. Overall everything was delicious. There were various veggies and things to compliment the lamb including noodles, enoki mushrooms, fish balls, lettuce, corn, tofu, gluten squares and fried dough balls. I also found yarn in my pot which was probably used to hold together the noodles or something.
In general, great for a cold night and would go again!