【Foodholic Naoko in Taipei】

"Additive Kombu Hot Pot" is a chain of individual hot pot restaurants, but what's special about this new location is the all-you-can-eat self-service bar with various vegetable hot pot ingredients. I really love this kind of hot pot restaurant, not just because it’s all-you-can-eat, but because I can choose my favorite vegetables without having to pick a bunch of hot pot ingredients.

There are quite a few vegetable options here, with many whole food choices. I recommend it for people looking to eat healthily, as you can enjoy a lot of veggies.

The rice and noodle dishes here are also all-you-can-eat, and there are a ton of noodle options. However, everyone should be mindful of their portion sizes and avoid wasting food~~~

I chose the white sauce spicy hot pot base that I've been craving!!!!!! (additional $38)
It's an Italian white sauce combined with a spicy hot pot base, and it comes with a slice of cheese for you to add in yourself. Although it feels a bit indulgent, it’s really delicious!!!! I still want to order this soup base next time! The main prince noodles are very tasty~~~

Boneless chicken thigh $428
The chicken thigh pieces look like there are only five, but each piece is quite large. Finishing all of it will definitely leave you feeling very full. The flavor of the chicken isn’t strong, and the chicken thighs need to be cooked for quite a while, but the amazing thing is that even when cooked for a long time, the meat remains super tender.
In addition to the chicken thighs, there are also six clams that are relatively fresh and quite plump.

After your meal at Additive, you must try the fresh cream grass jelly dessert—delicious, delicious! It would be even better if it were a bit colder!

Overall Rating: 🌕🌕🌖🌑🌑
Dickson's Fooday Rant #251
This time, Dickson will review an affordable hot pot series.
I'm sure everyone is familiar with Jiajia Hot Pot.
Jiajia is one of the oldest hot pot restaurants!

Back in the day, the famous milk pot was a must-try at Jiajia!
It used to be really hard to make a reservation for Jiajia's milk pot~~
But now, the competition in the hot pot scene is really fierce.

So now, they have opened more and more branches,
and it has turned into a type that offers a lot of buffet-style options.

The highlight of the hot pot here is that the vegetable plate, eggs, and side dishes are all unlimited.
It's a buffet style
including various fresh vegetables, drinks, eggs, and side dishes like rice and noodles—ice cream, etc.
All can be enjoyed in unlimited quantities at the self-service bar!

So first of all, the value for money here is quite high!
You only need to order a basic hot pot set
to enjoy unlimited access to everything at the self-service bar.
You can eat vegetables until you are full
and you can grab unlimited water lilies! Sounds amazing, right?

As for the hot pot part,
I personally think it follows an affordable style.
There isn't anything particularly outstanding or disappointing.
The broth and the meat itself are quite standard～
After all, the price point isn't too high,
so I think it’s all about value for money.

However, even though the restaurant appears bright and tidy,
I don't know if it's because there are too many customers or what,
but I feel that the cleanliness hasn't been done well.

You can sense that the seats are just hastily cleaned before the next group of customers is called in to use them.
Additionally, the seating in the restaurant is relatively crowded,
so the seating and dining experience isn't that great.

Moreover, because there are quite a few customers in the restaurant,
some items at the self-service bar may run out.
Sometimes you have to wait a bit for new items to be restocked～

But overall, I think for an affordable hot pot,
it’s still quite good.
After all, their signature milk pot is still quite nice!

If you happen to be near one of their branches～
and feel like indulging in this affordable hot pot,
I think you should check online for reservations first
before coming over to enjoy a hot pot set!

Food: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Drinks: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Atmosphere: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Service: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Price: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

⭐️Food
👉 Selected beef and pork combo pot $446
This combo pot is basically a mix of beef and pork.
In terms of meat quality, I think it’s just average, not impressive.
It's about on par with other affordable hot pot places.

👉 Wet-aged Picanha beef pot $906
This pot is a bit high-priced on the menu.
The beef here is a little better than the average quality beef,
but it’s still around this price level.
At least the meat quality is quite good,
which matches its price point.

👉 New Zealand lamb shoulder $290
Also, a separate order of lamb.
The lamb doesn’t have an overwhelming gamey flavor,
but it also meets its price level.
The portion isn't too large.

As for the broth,
the milk pot performs quite well.
The flavor of the milk is very rich but not too fishy,
and it’s not overly thick—more like fresh milk.

Since Dickson usually orders from the medicinal pot series,
this time he ordered his herbal medicine pot.
Basically, his herbal medicine pot isn’t very rich,
more on the lighter and healthful side.
It’s quite nice to drink on its own,
light and refreshing～～

Since we’re here at this Jiajia self-service menu,
we should make good use of these unlimited items.
Basically, the vegetable selection at the bar is quite rich,
so you can grab any vegetables you want.

In addition, there are also some sauces and hot pot items available for taking.
One notable aspect is
that the eggs are available in unlimited amounts.
Luckily there’s no egg shortage now,
otherwise, I think they would run out quickly! 😂😂😂

Additionally, their self-service ice cream is also unlimited.
It all depends on how well everyone can make the ice cream come out looking good?

In terms of food,
their hot pot is moderately satisfactory.
It fits the image and price standards of this restaurant.
Although there’s nothing special,
I feel like it’s just a basic and stable offering!

⭐️Drinks
The drinks are also self-serve,
and I think most people know that
usually, this type of self-service drink station has the usual soft drinks.
So there isn’t much more to evaluate here～～

⭐️Atmosphere
Actually, from the exterior and the atmosphere inside,
it looks like it follows a white-themed style.
It should be a clean, tidy, and bright atmosphere.
But once you sit down to eat,
you’ll find that the tables and chairs are not that clean.
Maybe it’s due to peak dining hours,
the environmental cleanup is done in a hurry,
so some details may not be tidied up well.
But this aspect takes away from the dining environment a bit.

Also, because the space inside isn't particularly large,
the seating area is divided into four-person sofa areas and other two-person dining areas.
The spatial planning pulls the distance between the tables very close,
so during the meal, it feels very noisy.
But I think this kind of affordable hot pot restaurant
seems to have this kind of spatial arrangement nowadays.

So if the other customers nearby get too loud,
you might have to bear with it!

⭐️Service
Basically, there isn’t any exceptional service here,
and because of the crowd during dining hours,
the staff may be overwhelmed.
So sometimes when ordering extra items, you have to remind them
before they can assist with your additional requests～

⭐️Price
I personally think the biggest advantage of this place is its price.
After all, with unlimited use of the self-service bar,
just ordering a basic hot pot set
allows you to enjoy a lot of things.

And their hot pot prices are really reasonable.
You might only need three to four hundred bucks to access the self-service bar freely.

At this rate, the value for money is indeed quite high!

⭐️In Summary
I feel that Jiajia has positioned itself as a more affordable hot pot brand,
and indeed, I think their performance in this regard is quite good.
The basic hot pot offerings are also standard and decent, not too bad,
demonstrating their expected level of quality,
and combined with the unlimited self-service bar approach,
they have successfully attracted many customers.

However, I think improvements in the environmental aspect are still needed!
But overall, I think it’s still quite suitable for a relaxing and affordable meal～
a place to go when you think of light hot pot snacks!

Braces Person's Review: Separate Restrooms for Men and Women 👍👍👍

After trying other places, this one has a self-service bar.
I made a reservation online this time; there were quite a few foreigners on-site.
There were more people, so tables were combined with a partition in the middle,
making the space quite small.

This time, the two of us dined and ordered:
Broth Base
Italian White Sauce $8
Spicy White Sauce $38
Selected Beef and Pork Combo Pot $438
Taiwan Black Pork Pot $428
A La Carte:
Sea Bream $60
Bass $60

Ordering the white sauce pot comes with a slice of cheese, which I used to cook the noodles at the end—super rich and creamy 👍
The beef and pork tasted okay.
The broth base had a good flavor, so we didn't really need any dipping sauces.
The added bass and sea bream were also acceptable.
The self-service area had reasonably clean vegetables and hot pot ingredients.
There was a good variety; the fish paste was pretty tasty.
For dessert, there was yam paste with grass jelly, which we scooped ourselves from a small fridge.
It was a bit messy.
In conclusion, there are better options available at the same price point~

🔅Actual dining date: 2024/08/22
*Please do not reproduce or use the photos without permission & for commercial purposes.

I've really wanted to come to this all-you-can-eat vegetable place since it opened. I must say, I'm a fan who really loves it, having visited the Banqiao, Ximen, and Zhongxiao locations many times. Here are my simple thoughts.

▪️Broth: Italian white sauce +$8, spicy white sauce +$38
It's been a long time since I've had their signature white sauce. Cooking vegetables and meat in it is indescribably delicious; it's smooth and not too greasy (not drinking the broth). I also found my friend's spicy broth quite good, it really had the aroma of spicy soup.

▪️Taiwanese black-haired pig hotpot $428
▪️Choice beef and pork combo $438
(Taiwanese black-haired pig/American beef belly)
▪️Add-ons: bass $60, snapper $60
I've always thought their pork is better than the beef, and the black-haired pig performed excellently. The beef belly in this combo was also quite tender. I felt that even when cooking in the white sauce broth, the fish still had a strong fish taste, but the quality of the meat was good, and the portion for the add-ons was generous.

For me, it’s all about familiar and preferred flavors. There are plenty of options for all-you-can-eat vegetables (especially leafy vegetables), and there are desserts (regular flavors), a drink area (not used), and my favorite taro grass jelly (normal performance, not overly sweet, but the pot is too small to easily access).

Overall, the decor is beautiful, but the seating area has two-person tables separated by four-person tables, which feels a bit cramped. It was a weekday evening, and business was good (there seemed to be foreign customers), and perhaps because of this, the cleanliness of the environment wasn’t great; the table we sat at was a bit dirty, and the utensils had stains.

With all that said, I probably wouldn’t want to come to this branch again. I still love their flavors, but I can just go to a regular place.

P.S. At checkout, the staff asked if there was any need for improvement, and it felt like they sincerely wanted to gather suggestions (not just a routine inquiry). However, since I had just eaten and couldn’t react immediately, I didn’t mention the cleanliness issue.