There’s no tablets or robots at Szechuan Mansion, just traditional-style hotpot
Is it worth navigating down to where Charlotte almost borders Matthews for Chinese hot pot?
Worth risking a panic attack while spiralling around The Arboretum parking lot, which sprawls as far as Los Angeles and as wide as Dallas?
Friends, I’m here to say yes — yes, it is.
Because once you step inside Szechuan Mansion Hotpot, you’ll be welcomed into a zen-like atmosphere with maple blonde wood slats and minimal decor.
Depending on when you go, it can be peaceful, spacious and even airy with daylight still streaming in.
About Szechuan Mansion Hotpot
The North Carolina chain, which hails from Cary and has another location in Durham, opened in Charlotte last October.
As for the menu, it offers set prices based on your party size, along with additional à la carte options.
Note this is not an “all you can order” situation like that of Korean hotpot and barbecue restaurant KPot; everything is pre-portioned by menu selection.
We appreciated that our server was patient and thorough in explaining how to order and walking us through the menu.
For my party of five (including my former restaurateur parents), our server recommended we start with the menu “Combo C,” intended for “3-4 people,” and it proved a mostly sufficient portion, with the addition of a couple of sides.
For the price at $69.99, it proved to be a fairly good value, because it included:
- one appetizer: We got smashed cucumber salad.
- eight meat selections: sliced prime beef, sliced marinated beef, tender marinated beef, sliced pork belly, fish tofu, fish ball with pork, fresh shrimp ball, kungfu beef tripe
- Three sides: single servings of white rice, Spam fried rice and ramen for the hotpot
- 1 farm (veggie) platter
Szechuan Mansion also offers a full menu of beer (draft and local options), wine, sake, boba and milk tea, along with specialty regional beverages like a full Thai coconut and plum drink by the glass or pitcher.
Szechuan Mansion’s hotpot
As for the setup, it resembles a traditional hotpot setting with one broth pot at the table instead of individual pots, which are de rigeur in newer hotpot restaurants in the U.S. and across Asia.
This makes for more collaborative fun, but obviously limits the customization levels of broth types and spices depending on your group.
You can, however, opt for two broth flavors at once, by ordering a “Yin-Yang” style hotpot, where the broth pot is split into two with a metal divider; typically for one plain and one spicy side.
For the broths, we picked the bone broth and beef tallow spicy broth.
For the latter, our server recommended starting with the “medium” spice level, which we found sufficiently spicy even for the most spice-loving members of our crew.
That said, if you want to actually be able to sip your spicy broth, then I’d advise starting with the lowest spice level, seeing how you feel and building your way up from there.
Because once you commit to a spice level, you can’t really go back.
As the hot pot was getting set up, we ambled our way back to the sauce station, combining various shallow bowls with sa cha sauce, chili oil, sesame oil and more, along with cilantro and green onions.
When the broths arrived, I was happy to see dates, bright red ginseng bits and a huge meaty beef bone on the bone broth side, which came through in the soup’s flavor.
On the spicy side, there were plenty of fragrant, tingly, numbing málà peppers.
As the accoutrements arrived, our server was more than happy to offer suggested cooking timings for the various proteins.
The meats were well-presented: rolls of red meats and pork, neatly stacked seafood balls, well presented shrimp rolls, duck feet and tripe on ice.
As for the cucumber salad, meat and broth, everyone agreed they were satisfactory in freshness and flavor.
The food at Szechuan Mansion Hotpot
Personal favorites were the fish tofu (which was more like a fish cake), shrimp ball, the beef and the Spam fried rice, which encouraged me to try this at home.
Which leads me to my only, overall complaint: The portion sizes for non-protein items are simply too small.
Our rice and noodle sides were served in what seemed like three small, single-serving bowls.
In any Chinese household, each person typically gets their own rice bowl, full stop, and these portions, which weren’t even filled fully, could have easily been doubled.
So, we ordered two additional rice sides at $.98 each to accommodate our group.
The veggie platter was also sad, with roughly eight pieces of sliced daikon, three thinly sliced pumpkin spears, a small head of broccoli florets and about one bok choy stalk’s worth of leaves.
Even if there had only been three of us for the recommended “3-4 people” serving size, it would not have been enough, so it definitely was not enough for five adults.
In the hierarchy of food costs, rice, dry ramen and veggies constitute some of the highest profit, highest margin items.
These portions could easily be doubled without so much as a minuscule dent to a restaurant’s bottom line, though I also wouldn’t have minded if they just figured out how to work that into the existing price without charging too much more. After all, it’s already a decent value.
I also understand many people may just focus on proteins, but they’re skimping in the wrong places here and could do better with a small adjustment to balance the ratio among proteins, veggies and carbs.
No gimmicks
All in all, this place felt and tasted authentic. Most people go for the hotpot, but I’d also return to try the spicy mix drypot (starting around $30 for two) or house special drypots (starting at $35.99) and cooked menu items like lamb skewers and braised pork belly.
Last but not least, I’m so grateful there are no robot servers here. Instead, a lovely, smiling human brought out our portions.
Sure, robots can be kitschy and cute, but frankly, their growing presence has begun to irk and distract me, becoming a bit too synonymous with gimmicky pan-Asian hotpot fare.
Robots would clash with the peaceful atmosphere of this place anyway, which already offers reprieve from the outside journey to get inside.
Szechuan Mansion Hotpot
Location: The Arboretum, 8008 Providence Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277
Cuisine: Chinese hotpot
Instagram: @szechuanmansionhotpot
