ps99472
New member
http://www.yelp.com/biz/little-sheep-mongolian-hot-pot-irvine
Finally decided to try Little Sheep in Culver Plaza. It's next to Marie Calendars, where Koki's used to be. Walking in from the summer heat you are greeted by the strong herbal/curry scent that is steaming off each table. The air conditioning seems nonexistent. The mainland waiters could use some bandanas as their foreheads were glistening with sweat. At least they wore deodorant, but in this atmosphere it really didn't matter. Pretty packed for a weekend lunch, but only about a 5 minute wait before we were seated. They seem a bit slow in clearing tables and walking/sitting by a dirty table was not very appetite stimulating. They have quite a few number of tables (a nice change for a Chinese chain in Irvine) and bar seating for solo's or people who just want to focus on the food and not their companion.
Think twice about taking little ones here. My 3 year old was a bit confused with going to a restaurant called "Baby" Sheep. I had to keep reinforcing her that we're not actually eating the baby sheeps. She was also a bit turned off by the "smell" of the restaurant. Can be overwhelming for the little ones. Marie Calendars would be a better option next door. So on with the review..
Yin Yang pot (half regular soup stock and half spicy "mala" soup stock
Weekend $15 Lunch Combo
Very good portion for the price. Veggies were decent.. cabbage didn't have any brown spots.. "Teng Ho" veggies were a bit thick rooted but overall not bad.. Didn't care for the potato/yam slices.. but to each their own.. We didn't opt for the Angus ($3) beef upgrade.. If you got the spicy pot, it really didn't matter since the taste will overwhelm any taste of the beef. This type of hot pot is a hate/love relationship for me.. The first few minutes into the meal, it was TASTE BUDS BLISS, as you are assaulted on all fronts with sweet, spicy, sour, salty, UMAMI. But after the initial 10 minutes.. you will be overwhelmed.. Every taste bud will be (MSG?) overstimulated.
They have a "sauce avenue" like other hot pot places (i.e. Ichi Ichi in Rowland Heights). The garlic soy sauce was way too garlicky.. and I thought I was someone that can take garlic. Satay was decent though a bit sweet. I didn't go for the sesame sauce as the flavor of the hotpot wouldn't go well with a Japanese flavored sesame sauce.
You get 4 choices of meat: Beef, Chicken (who would order that?), Pork, and Lamb. Since I already promised by 3 year old about not eating baby animals, we opted for beef and did the yin yang pot to get the best of both worlds. The induction heating system heated up the two broths right away and off we go.. The beef slices cooked fast. If you cooked it in the "mala" spicy pot, you really don't need any other seasoning. Dipping it in satay was overkill. Here's a tip, when using the spoon/scoops to get the food out of the pot, don't worry about taking the "herbal seasonings" out as well. Trust me, towards the end of the meal, when you're hunting for that last piece of beef and keep getting chili pepper after chili pepper, straining the inedible pieces of the hot pot will save you alot of time in the end.
We added their house special shrimp paste ball (blatantly pictured in the menu) to bump us over the $50 limit coupon (see below). It was pretty good, and I would order it again next time. Sodas were refillable, a nice surprise in an Asian restaurant. Here are two coupons from the shop irvine website. We were refused the first coupon, the waiter/manager stated that it was weekday only, yet it didn't say it on the coupon. We were able to use the second $10 off $50 coupon after adding another order of the shrimp balls.
http://www.shopirvinecompany.com/coupons/getcoupon.aspx?ids=7622
http://www.shopirvinecompany.com/coupons/getcoupon.aspx?ids=7623
P.S. We seriously needed a deep saline nasal rinse after dining here.. stinky.. also my tummy didn't take too well to the spices.. Be prepared for a fast drive home afterwards.. I don't think we'll be coming back anytime soon.. Little Sheep is definitely a quarterly dining experience for us maybe even a bi annual event. We didn't want to eat anything for the rest of the day after this, and even now feel repulsed by the extreme tastes of the place.. but in a few months, we'll probably crave for it again.
Finally decided to try Little Sheep in Culver Plaza. It's next to Marie Calendars, where Koki's used to be. Walking in from the summer heat you are greeted by the strong herbal/curry scent that is steaming off each table. The air conditioning seems nonexistent. The mainland waiters could use some bandanas as their foreheads were glistening with sweat. At least they wore deodorant, but in this atmosphere it really didn't matter. Pretty packed for a weekend lunch, but only about a 5 minute wait before we were seated. They seem a bit slow in clearing tables and walking/sitting by a dirty table was not very appetite stimulating. They have quite a few number of tables (a nice change for a Chinese chain in Irvine) and bar seating for solo's or people who just want to focus on the food and not their companion.
Think twice about taking little ones here. My 3 year old was a bit confused with going to a restaurant called "Baby" Sheep. I had to keep reinforcing her that we're not actually eating the baby sheeps. She was also a bit turned off by the "smell" of the restaurant. Can be overwhelming for the little ones. Marie Calendars would be a better option next door. So on with the review..
Yin Yang pot (half regular soup stock and half spicy "mala" soup stock
Weekend $15 Lunch Combo
Very good portion for the price. Veggies were decent.. cabbage didn't have any brown spots.. "Teng Ho" veggies were a bit thick rooted but overall not bad.. Didn't care for the potato/yam slices.. but to each their own.. We didn't opt for the Angus ($3) beef upgrade.. If you got the spicy pot, it really didn't matter since the taste will overwhelm any taste of the beef. This type of hot pot is a hate/love relationship for me.. The first few minutes into the meal, it was TASTE BUDS BLISS, as you are assaulted on all fronts with sweet, spicy, sour, salty, UMAMI. But after the initial 10 minutes.. you will be overwhelmed.. Every taste bud will be (MSG?) overstimulated.
They have a "sauce avenue" like other hot pot places (i.e. Ichi Ichi in Rowland Heights). The garlic soy sauce was way too garlicky.. and I thought I was someone that can take garlic. Satay was decent though a bit sweet. I didn't go for the sesame sauce as the flavor of the hotpot wouldn't go well with a Japanese flavored sesame sauce.
You get 4 choices of meat: Beef, Chicken (who would order that?), Pork, and Lamb. Since I already promised by 3 year old about not eating baby animals, we opted for beef and did the yin yang pot to get the best of both worlds. The induction heating system heated up the two broths right away and off we go.. The beef slices cooked fast. If you cooked it in the "mala" spicy pot, you really don't need any other seasoning. Dipping it in satay was overkill. Here's a tip, when using the spoon/scoops to get the food out of the pot, don't worry about taking the "herbal seasonings" out as well. Trust me, towards the end of the meal, when you're hunting for that last piece of beef and keep getting chili pepper after chili pepper, straining the inedible pieces of the hot pot will save you alot of time in the end.
We added their house special shrimp paste ball (blatantly pictured in the menu) to bump us over the $50 limit coupon (see below). It was pretty good, and I would order it again next time. Sodas were refillable, a nice surprise in an Asian restaurant. Here are two coupons from the shop irvine website. We were refused the first coupon, the waiter/manager stated that it was weekday only, yet it didn't say it on the coupon. We were able to use the second $10 off $50 coupon after adding another order of the shrimp balls.
http://www.shopirvinecompany.com/coupons/getcoupon.aspx?ids=7622
http://www.shopirvinecompany.com/coupons/getcoupon.aspx?ids=7623
P.S. We seriously needed a deep saline nasal rinse after dining here.. stinky.. also my tummy didn't take too well to the spices.. Be prepared for a fast drive home afterwards.. I don't think we'll be coming back anytime soon.. Little Sheep is definitely a quarterly dining experience for us maybe even a bi annual event. We didn't want to eat anything for the rest of the day after this, and even now feel repulsed by the extreme tastes of the place.. but in a few months, we'll probably crave for it again.
