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Mon-Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
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Ate at this place in Xi'an, Union City (Bay Area) and now here and have never been let down. The upside at this place was the service. The waiter and waitresses that helped us were very nice.
Recommend the white noodle, sliced lamb/beef of course, shiitake mushrooms and tofu.
Got the half spicy, half house broth. We asked for medium but it was MUCH hotter than medium. Food was awesome.
6pm on a weekday, no wait...
In an attempt to search for a hot pot that matches tp to the Little Sheep located in Nor Cali, I took a shot at this hot point joint in Monterey Park. If you go onto Little Sheep's official website, it states that the only hot pot location they have in So Cali is located in SD. Then I ask, why does this place link up to that same website? Is this apart of that same chain? Or is this a knock off? Those are called Little Sheep while this one is called Little Fat sheep. Maybe the first person who reviewed this place mistakenly thought they are of the same chain.
Anyhow, so the feel, the venue, and some parts of the menu seem the same as what I have experienced in the Bay. They do lack some fine combinations on their menu (meat, mushroom, veggie medly-mix to name a few).
The food definitely tasted the same in many aspects. I liked how they weren't stingy with the sauces and just drop out a whole batch of it. The beef we ordered was still frozen and the mini bok choy didn't seem washed at all. Nevertheless, the food was still good. Accompany the hot pot with a cold glass of Tsing Tao and hot tea = perfect.
The service was pretty good. Even though we're not rookies in the hot pot department, we still let her give us a quick tutorial. Make sure you get the 1/2 1/2 broth pot so you get the best of both worlds.
After feeling very full, the tab for two people came out to $40 (without tip). I think we ordered a good amount of veggies and other non-meat items. This meal is definitely perfect for a chilly or windy Fall/Winter night.
I just realized they are not the real "little fat sheep" franchise restaurant as the website. Logo is different. HAHA....
Their food is still good. :) I'm going there tonight.
*wrong website address*
Love the different levels of spiciness they offer and the herbs and spice in their broth makes the taste really pop. Disappointed that their dipping sauces seem somewhat limited but the flavor of broth kinda makes up for it. love the onion pancake. Had the blood sausage and the rice cake as well. MMMmmmm. If you are int Shabu Shabu...this kicks it up 10 notches. Be prepared to be your own cook though since its family style cooking and if you snooze you lose. Definitely will go back anytime.
Went here for my birthday on a late Monday night and it was empty. It was really clean in there. There are several dishes to choose from and it was hard to distinguish all the dishes from each other. Visuals would make the menu more friendly. The service was prompt and the food was delicious. The spicy broth was spicy and satisfying, but get ready to fish out all the chiles and herbs from your mouth. The mild broth was absolutely delicious on this chilly night. I couldn't stop drinking it. It's open late until 1AM however, the sign outside says "until midnight" in parentheses...WTF? That must be last call...
This is one of my favorite lunch places of all time in Monterey Park. It's a must-try if you're in the area, and never been here.
For some, it might smell a little strange when you first enter (it's the scent of chinese herbs). However, you'll eventually get used to it, and once you start eating you don't even notice it, because the food is that good.
I ordered the 1/2 medium spicy with regular broth and the other with the house special broth (w/ some herbs). I ordered a plate of beef, pork, some mushrooms, clear thin noodles, and a plethora of pork/fish/cuttlefish balls. 'Twas quite delicious. All the meat was fresh, and the broth was extremely rich in flavor.
For the experience and what you get, Little Fat Sheep is decently priced. The restaurant decor could use a bit of work, but the staff is friendly and helpful.
After reading all the review for this place and being that I'm such a hot pot fan, I ended up pretty dissapointed. The soup, which is the most important part of a hot pot was only okay. Not as flavorful as some of the nearby hot pot. The service was good and there was a good choice of ingredient but nothing stellar as far as quality. Try Monland Hot Pot or Lugi, which is better.
This place sells on the idea of a Mongolian and Chinese fusion to create a unique hot pot with a broth filled with different herbs and spices. Don't get me wrong. The broth is tasty and rich, yet very oily. They claim no MSG, but I don't believe it. The broth reminds me a "gumbo" type soup where everything and anything is put in. The side plates were small, yet everything tasted fresh. The service was good; fast and efficient as most asian restaurants should be. The price/dish was a little steep for the quantity of feed given.
Quantity: small
Quality: Not bad
Service: good
Taste: mediocre
Overall impression: Good place to go with friends and share good times. I think the price is a little high for the quantity given, especially for asian food. Overall, good food, good times, but i will continue to look for other hot pot places. Strange, there isn't a lot of competition in the area for hot pots...good business idea?
The first day of rain for the Fall season this year called for an inaugural trip to Little Fat Sheep for some hot pot! I love it here. I love everything about it, but I don't really like the service. Look, I know the employees here may have limited English skills. But, I can empathize. I have very limited (read: non-existent) Chinese (and all of its dialects) skills. Let's just bear with each other. If you're not done talking, I'll continue listening, and if I'm not done talking, just stay put so you can try to get what I'm asking for, mkay? Don't walk away when you don't even know what I'm asking for. And please, don't tell me not to order something if it's what I want. I know what beef tendon is. And I happen to like it. And don't tell me not to order the dumplings and that it's too much food. I know it's too much. I plan on taking a lot of this home, but I'd like to try some here at the table too. Just let me do my thing, and i'll let you do your thing.
The rainy season is here. Be happy! :)
Look, I know i'll be back here, because my friends and I love coming here on rainy nights, so let's just all be friends.
I'm not a follower, I just crush a lot.
Apparently, all the cool kids are hot-potting these days.…
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I came here after a friend of mine who's among the greatest food lovers I know had characterized the place as "The best lunch he's ever had." But then I heard the description, and being one who tends to hate the DIY (do it yourself) model of Korean BBQs and Shabu Shabu, I was HIGHLY skeptical going in. I mean, how good can a soup place be?
Very good, as it turns out. BEST LUNCH EVER? I don't know about that. I've gone back since, and I think the key is knowing how to order and how to eat this stuff. There are all these incredible herbs and spices thrown into the broth, which is quite literally a simmering cauldron that looks like something right out of Harry Potter. We have ordered too many ingredients each time, raising he price of the meal to the $20 range - slightly expensive for lunch. Not really necessary, I believe. The soup is what's incredible here, the flavor is just amazing, and it's really hot.
I'm used to Asian places making things tame for me because I'm white, and when I ask for spicy, I usually have to emphasize - Spinal Tap style - that I want an 11 on a 1-10 scale. And that usually gets it just above medium for me. No such concerns here. My friend came forewarned and, despite my scowls, he ordered a 7. No worries, 7 had me sweating, which is my pre-requisite to enjoying something and considering it spicy.
I think the place takes a little dexterity. I found the huge amount of herbs mixed in the broth difficult to navigate through. They clearly gave the broth an incredible flavor, but they did not taste good when you ate them by mistake. So, there needs to be a way to segregate them from the food you ordered. By the 2nd time coming here, I was better at that, but it still requires a little strategic thinking when you start to eat. Make sure you let the broth boil over with all the herbs in it before taking any out and putting the things you ordered in there.
But, the broth really is incredible, and when you throw in an onion pancake or two, you really have a great meal.
So after all you overly helpful Yelpers (and a couple of word of mouth suggestions), we decided one night that we really wanted Little Fat Sheep. So we headed on down to Monterey Park and were greeted by an incredibly personable and nice host. After he sat us, Lisa, our waitress, promptly came over to give us instructions on how Little Fat Sheep works. Choose your broth type, spicy or not...if you want it spicy.. how spicy, etc. You can also get a half half where a metal plate separates the non-spicy broth from the spicy broth.
The boyfriend and I ordered a plate of the beef, lamb, enoki mushrooms, spinach, lamb meatballs, squid, AND the fried pancakes that were way way good! They also have a pretty big selection of fruit smoothie type drinks, soju, etc.
Their broths are seasoned with crazy amounts of herbs, spices, etc and the aroma is so ... relaxing.. yes, relaxing and comforting. They turn up the heat, you drop your food in to cook it.. and there you go! Sauces galore, flavors and herbs galore...and not at a bad price either.
The staff was awesome.. the food was awesome.. will definitely be back!
Incredible, really, just delicious. I went there with my family (there were 4 of us) and it was such a great experience. Bob seated us and continually kept coming back to make sure that we had enough food and drinks. It really was a great time.
Great for groups. Worth the trip out to Monterey Park!
Seriously, I am STILL full from last night's dinner here.
I. can. not. eat. anymore.
We ordered way too much food for the 3 of us and all for $25 each. Not bad. But, not good for my belly.
-3 plates of beef
- shiitake mushrooms
- winter melon
- enoki mushrooms
- napa cabbage
- clear thin vermicelli noodles
- fish balls
- fish dumplings
- tofu
- seaweed knots
- flounder filet
- imitation crab meat
My faves by far are the seaweed knots, cabbage, tofu, flounder, winter melon and enoki mushrooms. Yum.
Make sure you get the spicy medium cuz they ain't kidding with that shiet! Spicy is damn good though, way better than the normal broth.
Excuse me while I go run for hours on the treadmill.
With such an off the wall name, I really had to check this place out. My friends and I planned to… Read more »
This place is so wonderful! I am a big fan of hot pot, and this place has blown any other place i've been to out of the water.
The soups are extremely tasty and have a lot going for them. In most hotpot places, you are forced to use other types of sauces to get the flavor up. The soup is very herby, but in a good way. I don't really know how to describe the flavor, but it's very savory. I got the half regular and half spicy soup. The spicy half was extremely spicy, and added a lot of sweat to my meal. I don't think i'd ever felt like i worked out so hard to enjoy a meal before.
As with most hot pots, you order what you want to put in the soup, so if you don't like what you ate...you are dumb.
New favorite Mongolian Hot Pot...I've been searching for decent hot pot for several years and here is one right under my nose. Thanks to Yelp, it was just one of those places on my list of places to try.
I've tried a number of hot pot places in the past and was completely disappointed. The only place I have had a chance to have really good hot pot was in China and Hong Kong, but I was only going there once a year. Much to my surprise, this place was right on with seasoning and spices. The hot was HOT and addictive.
My only disappointment, they did not serve mutton...then again, mutton is not really available in the US so lamb will do. I will guarantee you that this place will be packed on cold rainy days. The flavoring was spot on!!!
love it
Cost
$20 per person
I love this restaurant.
Their service is excellent.
They have many kinds of shabu shabu sauce so that you can make it to your own way. Also, they will give you a plate of chopped garlic and chopped green onion upon request, which gives additional flavor to your sauce.
The only thing I want them to add to the menu is a spam. I went some Taiwanese hot pot places which have a spam and they were so tasty.
400th review is a 5-star rating. Nice!
I am surprised I never reviewed this place in 2005 when I first came...probably BY (before-Yelp!) On this visit I was expecting the usual, cramped, slightly worn hot pot place, but still more lively that the brightly-lit Taiwan places of late (Lu Gi.) What I got was a revamped decor, new ceramic hobs and shiny extraction ducts. Wow.
Our server was super efficient and went out of his way to be entertaining and put our table at ease. He even explained the difference between Japanese shabu shabu and hot pot. We were like the U.N.: Americans, Brits, foreign-born Asians (UK/BBC, Taiwan, Malaysia, HK), Indians so many our group hadn't experienced Mongolian hot pot before.
Since our group was 12 we re-arranged a corner table. This is the biggest group on a single table they can manage and only in the corner - no where else. Otherwise be prepared to be split into 2 groups. For a hearty meal we paid $12 each. Crazy!
Let it be said....This is my favorite hot pot place and I am pleased it's my 400th Yelp review. Round of applause!
A word of caution: bring your A belly for this one and only order spicy broth if you really know what you're asking for.
I walked into Little Fat Sheep with M and S after an afternoon of shopping in Hollywood and record hunting in Pasadena. It was a hot and humid day and we had built up quite an appetite. To top it off, we all pretty much had a case of the sniffles, so hot pot was just what the doctor ordered.
Upon entry, we were greeted with the clean, open, bright and airy layout of the place before being completely blanketed by the aromatic scent of dozens of distinct and intricate flavors converging in a constant flux of boiling, savory broth. I clearly remember salivating almost immediately.
The decor was pleasant, the lighting a tad too bright, but the atmosphere was cheery. There was plenty of bustle and atmosphere provided by the other patrons who were busily chatting away in Chinese while tending their hot pots.
We were seated in one of the many good sized round tables with a burner in the center and each given paper menus. On the menu are all the items available, a la carte style. The idea is that you choose a broth by level of spiciness, then order all the meats and sides you want to complete your meal, which are served raw and cooked by you over an open flame in the hot pot at the center of your table.
We went with a variety of meats, seafood, veggies and noodles. We also ordered the shrimp fried rice on the side. As for the broth, we opted for a segregated pot with not spicy and super spicy broth (10 on a scale of 1 to 10) so we could get the best of both worlds, or mix it up for a blend of the two as we desired.
Boy, these guys were not kidding about their spices. Little Fat Sheep is probably ranked among my personal top 5 as far as spiciest things I've ever been able to order at a restaurant; it's a good thing I like spicy food and my co-conspirators for the evening were similar.
I have to make special note of the broth: it is ridiculously good. Most hot pot places I've been to offered broth with only a modicum of flavor. Usually, you get a bland broth that you need to season to taste. Not Little Fat Sheep... the broth was packed with plenty of punch, seasoned to perfection. Moreover, it did not compete with or detract from the flavor of the other items we added to the pot. In fact, items like the tofu and the mushrooms were enhanced by this flavor, imbibing in the fullness of the broth as they cooked.
It was not long after that we were busily enjoying our feast, sweating from the spices, all the while enjoying each others' company. In fact, Little Fat Sheep is one of those special places that is best enjoyed with company, as big part of the enjoyment is experienced communally designing and creating your meal together.
We left thoroughly satisfied, ready to put an end to our day to lay soundly in our beds, counting little fat sheep of our own until we were whisked away into the kind of dream state reserved only for the contentedly full.
Yum, hot pot. I am definitely not used to non-all-you-can-eat hot pot places, but I guess it turned out to be about the same. I left with a full belly, and paid $20-$25. Not bad, considering beer was included in that total.
Good selection of items to order, good quality meat/ingredients.
I really really liked the flavor of the broth at little fat sheep. I forgot which one we got, but it was really good. I wanted to drink the whole pot! (or, half pot - I couldn't handle drinking the spicy side, but it was still a good flavor)
I usually only go to hot pot in Taiwan, so I know it's kinda comparing apples and oranges. But this place definitely did not fall short in any way. (well, except they didn't serve haagen daz ice cream for free like the places in Taiwan... haha)
I would love to come back here. One thing is, it's important to come with a lot of people so you can try a lot of things.
food is good. service is HORRIBLE.
Went there the first time, food's nice and service is fine.
Went there the second time, ordered a green onion pancake as a side; they forgot about the order, we asked from time to time and waited, we finished our meal (a little over an hour later) and asked the staff to cancel the order. We were told that we can't cancel the order and we have to wait for it to come out of the kitchen when we're already full and done with our meal. For everyone out there who doesn't know, green onion pancake needs to be eaten hot, otherwise it's not crispy anymore and therefore doesn't taste good. It's not something that you would want to take-out. I think we've just left the pancake there.
Third time I went there, which is last night. We arrived at the restaurant (party of 2), there's at least about 15 tables empty and there were no one waiting. We were told that we have to wait, because those tables were 'reserved'. I don't believe it, more than 15 reservation for a place like this? tables scattered all over the restaurant?? We stood there for about 3 minutes asking the staff if we can just sit down, this Bob guy came by and said to us 'hey I remember you, you've been here before! You SHOULD know how it is' ---???? so, I've been here before and I SHOULD KNOW THAT YOU DON'T GIVE A S*** ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS? and I SHOULD know that you will always treat me like a big nothing? I don't feel like I will ever ever want to go back to that place, to think that I've left a tip for them the last time I went already made me feel stupid.
My money will never go to them again.
So, my point is-- food is good, and if you want to be treated like nothing; by all means GO.
It's definitely a must-try as a previous reviewer had said. It opens pretty late on weekends. The place doesn't give you the most sanitary feeling, however it is good none the less. One thing I had to take one star off was the sauce, the peanut sauce didn't taste quite right. If you know your hot pot you'll know what I'm talking about. All in all, it's a really good hot pot place and the staff is really friendly.
I've been up to this place twice now, and it was really good both times. It's a legitimate hotpot place- a lot like the place I went to when I was in China, down to the paintings on the wall and the rest of the decor.
I recommend going here with a big group (eight is plenty), because if you order like me you get too excited and order too much for a smaller group. Then your bill is a bit higher, and you have way too much food.
Since the hotpot is split in half, you can order one side a little spicy and the other side more mild, to make sure the group is ok and everyone is content.
Bring your "A" game appetite to this place, because that's what it calls for when you have so much good food here.
My husband and I went there for the first time tonight. Very friendly staff immediately explained everything. We got the 1/2 & 1/2 medium spicy and it was Spicy!!! But yummy too! Lamb meatballs, beef, mushrooms, green leafy veggie I forgot the name but very tasty! Hand made noodles and chicken fried rice. Along with watermelon juice and 2 beers. $50 for 2 but we have plenty of left overs! We really enjoyed this place. Our 7 month son really enjoyed the staffs attention too!
here again for a meetup on 9/7/09
Why yelpers rate this place high is beyond me!
Extremely overpriced!
Bad Taste of some items
Food, not good quality, and served as if for 'white' yelpers.
Portions for cost, are very small.
Few green choices
Taste of the broth, leaves much to be desired.
The parking lot usually full.
So, Fat Sheep is large place, can bring a group of 40 not problem!
WHY?
Our bill for 8 was $120
This is a rip off totally!
I personally will never return!
Why would I go here when 'good' quality ShaboShabo places around San Gabriel Valley abound~ with quality Asian food!
This place is as Mongolian as MC Donalds is quality!
Both lack!
From A review on yelp:
This place carries a heavy non-Chinese Yelper bias as it is English friendly.
It is extremely overpriced, as the portions are really small. We spent 70$ for two.
Taste is 2/5, I liked the previous owner/operation better.
Service is 1/5, they gave our dishes to someone else, when there were only 3 tables being served.
Won't be back again.
Cost: outrageous
Food: 1
Taste: 2
Value: 1
parking: 2
Ambiance: 3.5
Value:1
~"2.5 Stars"
Way over the top as to Cost for a Hot Pot..
Our table had 10 people!
We had Veggie Hot…
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This is for the Little Fat Sheep on Valley Blvd. next to San Gabriel Hilton, since I can't find a separate entry for that location.
I am a huuuge fan of hot pot, and Little Fat Sheep was my favorite booty call during snowboarding season. After leaving the snow, I just wanted some hot boiling meat (lots of them), soft and tender tofu, succulent stuffed fish balls, and semi-sweet and chewy pig blood cake. Really, I'm not a fan of pig blood and vampires would throw up after eating this, but they don't taste bloody (like the pig blood cubes, bleck) at all. You probably lost all your appetite at this point, but after you get the image of blood cubes out of your head, go over to Little Fat Sheep sometime, and throw some fat sheep into the pot.
Oh it would've gotten a 5 star if the waiters could be more attentive. They're either texting next to the counter with their back facing you or hiding in the back. Then again, what do you expect from a reasonably priced, authentic Chinese restaurant?
The spicy soup here is lethal. LETHAL. While I'm not much for paying for hot pot (it's so cheap and easy to do it at home), Little Fat Sheep makes me feel like Big Fat Man.
To ease the lethality of the spicy... one definitely needs the pitchers of beers here (they have Kirin!)
And we only had level 5 out of 10 spiciness!
The menu is engagingly robust with multitudes of seafood varieties, meat, vegetables and all sorts of goodness. My vote is for the tendon, lamb, stuffed fishballs, and lotus roots.
I personally like the tacky wallpaper, it's just so...asian.
Mary had a little lamb,
Little lamb, little lamb.
Mary had a little lamb ... and I ate it.
I also ate her stuffed squid, cabbage, spinach, and almost every other item on her menu.
'Nough said.
Alright, not quite. Tips for the hot pot unitiated:
1. Order the ying-yang hot pot (which is the half-spicy/half-not mix of hot pot you see in the pictures).
2. Start off with beef, pork or lamb. Cooking chicken (thoroughly) can sometimes be tricky, you may want to wait until your second trip or unless you come with someone experienced.
3. Order cabbage as your vegetable and not spinach unless you're going to pay attention to the cooking as the spinach cooks fast and can turn a sickly cafeteria green if you leave it in for too long.
4. For heaven's sake, please do not dump everything into the f*cking broth right off the bat. Granted, this isn't shabu shabu, but it ain't your grammas' stew either. Put the stuff that's going to take longer to cook, like the cabbage, squid or fish balls, and tofu, in first, and cook the other things (like beef and pork) on an as-needed basis.
5. This place is probably one of the cleaner hot pot places, but don't expect it to be La Cachette, Providence, or Ortolan.
I loath hot pot... okay okay... not that much... but I find most hot pots to be the most boring bland things ever...
So my friend says i HAVE to try Little Fat Sheep... and she takes me there...
mmm... i LOVE hot pot... well only this one... half regular half super spicy hot... purrrrfect...
and it's a la carte so you only get what you want... prices are super reasonable... i hate all you can eat hot pot places because the quality is not as good, the selection not as vast, and of course having to ram as much food down your throat as you can is just not worth it...
the soup has so many good spices and mediciney things in it... and their sauces are great... i love the sesame, satay, and chili... and their hand made noodles are delicious with the sesame sauce...
well... thanks to my friend i have been converted... and well... i grabbed a menu and brought it home to my mother... and she wanted to go the very next day... so there i was... and she also fell in love... and vows to take all of her friends...
the service is great... super friendly and nice... and they take credit cards... love it...
Sweet Lord.. I officially feel like a Fat Little Sheep after eating here.
My mom was in town and thanks to Yelp reviews I found this amazing hot pot heaven. We surprised the FLS staff by our large order of sides/meats/veggies and literally ate till it hurt. Great spot and the staff was very helpful (especially to first timers). I recommend getting the half and half broth so you can try the mild and the spicy. Can't wait to get a group together to go again.
Was it really necessary to use wall paper with realistic looking sheep?
I don't like looking into the eyes of an animal that I am about to devour. It's a good thing I don't consider sheep as a cute animal. I only eat the ugly animals (i.e. chicken, beef, no turtles)
Their menu is huge. I recommend coming with a group, it's more fun that way and you can order a lot more things.
For 2 people, we had
Half regular soup and half spicy. The spicy soup is good. A little on the oily side for my taste though.
Sliced chicken
Lamb
Beef
Scallops- don't order, cheap frozen scallops. Not worth it.
Fish Dumplings- don't order, not a traditional dumpling. It was a weird rolled paste like thing.
Soft tofu
Napa cabbage
Bamboo shoots
Shitake Mushrooms
We also had tea, appetizer peanuts, bread, and pickled diakon. I LOVE pickled diakon! Total: $48
It was bit more that I expected, but I guess we got adventurous with the menu and ordering.
We cleaned up pretty well, but it was more than enough food for two people. There were so many other items that I was tempted to try, but that'll be for the next trip because this place is worth coming back to.
As good as it gets.
Their specialty is the Mongolian style hotpot with two types of broth: a deep, mild milky broth and a spicy dark red broth. Both have tons of nuts, herbs, spices. When I first saw this several years ago, I thought the ingredients looked like the ones you use to make hanyak (a traditional herbal Korean medicine derived from China).
You can choose to divide the hotpot into two and get a taste of both. All the vegetables and meat are fresh. I won't tell you what to get. Your choice!
What I absolutely LOVED was their watermelon drink. It is the elixir of the gods. I've been dreaming about it for months.
I know, I know the smell is disarming...
Took about 4 steps into the restaurant when the shock of the "armpits smell" arrested me. I had to retreat. But then I manned up and grew some balls- took me a few weeks, but I came back. :D
Yes, the soup base smells a little scary, and there's weird unknowns in the brown (why's it brown?) broth, but try it!! You'll love it! Though this place is known for its lamb, I still think it's a little gamey for me. I'm not scurrrrred... I'm SENSITIVE.
The beef is fantastic. I like to dip it into the house broth with those little basket spoons and cook it until there's just a pale (teeny-weeny) shade of pink left on the meat and then off it goes into the dipping sauce. I prefer the brown one, try smelling the others, weird, huh??!
Add a little rice and some magic and mmmmm... tender and slightly flavored by the soup base, YUM~! I think I could easily kill a plate and a half of the beef along with some random vegies...
I will always remember my experience here because of the spicy broth. Oh dear Lordy! I ordered medium spicy and it hurt so bad, but it was so good. The secret to their spicy broth is that as it cooks, the spices continue to get stronger. Magical Voodoo...
But do not fear, they offer delicious regular broth as well, for those of you that fear the FIRE! And you can also get both as well.
Delicious broth, but their meats were mediocre and had very little vegetable options. I like my hot pot to look like a rain forest :) . And the price was...Okay.
Overall, major puntos on their unique broth.
I personally, would not go out of my way to eat here, but it was a nice experience.
MOVE OVER PHO......THERE'S A NEW SOUP IN DA HOUSE...
Am I a heretic? I would be rotten egged at the next UYE for making such a statement. Pho Force will ban me for life. So how in the heck did I get to this point?.......
...few months ago...
Visiting my old neighborhood and mom and going out for lunch, a sign caught my eye....
"Little Fat Sheep" with a bunch of Chinese characters.
"WTF" I thought. "Was this Monterey Park's answer to Venice's Gold's Gym????? Was this reverse Chinese psychology to get people to work out?
Driving on a busy Atlantic Blvd where most of the people learned to drive west of Hawaii and trying to look at this strange sign on the side of street, would get me a guest spot on the next GEICO commercial. Peering quickly through the all glass doors, I could tell this place was set up like......A RESTAURANT???? WITH THAT NAME??? WTF????
I wanted to take a picture of that sign, but being busy with mom, that soon became OBE. I lamented later not getting a picture because with a name like that...they wont be in business long.
So the next trip back to LA, I made a vow I would stop there.
....few months later....
Mom: Where we going to eat? How about this place I know of..$4.95 lunches and.....
Me: I want to go to Little Fat Sheep
Mom: What??? None of my friends go there and it seems always empty.
Me: It's ok. Let's try it. (And I never consulted Yelp on this)
Mom: You sure? NONE of my friends ever ate there and.....
Me: LET'S GO....(I'm driving and paying)
Upon entering the LFS, I noticed every table has a huge hole in the middle. Did I enter a Korean BBQ place? Taking a closer look, I noticed no grill...no nothing. Just a hole. Looking deeper into the hole I could see a huge electric hot plate.........MONGOLIAN HOT POT!!!!!!
Procedure is simple: You get a large, 2 foot diameter hot pot filled with broth and herbs, BOILING in the middle of the table. You select any veggie, noodles and/or meat on the menu. Boil the selected item in the broth for about 20 seconds....and EAT. This is not a small kid safe place.
But what is the most amazing item on the menu is the broth. It has the flavor of nothing else I have had before. 20 years ago my first pho experience was in the bowels of Inglewood where some gangs won't go. I thought that was the greatest broth I ever had and been a pho phreak ever since. LFS tops it...by far.
Cumin, dried logan, dioscorea, angelicase, pilose asiabell, radix astragali, fructus amomi, dates, wolfberry, garlic, scallions, peanuts, ginger, and a dozen other items I could not identify. I was told that the food there was chosen to be both tasty and medicinal. THAT is nearly impossible to accomplish....but it was accomplished exquisitly well here at LFS. There are other Mongolian Hot Pots around....but this is the best by far I have tasted.
If you like pho....this is a must go to place for you. I would strongly suggest the split bowl, two broth version where one would be without any hot spices and the other as hot as you can take. The seasonings are so subtle and complex, the hot spices disguises the true art of this broth. Whereas the hot spicy broth will give your palatte a change of pace.
Soup broth per person: $3.50
Items to add to broth: $3 - $6 per item
Total bill with tip for 2: $30
Taking mom who didnt want to go in the first place and then wanting to brag afterwards to her friends about this place: PRICELESS
The little fat sheep... the name, the creepy murals with photoshopped sheep herding triplets and their pixielated sheep, vats of steaming soup, and $12 Kirin pitchers. Can we ask for a better night out?
We went for the 1/2 spicy, 1/2 mild which was a good choice for first timers. According to the waiter, when we have more experience we should try the Chinese medicinal broth....? hmmm. My personal hot pot faves: eriki mushrooms (sp? not Enoki) , pea sprouts, fish balls with pork, lamb, and baby bok choy.
A happy discovery was the savory pancakes. Seriously, do not overlook the power of the pancakes. I think they could change the world.
Service smervice, you'll be so full of pancakes, hot pot, and beer, you really won't care.
I'm writing this update purely out of duty because someone told me that it's inappropiate to "hold back, especially if I thought a little kid would eat it..."
Little Sheep has always been my go-to place for hot pot until last weekend because I found a triangular piece of GLASS inside my lamb meatball. Had it been small or not sharp, I might have just set it aside. However, it was an equilateral triangle which was 1/4" on all sides.
Somehow, I was very lucky to have bit into the meatball without hurting myself but what if I wasn't paying attention? What if I was eating with such gusto as I usually do that I swallowed it? I cannot imagine the stomach and colon damage by swallowing such a sharp object.
Most of all, I am reminded that a lot of families, kids, and old people eat here and they might not be so lucky.
After presenting the glass piece and the meatball with the triangular-shaped hole in it, the manager (Jimmy) was super apologetic and even tried to explain that it's been so busy that they no longer hand make their lamb meatballs but outsource it. He promised that he would look into it to make sure it would never happen again. I do believe him.
Jimmy does know that I happen to be a yelper because when I first entered Little Sheep, I happen to run into two Ed's. Edgar C. who was having dinner there and Ed Leong who is a friend...
Thus, out of fairness, I welcome Jimmy to reply to this review and I will post it because I do believe it was a one time thing...for now...
"Yum Yum, drink it up!"
Ok, it's not as good as .RONNIE.'s Hot Pot but I don't think her place is…
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Had dinner here with a few others. Hot pot was as good as I've had. I like how the hot pot is recessed in the table, as it makes cooking and serving much easier.
The service was very good for us. The waitress was very helpful in recommending items to order, and whenever we asked for something we got it quickly. They seemed to be very attentive in general as well.
We ordered the half spicy, half original pot. We chose a spiciness level of 5, which was about right - packs a punch without being too painful. Got the lamb, beef, lamb balls, fish balls, bok choi, fried tofu, enoki mushrooms, noodles, and some other vegetable.
Everything was as good as you'd expect. Meat was nice and fatty. Noodles (the wide flat ones) had great texture, since they make it themselves. We also got the green onion pancake, which was nothing special. Oh, and the soup was probably the best part. I liked the mixture of Chinese medicinal ingredients (I call it alien soup). I have no idea if it actually has health benefits or not, but I like to believe that it does. I had a few bowls of the tasty soup when I was almost full.
Price was reasonable. Less than $20 per person after tip and tax.
Official. Hot Pot. Virgin.
That is, until just now. Yup. First time. Do I look any different? Do I have that "glow" about me?
There are so many jokes about meat I could make right now, but I'm going to just leave this be and move on with the review.
First off, you know it must be good when you can't even see into the restaurant because the windows are all fogged up. It's even better when you walk into the place and it smells like a mixture of curry (yes, I know it's not REALLY curry) and well...warm fuzzy goodness. Granted I know no more about what makes good hot pot than the next person, but what I do know is I had not one complaint about any of the food that was put before me tonight. Yeah there might have been some tripe and some intestines and some pork blood and other things that made me slightly want to hurl, but that's why they're hidden in the glorious soup. Ignorance is bliss around here!
They started everyone off with some delish little appetizers - pickled daikon and boiled peanuts that tasted like little drops of angel dust, or maybe just something kinda meaty...or maybe we were just that hungry...either way lets just say they tasted kick ass. There.
As far as hot pot ingredients, between ten people I think we just about ordered everything on the menu. There were multiple moments where plates just couldn't be placed on the table, no matter what kind of food Tetris masters we thought we were. It was a variable wrestling match of food, complete with card girls in bikinis and at least five full rounds of mouth-to-stomach fighting. Highlights ran from lotus root to daikon to scallops, little mini fish omelettes, tempura something or other, tofu... oh who cares...we were all just blind scooping in the end.
Their broth was so good I was practically drinking it from the moment it hit the table. Yeah, I don't think you're even supposed to drink it but hey - ain't no shame in my game. Not to mention we got the spicy so I spent most of my night with my lips tingling and nose running.
The best part? The entire feast, complete with a pitcher of beer and a few rounds of various tea cost a mere $20 per person including tax and tip. Seriously... you want a winter recession menu to keep you full for a month? This little fat sheep is your shiz.
P.S. - Props for the Yelp shout out on the placemats! You people have good taste.
I love this place. First of all, it has a charming name. It's clean and bright and cheerful, with goofy photoshop murals of some idealized Mongolia where the grass is green and the girls look like Korean fashion models.
We came on a Friday evening at about 10 and waited 15 minutes for a table for two. The checklist menu is nice, but they were out of scallion pancakes and didn't tell us until we asked; also, double-check your receipt to make sure you didn't get charged for something they didn't bring. Minus one star! The service was only okay--a bit harried. They didn't bring us the sauces even after we asked and we had to steal them from another table. Minus another star!
Both broths were delicious but I am partial to the spicy. It did taste a bit medicinal, but in an intriguing way. We ordered an insane amount of food for two people just because we were curious. Hits: all of the meat and the greens. I liked the pea shoots but they got tangled up in the claw-ladle-thing. A lot of families around us had plates of what looked like dandelion greens. I don't know what those are called but they looked good. Also, the "rice cake" looked like white caramel; cooked for a long time, it turned into something like mochi. It was very good. The fish balls were salty. Salty fish balls!
The staff was having its meal at a table near ours. I always like to check out what the workers eat at a restaurant. They were having salty fish balls! And clear noodles.
The very very very best thing was at the end of the meal when we let the spicy broth cook down a little bit and dished it up on some rice. I remember doing this with Japanese chanko nabe. Oh sweet baby Jesus! That was so good. But then the pot boiled down too low creating a huge sputtering smoky mess. We had had a couple of Tsingtao's so we just started singing and dancing while the staff ran over frantically to turn off the burner. They were done with their meal by then so we didn't feel too bad. Then dogs chased me down the street because my jacket smelled like hot pot.
$1 drinks
Temple City, CA
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San Gabriel, CA
San Gabriel, CA
Category: Chinese
San Gabriel, CA
Category: Restaurants
San Gabriel, CA
Category: Chinese
Monterey Park, CA
Category: Taiwanese
Neighborhood: Koreatown
Category: Korean
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