Hu Hot

Hu Hot
Mongolian Grill
4100 University Avenue
West Des Moines, IA 50311
(515) 457-9090
http://www.huhot.com/west_des_moines_iowa.asp

Hu Hot seems to be the place for dates on Friday nights. My girls and I were running rather late Friday night and my oldest daughter said she was wanting some Hu Hot. So, we went there around 9:00 and they were still running about a 20 minute wait. The place has a noisy, but warm ambiance with little extra room for waiting guests. The bar area is used for seating leaving only seats at the bar and the highly coveted 6 chairs in the entry way. They've made great use of hanging lamps and diffused spot lights. The tables are extremely packed in, and at most tables, you'll feel like your party has been joined by several new friends. But, the constant clatter of the cooks banging their spatualas and the buzz of everyone talking and the noise bouncing off the cement floor will lull you into forgetting everyone else.

We were seated by our waiter, who immediately asked us for our order. I didn't even really look at the menu provided. I'm not sure many do. However, because of previous experience, my 6 year-old knew to order Chicken Strips ($4.99), one of 3 items on the Kid's menu. The main event is the mongolian grill ($11.49) and the related 3 bars of raw food that you choose to have them cook. Sure they've got egg rolls, crab rangoons, and such, but why? The 3 bars of food are divided into meat, vegetable, and sauce. The meat, meat and more meat bar has standby pork, chicken, sausage, and beef along with "chef's choice" of of other seafood options. Friday night is shrimp night- one of two nights (Wednesday is the other????) that you're guaranteed a shrimpfest, if you go for that kinda thing. The trick with the meat is to pick wisely- pick meat, not fat. And, whatever you do, don't overfill the bowl. Because next comes the noodles and an extensive array of freshly cut vegetables galore. Load up on the mushrooms, onions, mini-corn-cobbettes, peppers and even pineapple. Go ahead, make a game out of how high you can stack 'em. Note- for the seriously hungry, take two bowls and put meat in one and vegetables in the other. They won't frown too much, and it could save you another lengthy round-trip, especially when they're super busy. And, then it's on to the sauce bar. Here is where the true Monguls seperate themselves! There's at least 20 different pre-mix sauce flavors, but the real art is in getting just the right blend that peaks your culinary desire. If you're new, stick to one of the recipes on the board above the bar. It'll point you in the right direction. Be careful with the oils or you might wish you had later! Then you do what they call the "Mongul shuffle". They stir-fry your concoction and give you the result by the time you've rounded the counter behind all the other hungry patrons. I would have preferred if they would have grilled mine a little longer to sautay the vegetables better, but they didn't ask me for my opinion. Don't forget to add some chinese noodles before you beat it back to your seat.

The flavor is all going to be your fault. But, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again! I have gone to a number of other "mongolian grills". The others in Des Moines are connected with Chinese buffets and have two choices in sauce- Spicy or No Spicy. To put it plainly, don't waste your time. Can we say, tasteless? I've also tried a few other chains in other cities that don't pre-mix the sauces (BD's BBQ) or who add the sauces after they're done cooking (Ghengis Khan), and none of them have really attained the level of perfection with the sauces. Hu Hot has and it makes for one of the more enjoyable stir-fry experiences around- most certainly in Des Moines.

Service, however was lacking. I've tasted the Khan's Cake before- and it is delicious for all the chocolate lovers out there. But, I wasn't offered dessert. Come to think of it, other than asking what kind of soup we wanted and occasionally refilling drinks when flagged down, we rarely saw our waiter. I think they have buffet mentality- serve yourself or don't.

Overall, we enjoyed our dinner. In my opinion, the shrimp and the sauces made the meal. And, when I really need a stir-fry fix, there's nowhere else to go. Its a good place to take a family or to go on a first date (an odd combination), but I would probably steer clear for any 10th wedding anniversary dinners or for the hard-of-hearing.

Now dinerite y'all!

Ratings (out of 5 forks):
Food Quality 4 forks
Food Preparation 3 forks
Food Presentation 3 forks
Service Quality 2 forks
Service Efficiency 4 forks
Value for Price 4 forks

Overall 3 1/2 forks