A Hot Spot For KPot

Story By Michelle Key

Photos By Michelle and Emily Key

KPot Korean BBQ & Hotpot (KPot) is the new dining hotspot in Opelika. It is where the traditional Asian hotpot melds with Korean barbeque, creating a unique experience for diners.

Being a consumer with food allergies, dining out can always be a bit tricky, the best part of KPot for me was that by preparing most of the meal at the table, I had a lot of control over what I was eating. Many of the meat and vegetable options were naturally gluten-and-dairy-free and I knew that they would be safe.

My daughter Emily and I decided to go to KPot for lunch on a Friday afternoon.

We were promptly seated and a member of the wait staff asked if this was our first time there. He introduced himself as Fendy and then gave us a short tour and explained how the meat and vegetable choices were laid out. Since we had chosen the hotpot for our meal, we were shown which ingredients were reserved for the barbeccue entrees and which were available for the hotpot.

Back at the table, we quickly perused the menu and made our soup base selections. I chose Thai Tom Yum, and Emily went with the basic mushroom soup. We did not have to wait long for Fendy to bring the pots of soup to the table and place them on burners to keep the broth simmering.

Meanwhile, Emily and I went back to the food bar and started making our selections to add to our soup pots. For my protein choices, I selected thinly sliced chicken and beef, a quail egg and a tiny sausage. I also picked mushrooms, bean sprouts and a small piece of corn.

Emily made similar selections, adding crab. We decided to share bowls of fresh spinach and broccoli as well as a bowl of Mei Fun (rice noodles). We both dished out a scoop of steamed white rice as well.

All this food and we still were not finished. We had to pick our sauces and toppings. We both selected the Thai Chili sauce, and Emily also tried the peanut sauce. We decided on fresh chopped cilantro, green onions and minced garlic for our toppings.

Once back to the table and our simmering pots, we paused a moment to snap a few photos and then got down to the business at hand. We added our selections to our soup base. The meats are sliced so thin that it only takes a few minutes to cook. There is a convenient chart on each table to give guidance. I added the Mei Fun noodles to my soup.

We scooped out the now-cooked meat, vegetables and, in my case, noodles, and then sprinkled the cilantro, green onions and garlic on top.

It was time to eat, and it was delicious. The flavors of the meat and vegetables blended with the flavors of the soups and created a mouth-watering experience. In my opinion, the sauces, while delicious, were completely unnecessary. In hindsight, I would probably bring my own gluten-free soy sauce the next time as they did not have one available.

We took our time cooking and eating and simply enjoying each other’s company. We went back to the food bar one time, selected a few more pieces of meat and slowly finished our meal. This is a place where you can linger over your meal within reason. There is a two-hour limit, however.

We do plan to return to KPot and the next time we will try the barbecue. One thing to note is that the entire table has to select hotpot, barbecue or a combination of both. During the week, it is $19.95 at lunch for hotpot or barbecue and $29.99 at dinner. There is a $5 upcharge per person when choosing both hotpot and barbecue. The price is $29.99 all day on the weekends.

KPot Korean BBQ & Hotpot is located at 2301 Birmingham Highway and opens at 11 a.m.

My recommendation grab some friends and go, enjoy the experience. Find Fendy and tell him Michelle sent you.