Kat's 9 Lives

Since Ms. Lin was able to come down for a business trip in LA, of course we had to stop off in San Gabriel/Monterey Park to get our grub on! She has been craving hot pot like crazy and we finally decided on Mon Land Hot Pot City next to Focus. We thought it would be Taiwanese style hot pot, Ma-La... unfortunately it was Mongolian style hot pot. I know Ms. Lin was saddened by this, but we decided to give it a try. Ever since Little Fat Sheep I have been craving the Lamb Meatballs! So I was willing to comply.
The sky was very dark that night and the streets are not very well-lit there. They were brightly lit so it's like a moth to a flame. =9 There is outside seating but we chose to sit inside. I want to be in an air-conditioned area just in case I get hot from eating steaming hot pot. lol We of course got the Dual Mongolian Hot Pot. If I ever go back... I would only get the non-spicy hot pot. Ms. Lin who loves spicy hot pot also thought the non-spicy side was better. It has a slight Coconut flavor that makes it tastier. So if you want a spicy spicy hot pot then this is not the exact place to get it.
They have a small bar of condiments you can use for your sauce. The Satay, Fermented Tofu, and Sesame Paste are at the table. I am glad that they at least had tons of Garlic available to fill me up. It's kind of weird that the satay was so sweet. It's different from the satay you normally get at Taiwanese hot pots. We like things salty so we asked for some Soy Sauce to spice the sauce up.
We ordered Lamb, Beef, and Pig Intestines as usual. It's kind of ironic but the lamb wasn't that good in a Mongolian hot pot. I normally get one plate of beef and tons of lamb, but this time the beef was better and I chose to continue with the beef instead. The intestines were actually really good in the soup. They were very fatty and good, but I think the portions are a little small.
Ms. Lin got her favorite Tong Hao (Hwa), and Tofu for herself as usual. She was not pleased at how the TH was not cut well. Serves her right for eating vegetables! lol We also got the Lamb Meatballs, but they were fail. At first they look really gross to us, but Ms. Lin thought it was better than she imagines. I didn't quite like them as much and barely had any. The ones at Little Fat Sheep were really good and fresh. BIG DIFFERENCE!
I had to do my infamous hot pot dip collage. Ms. Lin was the hand model again, but I cut her out! ^_^ So she will get a written credit of being the one dipping the beef and lamb into the non-spicy hot pot side. The flavor was actually pretty good and I think it tastes better than Little Fat Sheep soup-wise.
Since Mongolian hot pot should have really good lamb, I got greedy and ordered the Pancake stuffed with Lamb. I should have stuck with the Green Onion Pancake. We both barely touched the dish and chose to just bring it home to the family. They eat anything. O=) The pancake was soggy and really greasy. This took the longest to come out.
All in all the food was decent because we enjoyed the non-spicy soup side. As for the size of the food, I was not full. Ms. Lin stopped me from ordering by reminding me that there was another meal to come afterward. Tune in for more. ^_^ The service varied at times. It was a little awkward because they stopped paying attention to us a little and Ms. Lin asked for water, to pack the food, & the check... apparently that guy was the manager and he filled it immediately... and started yelling/lecturing the servers about not paying attention and to pack our stuff away. I was like umm WHOOPS. We didn't even say anything. I blame Ms. Lin! lol It was an interesting experience and I might come back because I liked the soup but everything else... mehh.. we will see. The best part is I am flying up to SF on Tuesday and I will get me some NINJI soon! WOO HOO!

Mon Land Hot Pot City