Soup Zen Hot Pot offers the ultimate self-customized hot pot experience that includes over 100 fresh and premium ingredients—all at a fixed price of $3.99/100g, Our menu is Pork free & halal friendly,allowing you to create your hot pot in your own way! You have the freedom to choose your favorite items, ensuring that your dietary preferences are met. You can then sit back and enjoy the deliciously cooked food prepared by our top-notch chefs, who bring their unparalleled culinary expertise to every dish, ensuring a high-quality dining experience.
Soup Zen Hot Pot draws praise for its innovative pay-by-weight, build-your-own format with a wide range of ingredients, broths, and a sauce bar, plus halal and gluten-free options and complimentary ice cream at the end, which many reviewers love for the extra touch. The experience is described as cozy and fun, with generous portions, fresh ingredients, and friendly staff who explain the process and help when needed. Improvements in kitchen workflow have been noted by some, yet waits and lines persist during peak hours and the space can feel crowded and noisy, with a cold draft near the door and limited privacy due to tight seating. Value is variable, as prices can rise quickly with the weight of items, and a few guests report miscommunications or occasional delays with service or broth choices. Overall quality and variety are highly regarded, and the sauce bar and end dessert are consistently praised, though a minority point to occasional inconsistencies such as missing ingredients, overcooked vegetables, or flavor gaps in certain broths. Still, many say the concept, atmosphere, and overall experience make it worth returning, especially for a comforting meal with friends or family on a cold day.
Good when they first opened. Now, it's horrible. First, tables are so close together that it's so likely a server will spill hot soup all over you. There was a very rude server, tall black dude who refused to serve us. He was dismissive & made weird comments. They should hire better people. Wouldnt come back again. A shame because the food is ok.
Disappointed with how crowded the area felt, was constantly getting shoved by people passing by. The food was okay but their signature soup was more fishy than anything else. The vegetables, especially the broccoli, were not fresh. Coming from a new hot pot location close by last week, my experience there was better.
Mar 21, 2026
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Had a great experience at Soupe Zen Hot Pot. The concept of building your own bowl is really fun, & there are lots of fresh ingredients to choose from. The broth was flavourful, the portions were generous, & everything came out hot & tasty. The staff were friendly & helpful. Overall, a cozy spot for a relaxed meal with friends - definitely recommend & would come back again.
Il n'y a jamais de place & il faut attendre minimum 2h dans le froid parce qu'il y a une grande file d'attente. Les tables sont beaucoup trop collé entre elles, vraiment aucune intimité. Le choix est bof, je m'attendais à mieux. Allez manger chez La soupière malatang !!! C'est vraiment mieux, il n'y a pas beaucoup de gens, une grande variété de fruit de mer & le prix vaut la peine!!!))
So disappointed by the value & service. Despite a large staff presence, service was inconsistent & slow-some of orders didn't arrive until more than 45 minutes after ordering, while some of my friend's dishes were served promptly. The soup tasted overly artificial, lacking the rich, nutty flavor I'd hoped for.
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Updated Review:
I can see that there have been improvements in the kitchen workflow compared to my previous visit. The service feels more organized, & the overall experience has improved.
That said, there is still some waiting time during peak hours, so it may take a bit longer to receive your food when it's busy.
On a positive note, the menu now offers a wider selection, & the flavors have improved as well, making the dining experience more enjoyable than before.
Mar 3, 2026
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My friend & I were so excited to try this soup because of the amount of recommendations we found on TikTok about this place. We went yesterday & we did not know you have to add yourself to the waitlist upon arriving because the place is full specially that Friday night. We found the soup overpriced & we both ended up paying 62$ for 2 soups & 2 sodas. When we left the restaurant & arrived home, my stomach started to hurt so much, I started vomiting all night & couldn't sleep till 8am because I got reflux. My friend was sick too, we were both intoxicated & is such a shame because we were not expecting this experience to end up like this. Unfortunately I wouldn't recommend this place to my family or friends & I am definitely not going back as I almost ended up going to the hospital.
Its lowkenuinely overpriced. I payed 22$ which isnt THAT much compared to the horrendous amount other people pay & i still regret it. I ordered the Miso broth medium spice & it had absolutely no flavor, all i could taste was low quality chili oil probably bought on walmart. I Didnt even get that many ingredients so the price really pissed me off & the meat, vegetables & mushrooms didnt even soak up any flavor at all, they tasted so much like absolutely nothing i might have aswell not gotten any broth. I also tried the sesame sauce which had a bitter smoky taste that genuinely just ruined my night. Without mentioning that the soup was so hot i burned my tongue with every single slurp. It was mere torture, 100°C soup burning my mouth constantly, tasteless vegetables, tasteless meat, low quality broth, overpowering chili oil that became so disgusting after a few spoonfulls that i couldnt even look at it anymore & the constant reminder that i had spent 22$ on this big bowl of pain & misery. Ice cream was good though & the staff was pretty nice ig.
Nous avons attendu 45min debout même si nous étions inscrit sur la wait-list. L'endroit est froid à cause des portes qui s'ouvrent puis se ferme nous avions l'impression qu'il n'y avait pas de chauffage! L'endroit est très petit pour le monde qu'ils accueillent mais le personnel est accueillant même si ils ont débordés. Dommage que nos soupes étaient tiède après 20min, vu la quantité de nourriture, on est resté 1h15 à manger. Bonne expérience pour essayer mais ça n'en valait pas la peine au final je n'y retournerais pas une deuxième fois.
Feb 9, 2026
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Excellente expérience hier soir chez Soup Zen !
Le service était vraiment 5 étoiles. Le serveur était très attentif, courtois & efficace, on se sent bien accueilli dès l'arrivée. La soupe était délicieuse, bien assaisonnée & réconfortante. Une belle adresse pour un bon repas dans une ambiance agréable. Je recommande sans hésiter !
We are very familiar with the long waiting times at Soup Zen, which is exactly why we always use the online waitlist. The goal is simple. Avoid waiting physically & arrive when the table is expected to be ready.
This experience was not just an inconvenience. It was a clear failure in process & communication.
Here are the facts:
• We queued online on purpose to avoid waiting outside
• We planned our arrival based on the restaurant's own estimated wait time
• When the system unexpectedly moved us up by an entire hour, we called ahead
• We received confirmation TWICE, from two different employees, that the arrangement was acceptable
• We arrived on time for the originally planned seating
• & despite all of this, we were told to wait another 1h30 because there were no tables available
That is not a'busy night' issue. That is a broken system.
We joined the waitlist at 4:00 PM with an estimated seating time of 5:30 PM. About 30 minutes later, we received a notification giving us 10 minutes to arrive, effectively moving us up by a full hour. Since we had planned our timing around the original estimate, we called to explain the situation. Both times, we were reassured that arriving at 5:30 PM would not be a problem.
When we arrived, after waiting just to reach the entrance due to crowding, we were told no table was available & that we would need to wait another 1h30.
This is where the contradiction becomes unacceptable : Customers are expected to be there within 10 minutes when the system suddenly advances them. But when they arrive exactly at the originally confirmed time, after explicit approval, there is suddenly no flexibility at all. That makes no sense.
At this point, the purpose of the online waitlist becomes questionable. A system designed to prevent physical lineups is meaningless if customers are still expected to wait outside for 1-2 hours, with the risk of being removed from the list even after calling ahead.
The situation at the entrance only makes everything worse. People who come to queue in person often stay standing inside the entrance even after already giving their name for the waitlist, instead of stepping aside. This blocks others who are trying to come in to add their name & creates a constant bottleneck. As a result, the entrance becomes overcrowded, the doors keep opening repeatedly, & cold air comes straight inside. We could even hear people sitting at the table closest to the entrance complaining about the cold, which is honestly unfair to both customers waiting & those already seated.
The problem is made worse by:
• Lack of alignment between phone staff & on-site staff
• Being removed from the waitlist despite having called & confirmed
• A constantly congested entrance with no clear signage or crowd control
• Repeated confusion & frustration for customers
What's most disappointing is that these issues are repeatedly mentioned in reviews, yet there appears to be no improvement. The food is good. But good food does not excuse poor management. The experience matters, & here it consistently falls short.
For clarity, we did not blame the hostess personally. This is a management-level issue, & accountability belongs there.
We ultimately left & were seated quickly at a neighboring restaurant.
A bit chaotic at first but the soup definitely makes it for it. Our server Hasma was also very nice. A nice little spot during Montreal chilly winter:)
Jan 19, 2026
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Not the first time i come but definitely the last. The food was way more expensive than last time, the soup was so bland it tasted like salty water, & the staff was so extremely rude it was shocking. I understand having a bad day, but looking at the reviews, it's not the first time the cashier was disrespectful. On 5 people working, one person helped us. We payed 85 $ to be treated so poorly for very mediocre food. So disappointed.
Vraiment un concept original: on choisit tous les ingrédients que nous voulons & le prix est ensuite déterminé par le poids. Beaucoup de variété & de choix! Il y a également un bar à sauce pour rehausser les saveurs de la soupe. De plus, durant les jours de semaine avant 17h, un thé glacé est offert. Pour finir, un petit cornet de crème glacée est aussi offert comme dessert. Par contre, il y a beaucoup d'attente (peu importe l'heure (nous sommes arrivés à 15:30 & il y avait environ 45 minutes d'attente), donc je recommande de réserver en ligne avant d'arriver. Vraiment une belle place à essayer entre amis!
Had an amazing time at Soupe Zen Hot Pot! The food was very yummy & the whole experience was fun & enjoyable. Special shoutout to Justin, who went above & beyond to make our experience even better. Highly recommend!
Soup zen was fantastic! Great taste & options! Wish they would add teokbokki. It would taste amazing. Didn't expect it to cost as much as it did, but I chose heavy noodles so I'm sure it didn't help haha my total was $32. The servers didn't check up on us & I had to call them over multiple times. The sauce bar was dirty as well. I wish they had kept it a bit cleaner. The Ube Ice cream with the chocolate cone was delicious as well (the best part). All in all, great experience! Will be back again. I went around 1pm on a friday & the line was out of the door. Wait time wasn't too bad either!
