Volcano Hot Pot & BBQ

FOOD

Broth deserves the first decision at Volcano. The combined AYCE package pairs a personal hot pot with Korean barbecue, and the menu makes a generous introduction to the group’s cooking. Other restaurants have their own selections, so think of this as a delicious starting point for the local menu. There are short ribs to consider. Let’s not spend the whole evening deciding on soup.

Tom yum starts with lemongrass, lime leaves, galangal and bird’s-eye chili; the restaurant suggests shrimp, squid and clams alongside those hot-and-sour flavors. Spicy soup takes a Sichuan approach with chili oil, peppercorns, star anise and cinnamon. For a quieter pot, I-Drive’s herbal broth includes goji berries and red jujube dates, with lamb, lotus root and tofu skin among its suggested companions. Mushroom broth draws on shiitake and maitake, while tomato, pork bone and miso offer further directions.

Thinly sliced fatty and lean beef are hot pot staples here, joined by shaved lamb shoulder and pork belly. Pork and shrimp dumplings share the ingredient buffet with quail eggs and fish cakes. A few dumplings can quietly become a dinner priority.

On the grill, bulgogi beef wears a sweet-and-savory marinade, while its spicy counterpart uses gochujang. Kalbi short ribs bring soy, sesame oil and pear juice to bone-in beef. Short ribs also appear in Sugar Land and Kissimmee selections, giving the barbecue a familiar anchor across branches. I-Drive adds plain or spicy pork belly and ribeye steak. A devoted soup diner may suddenly become very interested in what everyone else is grilling.

Garlic shrimp has a place at Kissimmee; I-Drive’s garlic pepper shrimp uses tiger shrimp in a garlic-and-black-pepper marinade. Its hot pot seafood includes head-on shrimp, clams, mussels, blue crab and scored squid flowers. North Wales has also listed baby octopus and sliced squid. Clams and blue crab are among the menu’s suggested partners for the seafood sacha dip—a helpful lead for the sauce bar.

Vegetables and noodles can follow the menu’s pairings, too. Napa cabbage and slender enoki clusters accompany beef in miso broth. Shanghai bok choy, crown daisy and corn wheels give the vegetable plate some company. Thick udon and sweet potato glass noodles sit alongside mung bean vermicelli, which I-Drive suggests with pork belly and fish balls in pork bone broth.

Then comes the sauce bar, where a little guidance is welcome. I-Drive’s seafood sacha recipe combines the barbecue paste with hoisin, garlic, black vinegar, jalapeños, cilantro and scallions. Its garlic-herb dip uses soy, white vinegar and lime, with calamari and octopus among the suggested matches. Follow a recipe first; you can promote yourself to sauce inventor on the next round.

A sweet finish is local, too: ice cream at Kissimmee, or the rice, red bean and jelly combination served at North Wales. A small dessert after all that simmering and grilling feels entirely reasonable. The tongs can retire for the evening.