Surely Up Vegetarian Hotpot - Richmond Hill, Ontario

There are abundant hot pot options across the GTA, both a la carte and all-you-can-eat (AYCE), but Surely Up Vegetarian Hot Pot is the first one I’ve found that’s completely meatless. It’s also the first one that has their ingredients presented on a conveyor belt, so you don’t need to try ... and flag down a staff member to get an extra order of anything – except for desserts as those seem to be slow to make it onto the belt. The dining room is small but space is efficiently used. About twenty seats are placed in an oval around the conveyor belt, with a large mesh bag (for jackets) and a small shelf (for bags and phones) situated underneath the bar table. It makes you feel like you’re dining in Japan. Up until end of February of the 2019-2020 holiday season, Surely is encouraging people to go vegetarian by offering a special $19.99 AYCE rate that includes a choice of soup base (mushroom or tomato), sauces, iced tea, and plum juice. It’s a fairly good deal from the regular $21.99, which includes the soup, but there’s an additional $1 for sauces and extra for drinks. In either case, if you want to go for the rare precious mushroom broth, it’s an additional $5.99. In reality, there’s already tons of mushrooms spinning around as hot pot ingredients that you could easily make your own fungi broth. Grab anything you want from the conveyor and if you’re not sure what it is, underneath the dishes lies a sticker with the ingredient’s name. There are a few items where there’s an extra cost, these are clearly marked. We mixed and matched to our heart’s content – tons of vegetables (oh watercress my beloved leafy green), mushrooms (enoki and shemeji goes so nicely with the broth), and even some mock meat for good measure (the mock shrimp balls and colourful dumplings were both good). If you’re really hungry as you’re waiting for things to cook, there’s even a selection of ready-to-eat items such as warm tea eggs (these need a bit of extra flavouring added on) and mock duck floating around. For me, the best part of the meal is tucking into a steaming bowl of noodles, at the end, and drinking the cooking broth with the noodles. The soup condenses down and is teeming with flavours. The frozen knife cut noodles at Surely is a nice change from the typical udon or instant noodles (although these are offered as well). However, the worst part of the experience is all the plastic wrap being used to cover each and every dish – talk about a waste for a restaurant that’s encouraging people to go meatless! Of course, Surely needs to make sure things are hygienic, but the majority of the ingredients need to be cooked in scalding boiling water anyways, so it really doesn’t need to be covered. For the rest, they should invest in reuseable plastic domes to protect the plates. In fact, it’s the guilt of discarding all this plastic wrap that discourages me from visiting Surely Up more often. Read more

Really unique experience! Very good vibes from the food as much as the staff! They bring you your choice of soup base and you can add whatever you like to the pot from the conveyor belt that slowly moves past you. I had the soup with rare mushrooms in it. ... Was really fun and delicious! Lots of fresh options to add to you soup! You must try!!! Read more

Cozy little conveyor belt hotpot place at a decent price. There is a wide selection of vegetarian hotpot toppings and various vegetarian versions of meats did not leave a meat lover such as myself high and dry. Broth is clear and light but with plenty of natural herbal flavours. We had ... the deluxe mushroom broth and the tomato broth; tomato tasted great but the deluxe mushroom broth felt like a bit more of a pay extra gimmick. We had plenty of food before feeling full, and even then it felt great because it was not greasy. Do keep in mind that dipping sauce costs $1 extra per person and that the drinks are mostly all $1.99 with the plum juice and the homemade ice tea having free refills. There wasn't a huge selection of items for sauces though, i was disappointed that there wasn't minced garlic and chopped green onions while there was fresh ginger and cilantro, it wasn't as fulfilling without the two staple items for my usual hotpot dip. Overall the atmosphere is great and thr food is fresh and delicious. Read more

Wonderful new Vegetarian hotpot concept! The ingredients and soup stocks are prepared fresh everyday by the auntie. No preprepared soup powders. The food is super delicious with plenty of choices available and try. Great place to take someone who has never tried vegetarian food before as they can get to ... try a huge assortment of different tofus, soy products, and vegetables to expand their understanding of eating vegetarian. There are also vegan options available. Read more

Is an amazing restaurant. This was the first time I tried a vegetarian hotpot, I have been waiting for this opportunity and was left satisfied. The staff is super friendly, the mushroom soup base was simply awesome! With the sauce station, we as customers were able to adjust the taste ... to best suit our palette. However, I didn't need the sauce as the soup base was perfect! There was a lot of variety, 95% of the food was vegan. Would definitely visit again. The environment is very welcoming as well. Everyone has their own hot pot. On Mondays, they have a half price deal as well! Read more