Review Little Sheep Hotpot - Auckland Central

When my first landed NZ 7 years ago there was no other Chinese spicy hotpot place but little sheep. I used to come here very often, not only for the hotpot but also craving for the Chinese skewers BBQ Despite more and more new hotpot places come and go along the 7 years, little sheep stands still even got a branch in North shore. Today I refreshed my memories with this old "friend", it is still tasty as it was before. Little sheep is still the only hotpot place you don't bring the smell home after eating it.

The ingredients are fresh and the hot pot is so spicy! I like it. but the service is not good and the waitress gave us the cold shoulder.

Hot pot was very nice. Split stock vs spicey and the spicey medium was more a szechuan chilli and plenty spicey. The selection of meats, sauces and veges we chose were ample and very filling. Enjoyable dining.

Very nice service, waiter and waitress are really friendly and kind always patient with nice smile. Every food is fresh and the price is good. The taste is same as hometown especially the lamb. Will come again👍

Went with my wife here and she loved it. This was our first dinner at Hot Pot. It was fun. I loved the veggies and my wife loved the meat option. The staff is amazing and very friendly and helps you choose which makes the experience worth a visit. So if you want to try a hot pot dish, this is a recommended place.

Traditional Chinese/Mongolian hotpot restaurant. Be aware that spicy means very spicy! The usual ordering of soup base(s) and whatever you feel like adding to it is very straightforward. The food is decently priced and the setting is very comfortable. It's definitely worth a try.

This place was amazing. The hot pot soup is super flavourful and the stuffed fish balls are a must try. They also have a big set of different food to go with the soup and you can't stop eating. Price is good.

Possibly one of the finest hot pot places in NZ, the spicy broth was delicious and we were very impressed with the lamb skewers too! Quick and friendly service, the staff/ management are nice people. I'll be back for more!

The food and service was amazing! They have super friendly staff that helped answer all my questions and requests. Service was prompt and atmosphere was great. 10/10 would recommend, and hopefully I’ll be able to visit again in the future.

Always make a common decision to go if we wish to have hot pot and bbq, however, I don’t think they have promoted enough for their VIP room and traditional Chinese dining, it is so impressive and a excellent choice for company dinner and friends gathering.

Popular steamboat option for authentic and good quality food. Highly recommend to reserve a table in advance, tables are usually booked from 6pm until late. They have Chinese and English menu(order sheet), and most of the staff can converse in English.

ATTITUDE. 😠😠😠

First time trying hotpot ever! It was a really great experience to try all the different dishes and soup bases (plain and spicy). There was sliced beef, tofu, tofu skin, lamb?, noodles, and spam. Also tried out the cheese kumara dessert, WHICH WAS BLOODY AMAZING! Both soup bases were so flavourful, so I didn't really rely on dipping my meats in sauces. Would definitely recommend this to first timers like me! A great way to enjoy food in a family style setting.

Would not accept zomato gold 1+1 on food as we only had skewers and this place "Specialises" in HOTPOT. If it is so it should clearly be notified or written somewhere as its misleading. And their skewers are not cheap.

Amazing hot pot, flavour, taste, lamb was amazzzzing! got really spicy though, would suggest the half and half if it's your first time. Service was not great at all and cutlery wasn't cleaned properly so had to request for some new ones.

The spinach came out looks like the photos attached: $8 for 8 frolicking leaves - damaged leaves...<br/>We said we don’t want it anymore after 10seconds it got delivered to our table, and asked if it can be sent back to the kitchen - explaining that we’re not happy with what we got because it doesn’t look fresh.<br/>Our waiter denied our request - saying that’s what all hotpot restaurant policy: when the food came out you can’t send back. Apparently quoted the waiter ‘it’s fresh veggies, winter veggies are expensive”<br/><br/>Fair enough with the policy - if veggies are not fresh and we can’t send it back, I guess that if the meat we ordered came out rotten we have to stick with it as well?

8 dollars for 8 freaking huge old dry BURNED Spinach guys. And when I asked to return the Spinach or just give me a new one RIGHT AFTER they gave me, the boss came and said “ winter Vegas are expensive. This is FRESH. This portion is normal and we don’t send food back”. Wow ok well no wonder all the other hotpot restaurants are full and yours only have like 5 tables. Service attitude is sick. Used to love here but now EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT.

Great neighbourhood hotpot joint with bbq skewers as well. Perfect for winter nights and any nights really.<br/>The broth is well flavoured and can get VERY spicy. Get the spicy pot if you're brave.<br/><br/>Definitely recommended.

This is my families favourite hot pot - we always bring out of town guests here.<br/><br/>PROS: chinese and English menu with pictures, friendly and helpful staff. Clean and tidy environment. Variety in food is the best - standard hot pot menu, bbq skewers, pancakes, desserts and cold side dishes - everyone is happy!!<br/><br/>CONS: parking can be challenge during busy hours. Can be expensive if you dont watch what you order.

From the street it doesn’t look like much, but once your inside it’s a wonderfully laid out restaurant, simple, spacious and relaxing. The idea here being that you order components to cook yourself at your table - which is awesome as you become more connected to what you are eating and it is a lot of fun. We went for the split little sheep soup base which is half spicy/half plain with the supreme lamb, mushrooms, broccoli, kumara noodles and seaweed. The plain soup broth was delicious, deep with savouring flavours and a touch sweet. The spicy broth is the same but it is eye wateringly spicy and I only got the medium, it was so damn delicious I still pushed through and finished the entire thing. All in all, an epic spot to go, a real experience.

Good food but I just hate that every time I come here I have to guess what I'm ordering (especially the sauces) maybe obeday I will memorize them all other that that a good hot pot restaurant

Great food, amazing value for money, staff are super polite and happy.Nice place to eat, with a reasonable closing time. Only issue to pop up is the wait on service when it was very busy, but totally understandable. Definitely going back for more

Expensive for what you get. Order wisely and recommend to go as a group to maximise enjoyment/variety. Fast service. Broth can be salty. Mushroom broth is nice.

The ingredients are fresh and the hot pot is so spicy! I like it. But the service is not good and the waitress gave us the cold shoulder. Hope they will improve it.

Overall a pretty decent meal of a traditional Chinese cuisine which is fairly new to us. <br/><br/>The service was quick and efficient (no reason to be slow as the food was mostly raw), although it felt somewhat impersonal. <br/><br/>The meats were nicely presented and tender with reasonable prices, although keep in mind that you will go through a plate very quickly. Prices of the other items on the menu were also mostly reasonable with the exception of the vegetables. A few items that they charge for should really be included, namely base seasame sauce for the meat which isn't exactly an optional item for a Chinese Steamboat cuisine.<br/><br/>Last the restaurant itself is fairly spacious and the table sizes are generous which not something often seen nowadays. The tables do seem to lack basic cutlery and ammenities. Unless a pair of chopsticks and one napkin is all you need, you'll be trying to get the staff's attention.

Was here just hours ago with some mates to celebrate the ending of another busy week. Although one of mates did the ordering it was hard to follow what he actually ordered for all of us. There was a lot and I mean A LOT of what he ordered, lots of different skewers, soups, noodles and meat. It was my first time ever trying out hot pots. A new experience just keeps on rolling week by week. I eventually became full halfway through.<br/><br/>The service there was pretty ordinary, but it was a very busy night. Lots if people were there and it took quite a while to get our order. Needless to say at the end we got what we came for. <br/><br/>Looking from outside, it's sort hidden yet exposed in the corner of the street. Go inside and it's actually quite bug with a stovetop element on each table for the hotpot to go in on. Doesn't get any better than that.

I like how clean and bright this place is. <br/>Food selection is great with lots to choose from. I especially like the fish/ prawn paste as I don't see it often in menus. Also good to have skewers as a selection. Pork belly skewers were yum! <br/><br/>Soup wise, the spicy soup is pretty tasty. Can get a bit salty after a while so remember to drink water. <br/><br/>Word of advice, don't over order. Take it easy and you can always order more :p <br/><br/>Also don't expect much on service, but just shout out and they do help you out.

We ordered lamb skewers, steam boat and watermelon juice. Recommended if you like seafood, BBQ and steamboat in one meal.<br/>Food: 3.5/5<br/>Service: 3/5<br/>Price: 3.5/5<br/>Speed: 4/5<br/>

Can you please imagine a restaurant doesn't accept Cash and they never letting you know before you take a seat?!!!!!! Really disappointed. I ve never seen in my life that kind of management issue.

My boyfriend and I had diarrhoea after dinner yesterday. Rubbish, cheap all-you-can-eat-buffet quality but overcharged. Honestly, the food quality was bad, every dishes had extrodinarily strong flavour which made me very thirsty after the meal. I suspected that was the taste of MSG. We ordered shredded potato and warm spiral shell for appetizer, potato one was ok, the flavour of spiral shell was weird, very sweet and salty, so did all the seasoning on skewers. They charged $12 for cheap fish balls, which I can have it as much as I want in buffet hot pot. The bills came to us cost $ 100 for 2 people. We were still hungry but couldnot bother to order more because of unreasonable prices and weirdly strong flavour. I am willing to pay more if the food is good. Overall, I was very disappointed. I came here because Ihave tried little sheep in my hometown and that was nice. I would never go to this restairant again which focuses more on decoration rather than food quality

Revisited this place after a long time recently to find the taste a bit different now. Not sure if it was just our visit but the soup base (normal one) didn't taste as flavourful as we remembered it to be. Service was also a bit lacking and it took a while for them to sort out our stove but they do get quite busy which is understandable. Environment was decent and portion sizes were okay. Probably enjoyed the lamb skewers the most.

Very impressed with this hot pot place. Although it took them a while to serve out our order which I don't quite get, this being a hot pot restaurant so things shouldn't take long to prepare. Guess it was just busy. But great taste nevertheless.

Mmm. I've had hot pot in many places around the world, including in China, and I have to say, the taste wasn't quite there. It seemed pretty authentic at first impression! The ingredients for the hot pot that we ordered - fungi, sweet potato (which was brought out as normal potato slices), lamb, lotus roots, beef, mushrooms - all seemed fresh and tasted good quality. But the flavour man! This place sucks you in with the amazing smell that wafts all over the street. But it's just not all that good. I've had better in Auckland along Dominion Road.<br/>Service is alright, they don't let you use credit card if you split the bill, and they don't accept cash.<br/>Was nice and clean, and presentable. And very busy, even for a Wednesday night after 7pm.

I think this is the most authentic Chinese Hotpot restaurant. But meat is very little and isn't worth its price. Cheese sweet potato is really good tastes. Recommend it. The services are not good. No patience. Bad.

It's freezing in Auckland! I'm sure everyone has been feeling the chills recently! Deciding that I need to combat this weather, what better way to arm myself than a hot pot?!<br/><br/>Coming in on a week night I was not surprised at how busy this place was. We did have to wait at the counter for 5-7 minute before getting seated because their staff seem pretty inattentive and refused to acknowledge our presence and continued their chat about life.<br/><br/>When we did get seated, the ordering was fairly simple. We filled out a sheet of the ingredients we wanted for the hot pot and waited for our orders to arrive. One caveat is that the order form is entirely in Mandarin so it might be little challenging for people who don't read/understand it. <br/><br/>The lamb slices were fantastic and really tasty in the hot pot, and the meat balls were also a favourite of ours, but what really took my breath and stomach away wasn't even a hot pot ingredient, it was the cheese sweet potato. <br/><br/>There is a 30 minute wait, but it's certainly worth the wait! The cheese crackling on top of the smooth creamy mashed sweet potato had me in food heaven!<br/><br/>This restaurant is a cosy and tasty hot pot venue, but their service is a little lacking and their pricing is at the higher end. However, I would still recommend this place for hot pot lovers.<br/><br/>Showstopper: Order the Cheese Sweet potato!<br/><br/>Overall Grade: B

YReasonably busy with mostly Chinese patrons. <br/>Quite busy but the service was quick and the staff were friendly and attentive. <br/><br/>We ordered a split soup with half medium spicy and half plain soups. <br/>The spicy can be mild to full on Lava depending on you preference. <br/><br/>The multiple plates of various meats and veges were all good and fresh and arrived pretty quickly after ordering. There's a Good selection of everything on their menu ... Mushroom stuffed pork balls were great. <br/><br/>The big pay off for me is the delicious soup left behind after you've cooked all your bits and pieces. <br/>Hearty and delish and very more-ish. <br/>Would be a perfect meal shared during the colder seasons. <br/>We ordered a lot of plates and managed to demolish all of it - with a little soup left over that no one could manage to finish. <br/><br/>The cost was just over $20 pp and everyone was very satisfied ... We waddled off to the Domain for the Fire Garden event afterwards. <br/><br/>We would definitely go back again.

Visited on a Sunday, cuz my bf said wanna try something different in Newmarket.. So we went it this place. They seem pretty busy,, full of Chinese... <br/><br/>We were seated promptly, and gets comes the menu.. (We actually had no idea what the restaurant was selling and how to order).. The waiter gave me the menu followed by a pen and a paper with ordering chart written on it..<br/><br/>I stopped for a few second,, trying to think.. What is this?? How?? What?? What?? <br/>And before I could ask the waiter what do I do,, he's gone 😥<br/><br/>So I figured out myself.... Here you order everything separately.. For me if I'm going to a hotspot restaurant I'm expecting a pot of soup as a service from the restaurant, and then we order meat and anything else we want to put in it.. BUT here,, only the soup (which you need to order for hotpot) is already $12. This is a total ripoff!! <br/><br/>We ordered just the soup base for $12, some beef ($13) about 200g, mushroom ball, some veggies.. We paid over $50 I mean.. Seriously? We can have a buffet at $23 each and all you can eat Plus taste better!! <br/><br/>The soup was very salty taste like MSG soup. <br/><br/>I went home with my tongue feel nothing.. Thirsty all night.. <br/><br/>The next day work up with no voice.. I guess I throat was so dry over the night.. <br/><br/>And that's not all,, I got a pretty bad stomach whole day 😖😖 <br/><br/>Good side wise is that the fresh stuff look teal fresh,, and restaurant atmosphere was pretty nice, except for that they put us next to the open door where their staffs and ppl often go out to smoke.. I hate the ciggy smell.. It made me headache therefore it ruin my entire dinner... <br/><br/>Recommend for someone who like to eat less and LOVE to pay MORE.. Or if you are in Newmarket and dying for some hotpot<br/><br/>As for me,, I don't think I'll go back, I'm sorry. 🙅🏻🙅🏻🙅🏻<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>

My Favorite hotpot place in Auckland. We normally get the yin/yang soup base for a mix of spicy and savory flours. While it is pricier then your tandard buffet places common in Auckland, the quality is much better and fresher which I believe justifies it. Great for winter or group dining.

I called in to reserve in advance, and when I arrived they hadn't received the call and tried to say I called the CBD branch, I pulled out my phone and confirmed the number and they still said they couldn't do anything.<br/><br/>Terrible service.

The best Chinese hotpot in new market. The service and food quality are good. I have been to many hotpot in Auckland, most of the restaurants are not clean and the food quality are bad with the price. Although little sheep hotpot prize is bit high but it's worth with their place, food and service:-)

Time and date: Weekend dinner, have to wait for 20 mins for a table<br/><br/>Food ordered: in house special marinated lamb, baked kumara, veges and balls for the hotpot, little octopus <br/><br/>Taste: flavorful with wide range of sauce<br/><br/>Ingredients: Kumara takes at least 40 mins to prepare, the lamb is marinated for at least a day, veges seems adequately fresh and balls are serve frozen<br/><br/>Service: Average as it was very busy<br/><br/>Enviroment: Like most hotpot place, quite damp and fogs up quite easily<br/><br/>Cost : $50 pp on average<br/><br/>Will I return : Occasionally

One of my favorite hotpot restaurants in Auckland! They make great soup bases which are really fragrant and delicious! (We usually get the split pot which is half spicy and half non spicy). It's usually quite busy when we go so it does take a while usually. However, the taste is definitely worth the wait!

My first experience at hot pot and absolutely loved it! Thankfully had the company of 2 Asian friends so they knew how it all worked. We went for a split pot of 2 different broths one spicy and one plain and cooked variety of amazing foods from angus beef strips to fish balls to fish roe and lots of veggies. It tasted just great and will be perfect on a cold winter evening. The broth was well seasoned with different herbs and spices. Need to book prior to get a table here. They also make the most yummiest lamb kebabs! We went in a group of 3 and it cost roughly $33 per person. But there was enough food for 4-5 people so would be better to go in a larger group. Can’t wait to go back!

This restaurant is crazy. <br/>I am of Chinese descent, and still I will say that this restaurant is terrible. <br/>They just allowed us to dine in for 1.5 hours ... <br/>We ordered something more, waited for 20-30 minutes but our order did not come, then we asked the waiter , she said she will check it first.<br/>Then the second waiter came to us saying that you only have 10 min left ... We said not all of the orders have come ... they didn't want to know ... at the end, we just cancelled our last order , went out with half full stomach ... <br/><br/>Not gonna come back anymore.

When this place has seasons specials it's definitely worth the money. e.g. spicy crabs. However they haven't had some in a while :(<br/><br/>Anyways, I love their sauce and food, and definitely have returned a few times already.<br/><br/>Will go again sometime when I'm free during the weekends. Must try if you love hot pot!<br/><br/> Service: 4/5<br/> Wait time: 4/5<br/> Environment: 4/5<br/> Food Quality: 4/5<br/> Food Quantity: 4/5<br/> Price range: $10+ pp

Chinese restaurants usually have the worst service. However, when the last time I came they gave me a feedback form to fill out and ask me how my meal was!!! <br/><br/>That alone gives it an extra star!<br/>The food is great, price reasonable!<br/>But excellent service.<br/><br/>4 stars<br/><br/> Service: 5/5<br/> Wait time: 4/5<br/> Environment: 4/5<br/> Food Quality: 4/5<br/> Food Quantity: 4/5<br/> Price range: $30+ pp

Louise: went in on a voucher and had an interesting night cooking our own meal. Threw a mushroom ball in the spicy soup and nearly melted into a puddle of sweat. Was Great! but wish I was more prepared for the heat. Good meal. Will come again.<br/><br/>Thelma: new experience cooking your own meal at a restuarant. would go again, had fun with the chopsticks and prawns. Nice place will be back

We had heaps of fun at this place with a voucher. Great value for money. You cook at your table by putting meats, vegetables etc into soups. It was really unique and interesting! We tried all sorts of random things. The only downside was that they don't clear away plates or mess until the end and it's a really messy meal so I felt really disgusting eating dessert at the table after the meal and there was not much selection in drinks. Overall though we had a really fun night there and really enjoyed the food.

Thoroughly enjoyed this place. Went with the voucher deal, excellent value for money, great food, only thing lacking is the service. The service was quite slow and chaotic however, this can be forgiven as they were fully booked.

We tried to go to Little Sheep Hotpot when we first moved to Newmarket as the smell when we walk past on the way to the gym each day is INCREDIBLE! Unfortunately we had no idea what was going on and how to order and the wait staff we had did not know a lot of english, we were so confused we high tailed it out of there. (Neither of us had experienced a hot pot restaurant before!) When a grabone voucher came up a few months later for the branch near Queen Street we decided to give it another try and hoped the wait staff would be able to explain the process to us, which was the case. For those who haven't been to a hotpot before, you choose your choice of meat and vege's and broth, these all get brought out to your table where the broth is hot and sitting in a hot pot and you add the raw meat and vegetables until they are cooked to your liking and then pull them out. The herbs and spices they put in the broth are what put off the amazing smells. The taste was just as good too. There are not a lot of standard (western) choices of vegetables which isn't a bad thing just something to be prepared for when you are fussy with your vegetables! I would definitely go back, I think it would be good in a group situation.