Big Way Hot Pot 大味 (Burnaby)

Love the variety of food choices! That said, the space and how the lines are organized could definitely be improved

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

No minimum weight limit which is good specially if you do not have a big appetite and you'd end up wasting food just to meet the minimum weight. Parking is hard to find, we circled the block a few times.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I would say by far this was the worst bigway experience. The host let in a same size party who's still on the waitlist when I was 1st in line for the last 5mins. I asked her whats up, she had the audacity to say there's a lot of people before you....

Fine, got my food then the cashier double charged my pot. Asked for no cilantro, came with cilantro, sauce bar, no sauce bowls, and to top it up, lots of flies around...also we didnt water until we asked for it.....

this used to be my go to location, sad to see it went downhill so much.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 1

This place has really gone downhill. I’ve been a regular here for a few years now and the food is great, however the restaurant is extremely dirty with fruit flies all over the walls and the bowls are not being washed properly. There was a spill near the ingredients section and instead of mopping it up, they laid down a small piece of cardboard as a bandaid. Icecream always came half melted. I’d suggest visiting another location if you’re craving hotpot

This is my first time at a Big Way hot pot and it left me feeling torn. On the one hand, there was a good variety of food, the broth was delicious, and the price was reasonable. But on the other hand, it was HOT, and I don't mean the food. There was barely any A/C. It felt like eating in a sauna, which all but ruined the experience. And their ice cream machine was broken. I'd try again, but not at this location.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 4

Service: 3

This restaurant has definitely changed over time.

It used to be one of my favorites, but after a couple of months, the quality has really gone downhill. This is the second time I’ve received my food half hot and half cold, and the taste is nowhere near as good as it used to be.

What’s even more disappointing is the attitude of the staff — they’re not as friendly or welcoming anymore, which really takes away from the experience.

The cleanliness has also declined, as you can see in the photos I’ve attached.

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this place like I used to.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 3

Ordered delivery from Uber eats and they didn't include the noodles

Food: 1

UPDATE: No one has contacted me or replied about this! 👎🏻

I really like this place, and I was craving it today, after a long wait, I had the chance to eat, but today something was off with the broth. I believe that it was way to salty to a point that I barely could have any of the broth. What is a shame, especially because I’m used to salt in general. My partner really liked the broth, so he had some of mine, but it was really aggressive on the salt! After a couple hours, I still can feel the heavy salt, it even let me dizzy. I don’t know what happened, but it was not a pleasant experience. My choice of the day was the sukiyaki. I am only giving this star, because unfortunately the quality was inconsistent.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Tomato Broth

Literally the worst location. The veggies were dirty. Super loud rave music playing. My boyfriend and I both got sick from it.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

The soup was a quite bland but ingredients were fresh. Liked that they cut the fish into smaller pieces so you don’t need to take a huge chunk.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 4

The chef or whoever it is did a very bad job. My wife and her friend had their share on site and complained about how the corns were not cooked properly...zero taste..and when they brought me mine at home (packed) its the same. i have the date and time on my receipt and please do something about that particular person incharge. Otherwise Bigway hotpot is the best.
Thank you

Great staff and service, and fast with the food. However the restaurant is incredibly crammed and dirty.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 5

We usually come to this location a lot and really enjoy it, it’s well stocked and the staff are very friendly. I don’t know if the building just doesn’t have AC, it wasn’t turned on or it was broken but it was SWELTERING in here today. If we didn’t already order and pay we wouldn’t have eaten here today. It’s insane that they are making their staff work in this sweat box with no AC. It was 32C feels like 34 today in Burnaby so you can imagine how it feels inside where there’s no breeze.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 5

Service: 5

Trying on ordering strawberry smoothie
“Sorry sir we can only do it together with blueberries”

But I don’t want blueberries in my smoothie I only want strawberries

“ Sorry, the company policy. We cannot give you only Strawberries, it must be together with blueberries”

Are you guys robots or humans?
What’s going on?

****VERY DISAPPOINTED ****
I left a 5-star review for this location 8 months ago because I had a great experience back then. But unfortunately, things have changed—and not for the better.

*Visit 1 – April
I returned in April and ordered the Signature Mala (medium level) to-go.
However, the taste was extremely bland, and there was barely any soup. It was a disappointing experience compared to my previous visit. Still, I gave them the benefit of the doubt—maybe it was just an off day, or a different staff member was cooking.

*Visit 2 – Yesterday (after 4 months)
I decided to give them another chance.
We visited before 6 PM, and the restaurant wasn’t busy—probably due to the summer season. We ordered the Signature Mala (hot level) to-go. They told us they would call us when the order was ready, so we waited outside. We noticed a take-out bag sitting on the counter with two drinks next to it. We assumed it wasn’t ours, possibly an Uber Eats order. But eventually, I went inside to check. The staff member looked at the bag and asked me to confirm the phone number—it was ours! That bag had been sitting there for nearly 20 minutes, and no one called us, as promised. I mentioned this, but the woman at the counter possibly a supervisor (different uniform)—just looked confused. She wasn’t rude, but it was clear she lacked proper training or communication skills.

When we got home, we expected at least a decent taste. But it was even worse than before.
* We ordered HOT level, but it wasn’t spicy at all.
* The broth was just chili oil with water—no umami, no depth, no flavor.
* Are you using the same amount of sauce no matter how many ingredients customers choose?
* Don’t skimp on the sauce! It’s the heart of mala soup.
To make things worse, I felt something strange in my mouth while eating—when I spat it out, it was a piece of cut plastic.
Later that night, I suffered from:
* Stomach pain
* Vomiting (twice)
* Diarrhea multiple times
* Zero sleep
This experience was unacceptable.
From poor communication to flavorless food and even a foreign object in my meal this is not the quality or safety customers expect.
I sincerely hope the management addresses these issues seriously.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1