Din Ji Dried Pot Legend

I’ve been to most dried pot spots in Flushing and although Din Ji Dried Pot isn’t the best I’ve tried, they sure do a pretty decent job in keeping the customers satisfied and food less oily. Unlike the other mala pots-​serving spots (notably those in NY Food Court and New World Mall), Din Ji has their pots already pre-​paired and pre-​sized. Depending on the protein you select, you pay a different price (ranging in the high 20s — low 30s). The pot is meant to fill 2 starving people, but can definitely serve three comfortably. I thought it was nice of them to allow half/​half of two different pots (paying the price of half of each pot).
The thing I liked the most about their pots was the oil filter/​drainer. It separates the massive amount of chili oil used to stir-​fry the food. Super helpful and necessary, especially since the bottom layer of dry pots are always greasy and drenched in oil.
Even on a Friday night, Din Ji was far from busy. Perhaps, the price isn’t the cheapest and the location is sort of random, I think Din Ji is worth a try, especially if you have a larger group and are avoiding the chaotic food court scene.
Note: Rice isn’t free like most Chinese restaurants/​dry hot pot spots.

Amazing veggie rice! It’s the memory of my childhood. Haven’t tasted that flavor in at least ten years! The hot pot is awesome as well! Thanks for the free appetizer!

Bad experience, the taste is ok, but the price is too expensive. Rice charge for 2 dollars.

Din Ji recently took over the old Crazy Crab* location. I walk by the area nearly every week so it didn’t take long for the change to catch my attention, even though it seemed to happen overnight. While Crazy Crab was always deserted (seriously, how did the place stay open for as long as it did?), Din Ji is having much better luck by serving Flushing’s trendy dried pot (ma la xiang guo) and there looks to be a pretty steady stream of customers. I was a little surprised to see the new place, because do we REALLY need another ma la xiang guo spot? Then again I love xiang guo, so who am I to complain?
Compared to the other spicy dried pot places in Flushing, I would say Din Ji’s flavor and spice level is just as good. However, the main difference is that while all the other spicy dried pot places I’ve seen in Flushing are by-​the-​pound, Din Ji’s is a set price at just under $ 30/​pot and I’d estimate each pot can feed 2 – 3 people. So price to quantity ratio it comes out to about the same as the per pound places. Keeping that in mind…
Pros:
— Din Ji serves their spicy dried pot with a metal grill inside the giant metal bowl so that all the oil drains out — such a simple solution to how oily the stir fry can get, especially if you go for the spiciest level. I wish all xiang guo places would adopt this method.
— Their meat/​seafood options are much better than the by-​the-​pound places. Some of their options are: lamb chops, lobster, crawfish, rabbit, quail, pig trotters, etc.
— Their menu includes much more than just spicy dried pot, so if you have a big group you can order a full family-​style Chinese meal. The rest of their items are pretty standard Sichuan dishes — it’s not the best Sichuan in Flushing but it’s decent.
Cons:
— You pick your dried pot by your meat or seafood topping here and the base ingredients are the same for all. You can’t mix and match the meats like you can at the per pound places.
— Since the base ingredients for all the dried pots are the same, you can’t choose the exact ingredients you want in your pot so you’d potentially get less variety of ingredients than the per pound spots, depending on what you normally like to have in your pot.
So depending on how picky you are with your ingredients, Din Ji may or may not work to your advantage. In the future if I’m craving ma la xiang guo I’ll probably go to my favorite by-​the-​pound place and get all my favorite ingredients, but if I’m also with a group of friends who want to do a family-​style meal Din Ji would be a great option and I wouldn’t hesitate to come back.
*RIP Crazy Crab. I hardly knew ya.

Great service with a friendly staff. Excellent tasting spicy food without the typical overpowering of solely peppers in the dish you’d find nowadays in Flushing. Would recommend to all spice lovers of exotic food.

It is my first time to come to this place. My friend told me about this new dried pot restaurant and recommended it. So, I tried lobster dried pot today. It is super awesome and the price also is cute! I like veggie and the dried pot comes with a lot of vegetable. I definitely will come again because of the flavor. Plus, it is close to the place I work. I will deliver next time.

Just open, great， China Sichuan, dried pot, cooking, noodles, Spicy. each Griddle good for 2 to 3 people, delicious spicy, next to the building may have three hours of free parking.