Toronto Hot Pot All-You-Can-Eat | $59.99 Seafood Buffet — Lobster, Snow Crab & Oysters Unlimited

Updated: 2026-06-17｜Prices, menu items and hours change frequently; always confirm with the restaurant’s latest announcements.

Hot pot competition in the Toronto suburbs has always been fierce, and lately the spot getting the most buzz in the Chinese community is a seafood-focused all-you-can-eat hot pot in Markham—Gourmet Tribe Hot Pot & Market. The premium plan starting at $59.99 advertises unlimited lobster, crab and sushi, and the social-media screenshots keep coming—it does look tempting. I cross-checked the official site, local AYCE reviews and a few restaurant listings, and this article lays out exactly which place this is, where it is, which tier is actually worth it and who it suits, plus a few easy pitfalls to watch for.

A lot of online posts just say “Toronto seafood hot pot,” which can make people think it’s downtown—but Gourmet Tribe is actually at 7500 Woodbine Ave, Markham (near John St), geographically in the northeast suburbs of the Greater Toronto Area. For people living downtown and getting around by TTC, this location isn’t exactly convenient; but for drivers, or anyone already living around North York / Markham / Richmond Hill, it’s actually quite handy. Get this straight first so you don’t plan your trip wrong.

Many people go for the $59.99 lobster seafood, but the official site actually splits the all-you-can-eat into several tiers, so understand the differences before ordering to avoid spending money for nothing. The weekday lunch plan (about $23.99, Monday to Thursday midday) includes the broth and is the basic option—good for someone who wants a hot meal at midday without spending much, but note that a local review found imitation crab rather than real crab legs in the lunch plan, so anyone coming for premium seafood shouldn’t order this one by mistake. Classic AYCE (about $43.99) has more items than lunch but still isn’t focused on premium seafood—suitable for a larger group with mixed tastes who mainly want to eat their fill. The premium hot pot + sushi plan (from $59.99, slightly higher on holidays) is the one going viral on social media; the official site lists it as including lobster and crab, and some reviews even mention Dungeness crab and even abalone, while also covering sushi / sashimi—so it’s hot pot + Japanese cuisine satisfied in one go.

As for exactly which seafood the $59.99 premium plan includes, the sources don’t fully agree: the official site clearly lists lobster and crab, some reviews add abalone, but whether oysters and abalone are served every day, and whether weekends are a fixed $61.99 or a $2 surcharge, differs from source to source. If you want specific items (such as oysters or abalone), the safest thing is to ask directly when booking about that day’s offerings and prices, rather than relying on social-media screenshots alone. As a side note, the official site lists $59.99 as the premium hot pot + sushi all-you-can-eat plan, with the hot pot itself including the broth, though drinks, certain add-ons or holiday surcharges may be extra, and weekends / public holidays are usually a bit pricier than weekdays—actual costs depend on the restaurant’s announcement that day.

Dining experience and food-grabbing tips

This place has two small design details that make it stand out among the many AYCE hot pots. The first is the individual personal pots—even the two-person booths have two separate pots, so you and your companion can each choose your own broth: the spice-lover gets ma·la, the non-spicy one gets tomato or Thai hot-and-sour, no interfering with each other. The second is self-serve—you grab the ingredients yourself, no constantly waiting for a server to bring dishes, and you control your own pace on how much seafood to eat. For dessert, some people mention it comes with Chapman’s vanilla-strawberry or chocolate ice cream, plus sliced peaches—something cold to finish off a heavy hot pot meal is just right. The overall reviews lean positive, with many giving high marks to the broth and the service, but this kind of subjective word-of-mouth varies from person to person, so take it just as a reference.

To get your money’s worth at the $59.99 price point, it comes down to the high-value seafood—a few practical tips: hit the pricey seafood first, grab the lobster and crab legs and the like first, knocking them out while your appetite is at its best, then fill up on vegetables and meatballs/dumplings afterward; for seafood, grab it and cook it right away—taking too much at once and piling it on the table makes the texture turn tough and the taste worse, so little and often keeps it freshest and sweetest; weekends and holidays are very full, so book ahead and avoid peak times, and if you want the lunch deal remember to confirm the serving window; aim for 2 to 6 people—too few makes it hard to work through such a varied menu, so rounding up a table of friends is actually better value.

Who it suits and how to plan a side trip

The right scenarios are actually pretty clear: seafood lovers who want to eat lobster and crab legs in one sitting without getting fleeced ordering à la carte, a gathering of 4 to 6 friends, or a birthday where you want something lavish—this place fits well, and bringing kids works too, since hot pot + ice cream usually wins the children over. It’s less suitable if you live in downtown Toronto without a car and can’t fit Markham into your itinerary, because making a special trip just for one hot pot meal is fairly costly—you might be better off finding a downtown option nearby; and if you have a small appetite or are only a party of two, the per-person price of all-you-can-eat is harder to recoup, in which case à la carte or a regular hot pot is actually better value.

The Markham area is dense with Chinese restaurants, supermarkets and malls, so after hot pot you’re rarely short of places to go, and shopping and errands nearby are easy. If you’re a fan visiting Toronto during the 2026 World Cup, this place is some distance from the downtown BMO Field venue, so we’d suggest not cramming it in on a match day—keeping it for a day with no fixtures, when you want a proper meal, is more relaxed. For Toronto’s World Cup fixtures and viewing arrangements, see our guide to watch spots across Canada; and to get to know more ways to enjoy this city, you can also check the Toronto city guide.