Readers will know that I absolutely adore table top cooking. There is hardly anything that beats the interactive enjoyment of communal cooking at the table. For that reason, I am obsessed with BBQs and hot pots. If we lived in a colder climate, I'd have it all year round. Having heard that the biggest hotpot chain in the world finally opened in Brisbane at the top level of Market Square, I booked as early as I could, which still took one month and got us the last slot on a Sunday night.
Arriving shortly before our reservation, I was surprised to see the manicure setup still running. Rushing over, I managed to score an appointment. Although I didn't get my nails done, I did get a wonderful exfoliation, massage and rehydration whilst Dr L and co waited nearby enjoying snacks and water. By the time I was done, it was time to go in and get seated.
Whilst food is ordered on the ipad, sauces are charged at $4.90 per person and it also came with complimentary sides and some fruit. For those who do not know how to mix sauces, they have guides on the walls.
Despite the abundance of options, I had my usual order of garlic, soy, spring onions and sesame oil. All the additions were fresh and the garlic was spicy.
Sides included pickled raddish, deep fried chickpeas as well as corn salad. These were surprisingly tasty and it was very generous of them to provide this complimentary. I found the chickpeas to be really crunchy, moreish and just all round enjoyable.
Our soup came out really quickly. They were quite steep, given a single soup costs around $30, a double is $16 each and four flavours makes it $10 each. We ordered the signature herbal soup and a tomato soup. Although steep, the soup quality was fantastic. I had expected their packet soup flavours but this was definitely not instant. With an abundance of depth and taste, the signature soup was a crowd favourite that night, although the tomato was great too.
Before starting to cook our meals, staff came around and served each of us a bowl of their soup so we could enjoy the flavours on their own. The tomato soup was fresh and tart without being too sweet. With spring onion and coriander it really stood out as one of the best tomato soups I've had in a while.
Before long, our food started to arrive. First up was the marinated beef and beef slices. The marinated beef was thick cut but not too chewy. I found the pieces to be somewhat small though and hard to keep tabs on where they were in the soup. The basic beef slices were frozen and erred on the side of fatty but delicious and went well with the soup.
Next was a serve of quail eggs. For the price, the quantity we got was also very generous. They were however at risk of overcooking in the soup though.
Dr L's favourite is the lamb slices, so of course we had some. The lamb was also good quality and not too fatty but for the price, there wasn't too many pieces.
Some other dishes we had included the tofu skin rolls which are one of my favourites. It absorbed the soup really well and was wonderful. The fish paste was also freshly made on site and had an abundance of fish roe in it, everyone really enjoyed that dish and I'd order it again. The egg dumplings were also a crowd pleaser and not a dish you can get at that many other places. Other than that, the basa and bok choy were fresh but fairly ordinary.
Whilst the wagyu was extremely expensive, we went for the second best option and had a serve of snow beef. For $20, it was well marbled, fresh and extremely tender. The quality is far higher than the basic beef and I'd definitely recommend this one.
The ox tongue was more generous in portion and these were chewy and meaty, the beefy flavours went particularly well with the tomato soup.
We had a serve of small cuttlefish, these were cute and not too chewy, we were told to cook them for roughly three minutes before eating and they luckily didn't overcook.
Service was great throughout dinner, staff were regularly skimming the scum off the soup and topping it up with fresh broth. It was a bit of a hit and miss with the secret codes for freebies though. I managed to score dessert but no take home soup base. The usual fairy wand was also out of stock and we only had an inflatable one. Will have to come back next time to try again.
The complimentary dessert was a little odd because we only had one bowl to share between the table. It was a herbal jelly dessert which had sesame and rasins in it. It was quite sweet and cooling which was nice after our meal.
We also ordered a serve of deep fried taro balls. These were amazing. Even after sitting on our table for a bit they were still warm and crisp when we ate them. Under the crunchy exterior there was sweet chewy potato, rounding off a very delicious meal that I will definitely come back for in the near future.
Price Range: $40 - $60pp
Taste: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 9/10
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