Hot Pot Restaurants in Hong Kong
There’s nothing like a bubbling cauldron of hotpot broth to warm you up on a chilly winter’s night. Below, we round up five very different but equally delectable hotpot styles that are making mouths water all over town. So what are you waiting for? Grab your balls and get dipping.
Sichuan Spice
Offering Chengdu cuisine in a comfortable environment, He Jiang is not your average noisy Chinese restaurant. Located inside a four-star hotel, the restaurant is bright and spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the busy roads of Wan Chai. For a more private dining experience, there are also private rooms available groups of up to 12. As for the hotpot, the restaurant offers five authentic Chengdu-style soup bases to select from; go for a yin-yang pot for a well-balanced experience. He Jiang’s signature Sichuan-style soup is spicy but restrained—as in, your tastebuds don’t get overwhelmed by the mouth-numbing peppercorns and you can actually taste your food. The spicy soup contrasts well with the light, sweet flavors of the freshwater herring, dried date and ginkgo broth, in which you’ll see a whole fish floating around, along with a full apple or pear (depending on which fruit is more delectable that day). To complete the refined hotpot experience, He Jiang has a full selection of dipping favorites, including eight toppings and four sauces (we’re told that sesame oil is a must-add for a Chengdu-style twist). Try their bouncy handmade fish balls and dumplings, which are made in-house, or alternatively, order their mutton skewers and duck blood cubes for something a little different.
1/F, Cosmopolitan Hotel Hong Kong, 387–397 Queen’s Rd. East, Wan Chai, 3167-7833.
A Hong Kong Classic
If you want truly down-to-earth Hong Kong-style hotpot, and you can handle bare walls, cling-wrapped tables and plastic chairs, then Man Fat Restaurant is the place for you. Hidden amongst the car dealerships on the quieter side of Mong Kok, you can’t miss this long-standing Pai Po Street institution with its huge neon lights. We asked the owner about a good hotpot base for beginners, and he suggested the vegetable soup base, because “it’s simpler and you can order more ingredients later.” Man Fat prides itself on its fresh seafood and handmade seafood balls—check out the tanks outside the restaurant, containing live prawns, eels and fish.
4 Pai Po St., Mong Kok, 2780-1212.
Lotsa Lamb
One of the rare locations where you can have a traditional Beijing-style lamb hotpot here in Hong Kong, Jin Wei is a small, homely restaurant. Still serving its concoctions in the copper pots that were used when lamb hotpots were still charcoal-fired, Jin Wei retains the tradition, while upgrading to the more common gas stove to comply with new regulations. “If everyone was having a charcoal-fired lamb hotpot in such a small space, we’d all die from charcoal-poisoning,” jokes manager and chef Mr. Chan. Jin Wei offers a half-half option of “mala” spicy soup and clear soup, the latter being made with a mix of dried baby shrimps and star anise. Chan says, “Even though Hong Kong people like a bone soup base, this soup needs to be different so that the flavor of the lamb can come through.” Jin Wei’s lamb is thinly sliced and absorbs the soup quite quickly, so it’s fortunate that the spices only tingle, instead of numbing your whole mouth. On the other hand, the clear soup is sweet and helps bring out the flavor of the lamb. Don’t forget to try the special house-made dipping sauce. Thick and made with peanut paste, sesame and other secret spices, it waters down it mingles with the soup..
76 Wharf Rd., North Point, 2571-2226.