Hotpot Nine (Lao Jiu Men in Chinese) is replacing a Chinese restaurant that was previously there. This place is still in its soft opening, and so was offering 15% off. They are still figuring a few things out. For instance the vestiaire is not available for customers just yet (only staff), but it might be in the future (which would be amazing to avoid coats smelling like hot pot for the next 3 days). The place it not that big, but they managed to arrange quite a few tables in there. And it's already popular! It was pretty much full on both nights I was there. There are large and small pots. Large pots are shared between diners of a given table, as it is usually the case in China. Small pots (individual pots) give more freedom as to which base soup you want, although large pots allow a maximum of 3 different soups! The induction cookers were powerful, and the simple electronic pads at each table enabled to easily control boiling.
There's quite a few base soups available. So far I tried the "traditional spicy soupe", "health mushroom soupe", "original bone soupe" and "nourishing health chicken soupe" (the English names might be a bit puzzling, but they were all tasty). The heat level of the spicy soup was also quite satisfying for us Sichuanese. It is all you can eat, at about 25$ per person. The base soup costs extra, and so do drinks and some select items (e.g. duck blood, beef tongue, etc.). The choice of food items if not the most diverse, but covers most essentials. The main attraction remains meat, in this case AA+ beef and lamb. The mashed shrimp (pureed shrimp that boils into a shimp meatball) was also very popular. Soups and food came fairly fast, and was very nicely displayed. Some items were forgotten on both of my visits, but it didn't affect the overall experience. There's two self-serve stations, one for ready to eats (spring rolls, fried fish (?), oranges, fried buns, etc.) and one for sauces. The sauce station had everything I needed, but was quite messy and in need of replenishing. I also wished the oil would be sesame oil instead of vegetable (?) oil. Ladles and strainers can be found on the shelf under the sauce station.
Overall, the taste was excellent, and there was a lot of efforts and good attitude from the staff. The place was still a bit messy and chaotic, and the air was a bit stuffy, given all the steam that is produced. But then again, it's arguably part of an old school hot pot experience! read more