With the weather cooling down, having a hot pot meal is a perfect way to warm up.
Hot pot is great because it allows you to choose your favourite ingredients and cook it yourself in a steaming hot, bubbling soup pot.
Many enjoy a hot pot because it can be more than just a meal but also a social “cook it yourself” activity with family and friends.
But having a hot pot can end up being quite a costly affair, and those who are unfamiliar can find it quite daunting when having to choose from the often massive range of ingredients on the menu.
Xiaolongkan, a Chinese hot pot restaurant in Ellerslie, has launched a “set dinner meal deal” in a bid to attract newbies to hot pot.
For $120, diners would get up to 14 dishes that include two types of beef, lamb, whole prawns, pork belly, fish fillet, tofu skin rolls, fresh seasonal vegetables, rice, and noodles to go with their choice of soup bases.
They will also get two glasses of house wines as part of the meal combo.
Jing Wei, owner of Xiaolongkan, said this will make it easy for diners to order and also for them to know that they “won’t overspend”.
“I think in this economic climate, people have a limit on what they are prepared to spend when dining out. When having hot people, some feel they could end up overspending when they simply tick and order on the menu,” Jing said.
“By having this set, it not only makes it easy for people to order, but it also means they know exactly what they will be spending.”
Alternatively, Xiaolongkan is also offering other new hot pot sets, including the Sichuan Spicy Fish Pot ($78), Whole Chicken Pot ($80), Spicy Prawn Pot ($68), and Spicy Lamb Spine Pot ($58).
“These new options also go with our aim of making having hot pot dining less complicated, where people don’t even need to cook their own ingredients, although they can order them to be added in,” Jing said.
Xiaolongkan has an interesting selection of soup bases, including “mushroom, tomato and butter”, beef tallow spicy soup and non-spicy mushroom broth. Sauces and condiments cost $3 per person.
Xiaolongkan translates literally as Little Dragon Ridge, is named after a place in Shapingba district in Chongqing, which has a mountainous region that resembles a dragon.
The traditional Chongqing hotpot originated in this area approximately 100 years ago.
XIAOLONGKAN CHINESE HOT POT Building 8/666 Great South Road, Ellerslie. Ph 09 5251329. Business Hours: 11.30am to 11pm (7 days)
