I love hot pot but am used to it being served a certain way.
This involves paying an all-you-can-eat price and then just continuing to order ingredients to cook at your table.
Burnaby’s next great hot pot does things different. Big Way Hot Pot at 4300 Kingsway has you choose from 100 items that are in a display case. You pick them and put them into a bowl and then choose your soup base.
Then you take that and the staff weigh it, charging you a certain amount before it is then cooked.
Interesting concept.
More hot pot restaurants open in Burnaby
This area is getting crowded with hot pot restaurants as Marble House just opened nearby on the second floor of Crystal Mall shopping centre.
Marble House is split into three main foods, with dim sum for lunch, barbecue all day and hot pot mainly for dinner.
“Marble House serves outstanding Chinese cuisine that blends traditional recipes with contemporary tastes in a space that offers a warm, lively local neighbourhood vibe,” the company says. “At Marble House, we are committed to creating a memorable guest experience through our gastronomy and warm service. We offer three unique culinary experiences: the ever-popular tradition of dim sum cuisine at lunchtime, all-you-can-eat mini hotpot at dinner time with ingredients of the highest quality, and BBQ all day long at the city’s most attractive price. “Discover the different dishes during any time of the day, while the chefs are inspired by the seasonal ingredients to bring the ultimate indulgence.”
The hot pot is what I come for, as you pick from the different soup bases and then from an all-you-can-eat array of meats, seafood and veggies. The soup heats up, you drop in your proteins and vegetables and cook them. Then you add different sauces for dipping. My girlfriend takes several different sauces and mixes them together into one super sauce. She is a master.
Marble House is a worthy challenger to the nearby Dolar Shop, which opened up in Burnaby’s Metrotown area in the Station Square shopping district.
What’s The Dolar Shop? It’s a global hot pot giant that operates in several U.S. markets, Australia and, of course, all across China. There’s also one in Richmond.
The company boasts that its hot pot is fresher than others and offers the kinds of ingredients that aren’t offered at other restaurants, such as wagyu beef cubes, shrimp pate, peony shrimp and more.
As for the broths, there is a black truffle broth among the options, as well as tomato and oxtail.
If you haven’t tried hot pot before, it’s an incredible experience, best enjoyed with a group of people for lots of food and good conversation.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
