7 Spicy Hotpot Restaurants to Try in Hong Kong
The cool temperatures in Hong Kong recently mean it's finally the perfect weather for hotpot (but let's face it, Hong Kongers love hotpot no matter what season)! With so many different choices to choose from, here's a short list of 7 spicy hotpot restaurants to help you get started:
Chongqing Liuyishou Hotpot 重慶劉一手火鍋
G/F & 1/F, 66 Jardine's Bazaar, Causeway Bay (Tel: +852 2110 8889)
There's been a slew of hotpot chains from China trying to make its mark in HK lately and Chongqing Liuyishou is just one of the latest! It's one of the top ten hotpot brands in China with over 1,000 branches all over the world including US, Canada, Australia, etc. The HK branch is spacious with good ventilation, and most importantly, the service was very quick and prompt. What stands out here the most is its diverse offal offering ranging from beef rumen, goose intestines, pig heart, chicken testicle and...pork brain! While we rarely see it here, pork brain is actually a pretty common hotpot ingredient in China so if you've ever wondered what pork brain tastes like, here's your chance to find out! The spicy soup base comes in 3 tiers of spiciness and while other places may dial down the spiciness to suit the local market, this place definitely doesn't so order at your own risk.
2/F, 523-527 Hennessy Rd, Causeway Bay (Tel: +852 2986 8919)
Hero Shu comes to us from Cheng Du with over 200 branches in China. I have to say that I enjoyed the spicy soup base here a lot (more than Chongqing Liuyishou) but the ventilation at the restaurant was so bad, the peppery steam kept blowing into my face and I couldn't stop sneezing. Other than that, the ingredients were really fresh especially the goose intestines which were imported from China and arrived in an ice ball to keep it fresh! I also enjoyed the super aromatic sesame oil which was provided on the side as a dipping sauce.
6/F, QRE Plaza, 202 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai (Tel: +852 3107 0298)
50 Jardine's Bazaar, East Point (Tel: +852 3703 9318)
163 Belcher's St, Kennedy Town (Tel: +852 2890 6678)
19/F, Prince Tower, 12A Peking Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui (Tel: +852 3621 0893)
With 4 locations already, Xiao Yu was probably one of the first hotpot chains from China to enter the HK market. The Chongqing restaurant gained notoriety after being featured on the popular Chinese documentary "A Bite of China" in 2014 and is famous for its spicy broth which uses its own home-grown chili peppers and butter! I quite liked the spicy broth here as it wasn't oily at all but then again it also wasn't as spicy as the others (I usually order medium spicy). With its modern decor and convenient locations on HK and Kowloon side, Xiao Yu is a great choice for hotpot gathering with friends.
51 Garden Road, Central (Tel: +852 2838 8811)
11/F, Times Square, Causeway Bay (Tel: +852 2111 9952)
Representing a local brand, San Xi Lou is almost an institution here having served authentic Sichuan cuisine and hotpot for many years. It recently opened a more convenient location in Times Square (see previous post here) with new exclusive dishes including two new hotpot broths! Aside from its signature Sichuan spicy broth, the new Spicy Bandit Chicken soup is not to be missed as it was deliriously spicy with even more layers of flavors. A trademark of HK style hotpot is the array of dipping sauces and San Xi Lou spares no expenses with at least a dozen to choose from. Other than hotpot, you can also get classic Sichuanese dishes here like the poached fish in chili broth and mapo tofu.
2/F, 8 Observatory Road, Tsim Sha Tsui (Tel: +852 2321 9038)
27/F, Vpoint,, 18 Tang Lung St, Causeway Bay (Tel: +852 2323 7098)
Ever since its inception 2 years ago, The Drunken Pot has been modernizing the hotpot experience in HK by introducing 18 creative broth flavors including sake (hence the name!). Unlike most places where you can try a maximum of 2 broths at a time, you can try up to 5 here - perfect for those who can't make up their minds. The spicy Sichuan soup, satay soup and papaya in sake seafood soup are all worth a try - don't forget about the additional sake bombs and spicy bombs you can add to your hotpot for ever more flavors! In addition to hotpot, the restaurant also serves cutesy penguin fish balls and animal dim sums for those that are young at heart.
2/F, 28 Tang Lung St, Causeway Bay (Tel: +852 3520 4111)
Suppa takes the HK style hotpot experience to another level with its retro 70's dai pai dong inspired decor. Besides being photogenic, the food is actually pretty good with fresh ingredients like local beef, hand made fish balls and even rice noodle rolls which are normally eaten as street snacks (although I felt that the spicy broth wasn't spicy enough here). The restaurant delivers on value too as they offer set menus for two starting from HK$288 per person and even cheaper for lunch.
25/F, Midtown Soundwill Plaza II, Causeway Bay (Tel: +852 2341 0999)
Spicy Spirit hails from Taiwan and I absolutely loved my experience in Taipei with its irresistible gelatinous duck blood and spicy hotpot broth that you can actually drink! Unfortunately my experience at the newly opened HK branch has been disastrous as my table wasn't even ready by 8pm for a 7:30pm reservation so we left hungry (correction: hangry) to go somewhere else to eat. Friends who have been there also experienced the same thing where they got no service for half an hour so they left in the middle of the meal. Obviously they've got some major service and operational issues to sort out, but the food I had at the Taipei branch was great so I'm hoping they can get their act together real soon.
Stay warm and happy eating!
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