What: Hot Pot
In a nutshell: Asian Hot Pot cooking in Soho
Summing it all up: Pick your favourite ingredients, add a broth and start cooking your food in front of you. That's what's coming to Soho with Hot Pot.
The low-down
We've already seen the Chinese hot pot get a bit of a reinvention in London with Shuang Shuang and now another restaurant is hitting the London scene. As with that restaurant, it's all about ordering your favourite broth and adding all manner of fresh ingredients to cook in front of you. The big difference is that here, the emphasis is all about doing it as a group, so there are loads of booths and large tables. This is going to be a fun place to go with a whole gang of you.
Starting with those broths, they're:
Mala Sichian Spicy: A spicy broth made with dried chilli, Sichuan peppercorns, herbs and fermented beans.
Tom Yum: A hot and sour flavour that comes from lemongrass, lime, prawns and chilli.
Chicken Soup: Made from black chicken and berries
Mushroom Soup: Mushrooms, white turnips and soy milk
Into those, the fresh ingredients you can add include rib-eye, wagyu, marinated chicken, pork belly, seabass, king prawns, shrimp wontons, Scottish lobster, fresh abalone, shitake, golden needle mushroom, sweet potato, fresh tofu, quail eggs and emerald green noodles. Plus lots of unlimited sauces on top of that from the sauce station.
As for the restaurant itself, it's across two floors with booths for 4, 6, 8 and 10 - as well as a private dining room. Those larger booth can have multiple burners, but why not go for one large communal one and bicker happily about what goes in (or stays out)?
More about Hot Pot
Where is it? 17 Wardour Street, London W1D 6PJ
When does it open? March
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Twitter @hotpotlondon_.
