Emma After an intrepid jaunt to China a couple of years ago, Mr Foodie has been raving about Hot Pot. That much so that we make it at home. We have been meaning to visit some establishments and settled on Feast (or Chuukoku as it was known) on Sauchiehall Street.
Hot Pot is a pot filled with one or more soup bases where you cook your ingredients in. It is a popular pass time in China.
We entered and were happy to see some couples with their hot pot pots steaming away. We surprised the host by asking for hot pot, probably used to the straight towards the buffet section clientele (that and the fact there’s no mention of hot pot on the menu board outside).
The hot pot area is at the front of the restaurant, pine tables with gas burners at the ready.
The waiter asked for our drinks order and what soup base we would like. A choice of spicy, plain, beef or chicken. We went for plain and spicy.
Jasmine tea, soda water and lime and some plum juice were soon delivered.
The ingredients are in four chillers. Fish – including salmon, oysters, whelks, squid, octopus, crab and razor clams. Meat – tripe, beef, lamb as well as various bean curd and fish balls. Lots and lots of vegetables from sweet corn to fungus to broccoli and finally a chiller with noodles of various kinds as well as bases for your dipping bowl, such as satay sauce, garlic, chilli oil etc.
Condiments such as fish sauce, MSG etc are at the side.
With plates heaving with ingredients we headed back to our bubbling pot.
I had a nut based dipping bowl and added some chilli oil as well as items from the hot pot that we had cooked.
It’s not the daintiest of ways to eat with noodles splashing, slurping and dribbling but much fun. Be Chinese, take friends and linger over the meal chatting. The whole ethos seemed to be chill out, cook your food, eat it and chat.
As well as the hot pot you get access to their world buffet. He there are curries, sushi, dim sum, pizzas, pakora, cakes, ice cream, custard – everything. We only had room for some chocolate fountain mallows and a make your own cone.
The buffet area looks slightly better than your average chicken twenty ways fried and dried within an inch buffet but we didn’t eat any as we were stuffed after the hot pot and only had our pudding belly available!
Great place for a leisurely sunday lunch/dinner or a night with friends.
Total price £46.73 which included two people unlimited hotpot, world buffet visit for two (if you can face it!), pot of Jasmine Tea, bottle of plum juice and two glasses of soda water and lime.
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