Where to find the best hotpot restaurants in Melbourne
Priced at $90 per head, you’ll choose five items from their tasting menu to start off with – think M9+ wagyu nigiri, Tasmanian uni served on a crunchy nori cracker, or the most luxuriously silky lobster bisque soup. As the name suggests, this is Sichuan fire and heat tailored for the hot pot Melbourne shopping mall food court where speed and convenience are the law. Not surprisingly, noodles are the draw here, though there are a few other offerings. Our choice is the signature Chilli Chicken soups which pack just enough punch to set you up for your next round of retail therapy.
Many Chinese families will have had a hot pot set that’s been around for generations, or get shared around when the kids move out of home. Bringing a theatrical aspect to each dining experience, Panda Hot Pot will light up the Melbourne food scene with live cultural performances on a nightly basis. You also get a choice of soups and size of steamboat pots, allowing to have a small individual pot or a larger shared pot. Self-serve condiments are also available so you can make your own dipping sauces. There's street parking outside the restaurant with a maximum of 2 hours till 8.30pm at $7 an hour, though if you're going for a late lunch, you need to take note that at around 4pm it becomes a clearway till 6.30pm. Walking through the massive carved wooden doors is very impressive and I almost expected a gong to sound to announce my arrival.
Fill in your details below to get to know about our special events, promotions, new menus and more. Mala broth – a deeply bovine base that coats all comers with the inimitable lip-quivering hum of the Sichuan peppercorn, and whose rich aroma tends to cling to idle outerwear. Fortunately, David’s has a human-sized deodorising machine that rids you of your stench at the touch of a button as you leave.
By now, your broth will have needed a bit of topping up with chicken stock or hot water. But should be deliciously rich and flavourful from the previous ingredients. This is the perfect time to cook our carbs to soak up this broth. In a sea of beautiful seafood and delicious sliced meat, I always go for the fish and meat balls. They may be cheap, but they taste a million dollars to me and I know I’m not alone.
The menu offers an ample range of seafood, meat, offal, vegetables, patties and noodles to fill up any hungry diner. Some highlights include baby abalone and fresh oysters , scallops, prawns, beef ribs, pig blood jelly, snow pea shoots, fish noodles and the patties [which are made in-house]. The life or death of any steamboat or hot pot restaurant hinges on the quality of the dishes. You simply can't hide freshness or the lack of it in the ingredients.
Aim for 4 or 5 people per pot and 8 is always my magic number. There’s enough for two pots and enough variety so you can have a bit of everything. That’s why cooking a hot pot is perfect for a night with friends or your housemates. If anyone knows authentic Sichuan cuisine, it’s Chef David! Chef David opened its first restaurant under the name David’s Hotpot, with the goal of sharing Sichuan flavours with the people of Melbourne. Now they are firing up the barbecue and tempting the tastebuds of the CBD with a brand new Sichuan Barbecue grill menu.
These include more David’s Hot Pot restaurants, a number of franchised and non-franchised fast-food outlets that serve mala xiangguo - a numbing spicy stir-fry pot - and another Chef David branch in Melbourne’s east. Half a decade on from the early days when queues would line up around the block of his first hot pot restaurant, David’s Hot Pot, Mr Zhou has a dozen restaurants under his name. Even at its most scaled back, Panda ticks more hot pot boxes than most. Dessert of fryer-puffed rice balls are chewy soft and sharpened by mollases-like brown sugar syrup. Ordering more than our group can handle, plus drinks, comes to less than $50 a head.
Sometimes it's all on top of you, other times, you're left to figure things out, but the beauty of these big operations is in its systems. Your menu is both ordering form and guide, dictating how to order and the exact number of seconds each item should be dunked for premium performance. Entertainment was also scaled back to one performance at 7pm. Then came a rogue busy night which saw them short-staffed and missing product as they hadn't had the confidence to restock. I wanted to cover Panda now to give it a needed push. I'm glad I did, but with full disclosure, because this disaster isn't without its effects.
Brand new in Carlton, Panda Hot Pot at 100 Victoria St, Carlton opened just a week ago. If the address of the premises seem familiar to you; it's because in its other life, the building housed the Dracula Theatre Restaurant which closed down in 2017. Yi Li the owner of Panda Hot Pot has transformed the ghoulish guts of the theatre restaurant into ancient China complete with a nearly 16 metre long, 1.5 tonne steel dragon suspended at entry-level that cannot be missed. In the timeframe I was there, just about every passer-by was taken aback, halted and took a picture of the very impressive Dragon with a warrior riding its back, brought all the way over from Chengdu. "The best thing i've bought on Groupon. Such great value! The food is yummy. The meat and seafood quality are all up to standard. And, the soup is delicious! My family of 4 was totally happy abt this place." Today, the main distinction is the use of thinly sliced lamb.
After choosing your favourite ingredients from the open fridge (priced at $3.68 per 100g), follow the neon signs to the cosiest outdoor area, full of gas heaters and artificial grass. Although fish isn’t the only thing on the menu, this restaurant has a big seafood focus. The other selling point is the use of charcoal in the cooking process, which really adds to the flavour of the grilled dishes. Pandemic or not, it’s good to have a pair of cooking chopsticks and a pair you use to eat to avoid spreading germs or mixing cooked and raw ingredients. Better yet, put the raw ingredients in your strainer and cook it from there. Everyone starts with this etiquette but you’ll soon forget and mix your utensils up.
Please call the store before visiting to confirm their hours. For a touch of class, thinly-sliced abalone – often seen as a delicacy in Chinese culture – is a real treat. They’re quick to cook and all it needs is a little dash of soy to perfectly compliment its natural sweetness. Chicken is less common because it can be risky, but if you would like to include it, opt for marinated breast or thigh and cook it for a little longer. Chinese is one of the most ancient and varied cuisines in the world, yet it often gets oversimplified in Australia. Cantonese and Sichuan may be the most prominently represented of China’s regional cuisines in Melbourne, but they’re just two of “the eight great cuisines” .
The signature ma la tang broth is cooked with more than 24 wild herbs from Mount Emei, Sichuan, China and follows the century old Sichuan hot pot broth recipe to produce a unique and golden thick fragrance. This unassuming venue offers an all-you-can-eat hot pot lunch at only $23.80 regardless of weekdays or weekends. Apart from the price, the restaurant was neat and tidy, with comfortable seating and a friendly atmosphere. Tables are sizable to accommodate one large hot plate in the middle and flanked by four smaller ones. None of the famously tiny tables in Melbourne's restaurants.
Their all-you-can-eat specials range from $35 to $50 per person. Scan the wall to choose cult-status instant noodles, sausage, kimchi and more meaty delights to add to your feast. There is also a large a la carte menu covering all the stars of Sichuan cuisine and a few lesser known delicacies.
Many Chinese families will have had a hot pot set that’s been around for generations, or get shared around when the kids move out of home. Bringing a theatrical aspect to each dining experience, Panda Hot Pot will light up the Melbourne food scene with live cultural performances on a nightly basis. You also get a choice of soups and size of steamboat pots, allowing to have a small individual pot or a larger shared pot. Self-serve condiments are also available so you can make your own dipping sauces. There's street parking outside the restaurant with a maximum of 2 hours till 8.30pm at $7 an hour, though if you're going for a late lunch, you need to take note that at around 4pm it becomes a clearway till 6.30pm. Walking through the massive carved wooden doors is very impressive and I almost expected a gong to sound to announce my arrival.
Fill in your details below to get to know about our special events, promotions, new menus and more. Mala broth – a deeply bovine base that coats all comers with the inimitable lip-quivering hum of the Sichuan peppercorn, and whose rich aroma tends to cling to idle outerwear. Fortunately, David’s has a human-sized deodorising machine that rids you of your stench at the touch of a button as you leave.
By now, your broth will have needed a bit of topping up with chicken stock or hot water. But should be deliciously rich and flavourful from the previous ingredients. This is the perfect time to cook our carbs to soak up this broth. In a sea of beautiful seafood and delicious sliced meat, I always go for the fish and meat balls. They may be cheap, but they taste a million dollars to me and I know I’m not alone.
The menu offers an ample range of seafood, meat, offal, vegetables, patties and noodles to fill up any hungry diner. Some highlights include baby abalone and fresh oysters , scallops, prawns, beef ribs, pig blood jelly, snow pea shoots, fish noodles and the patties [which are made in-house]. The life or death of any steamboat or hot pot restaurant hinges on the quality of the dishes. You simply can't hide freshness or the lack of it in the ingredients.
Aim for 4 or 5 people per pot and 8 is always my magic number. There’s enough for two pots and enough variety so you can have a bit of everything. That’s why cooking a hot pot is perfect for a night with friends or your housemates. If anyone knows authentic Sichuan cuisine, it’s Chef David! Chef David opened its first restaurant under the name David’s Hotpot, with the goal of sharing Sichuan flavours with the people of Melbourne. Now they are firing up the barbecue and tempting the tastebuds of the CBD with a brand new Sichuan Barbecue grill menu.
These include more David’s Hot Pot restaurants, a number of franchised and non-franchised fast-food outlets that serve mala xiangguo - a numbing spicy stir-fry pot - and another Chef David branch in Melbourne’s east. Half a decade on from the early days when queues would line up around the block of his first hot pot restaurant, David’s Hot Pot, Mr Zhou has a dozen restaurants under his name. Even at its most scaled back, Panda ticks more hot pot boxes than most. Dessert of fryer-puffed rice balls are chewy soft and sharpened by mollases-like brown sugar syrup. Ordering more than our group can handle, plus drinks, comes to less than $50 a head.
Sometimes it's all on top of you, other times, you're left to figure things out, but the beauty of these big operations is in its systems. Your menu is both ordering form and guide, dictating how to order and the exact number of seconds each item should be dunked for premium performance. Entertainment was also scaled back to one performance at 7pm. Then came a rogue busy night which saw them short-staffed and missing product as they hadn't had the confidence to restock. I wanted to cover Panda now to give it a needed push. I'm glad I did, but with full disclosure, because this disaster isn't without its effects.
Brand new in Carlton, Panda Hot Pot at 100 Victoria St, Carlton opened just a week ago. If the address of the premises seem familiar to you; it's because in its other life, the building housed the Dracula Theatre Restaurant which closed down in 2017. Yi Li the owner of Panda Hot Pot has transformed the ghoulish guts of the theatre restaurant into ancient China complete with a nearly 16 metre long, 1.5 tonne steel dragon suspended at entry-level that cannot be missed. In the timeframe I was there, just about every passer-by was taken aback, halted and took a picture of the very impressive Dragon with a warrior riding its back, brought all the way over from Chengdu. "The best thing i've bought on Groupon. Such great value! The food is yummy. The meat and seafood quality are all up to standard. And, the soup is delicious! My family of 4 was totally happy abt this place." Today, the main distinction is the use of thinly sliced lamb.
After choosing your favourite ingredients from the open fridge (priced at $3.68 per 100g), follow the neon signs to the cosiest outdoor area, full of gas heaters and artificial grass. Although fish isn’t the only thing on the menu, this restaurant has a big seafood focus. The other selling point is the use of charcoal in the cooking process, which really adds to the flavour of the grilled dishes. Pandemic or not, it’s good to have a pair of cooking chopsticks and a pair you use to eat to avoid spreading germs or mixing cooked and raw ingredients. Better yet, put the raw ingredients in your strainer and cook it from there. Everyone starts with this etiquette but you’ll soon forget and mix your utensils up.
Please call the store before visiting to confirm their hours. For a touch of class, thinly-sliced abalone – often seen as a delicacy in Chinese culture – is a real treat. They’re quick to cook and all it needs is a little dash of soy to perfectly compliment its natural sweetness. Chicken is less common because it can be risky, but if you would like to include it, opt for marinated breast or thigh and cook it for a little longer. Chinese is one of the most ancient and varied cuisines in the world, yet it often gets oversimplified in Australia. Cantonese and Sichuan may be the most prominently represented of China’s regional cuisines in Melbourne, but they’re just two of “the eight great cuisines” .
The signature ma la tang broth is cooked with more than 24 wild herbs from Mount Emei, Sichuan, China and follows the century old Sichuan hot pot broth recipe to produce a unique and golden thick fragrance. This unassuming venue offers an all-you-can-eat hot pot lunch at only $23.80 regardless of weekdays or weekends. Apart from the price, the restaurant was neat and tidy, with comfortable seating and a friendly atmosphere. Tables are sizable to accommodate one large hot plate in the middle and flanked by four smaller ones. None of the famously tiny tables in Melbourne's restaurants.
Their all-you-can-eat specials range from $35 to $50 per person. Scan the wall to choose cult-status instant noodles, sausage, kimchi and more meaty delights to add to your feast. There is also a large a la carte menu covering all the stars of Sichuan cuisine and a few lesser known delicacies.
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