Pots and pots of fun

Najda Street holds a little gem of an eatery in the Qian Zhou Hot Pot Shop. Nestled nicely in a snug first-floor unit, it is brightly lit and is sparklingly clean, and it sports the most comprehensive condiments station you’ll ever see. But more of that later.

The eatery is pitched firmly at the cost-conscious crowd, and for those that have never eaten at a hotpot place before, it’s a style of dining where you essentially cook your own food.

But don’t worry if your cooking skills peak at boiling water, that’s essentially all you need to know to enjoy your time here.

After being seated, we were presented with the huge and comprehensive ‘self-ordering menu’, we first were directed to order the flavoured broth that would form the basis for the rest of the meal. We opted for one of the half-and-half options, the Ginseng mushroom soup and half spicy soup, but there were another 38 options available.

After this you choose plates of ingredients from the epic list. There are pre-prepared vegetables, meat, seafood and noodles and the options range from the standard (shrimps) to the exotic (beef stomach). With more than 100 options on the menu the variations are almost endless, so every visit is a unique experience.

The ingredients are then brought to the table, and you simply drop them in the broth as you wish… leave them to cook and then eat! It’s simple, social and great fun.

We chose the cuttlefish, mussels, shrimp balls, cuttlefish balls, vegetables with shrimp balls, spinach, fresh tofu, crystal vermicelli and shitake mushrooms.

Drop them in the pot, leave them to cook… and then hit the condiments section, which is astonishingly comprehensive! Mix up your own dipping sauce from a choice of hundreds of options; including things such as sesame seeds, various chilli oils, soy and peanut sauce etc…

The resultant meal was tasty, filling and also healthy! And the cost? For three people to enjoy a filling meal and a fun social occasion… AED 178.

We’ll be going back.

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