Ever entered a supermarket and wished you could devour all the wonderful foods right there and then? Well now you can – because hidden at the back of an oriental supermarket ‘Taste the Orient,’ on Woodhouse Lane in Headingley, Leeds, is authentic Chinese hot pot restaurant, Crown Hot Pot.
This emerging obsession is quickly taking Leeds by storm and after our visit we can see why. Hidden atop a spiral staircase are two floors of culinary hot pot magic. The majority of diners here are Chinese, so we knew authenticity was guaranteed.
If like us, it’s your first-time dining in a hot pot restaurant you may need a little help from the friendly waiters to understand the process. With such an extensive selection of meat, seafood and veggie platters, choosing your food takes a little time – not to mention the vast selection of cooking broths to choose from in which you will be cooking your own meal.
We chose the half n’ half hot pot; Szechuan broth on one side of the pot and pork bone broth on the other.
Having finally selected our food platters, 1 metre of thinly sliced beef… yes 1 metre! A bowl filled with fresh seafood, noodles and fried rice; we were shown to the ‘seasoning station.’ This is your chance to get creative and concoct your own dipping sauce. Choose from soy sauce, chopped garlic, chilli, coriander, sesame paste, sriracha, dried chilli flakes and many more ingredients.
After mixing our seasonings, it wasn’t long before we were presented with our hot pot. The pot itself nestles in the centre of a specially designed dining table, where the broths are brought up to a rolling boil; the perfect temperature to cook your food in.
The waiters are on hand to advise on how long you should cook each of the ingredients for, with most taking no longer than five minutes. So, with chopsticks in hand we went in! First the beef which takes just two minutes to cook, shortly followed by the noodles and a selection of the seafood. The food takes on all the delicious flavours from the broth, but without compromising the freshness of the ingredients.
Unlike our Chinese co-diners, we’re not quite the seasoned hot pot diners yet, but we’ll definitely be back. Hot pot dining is an interactive fun experience, serving fresh and flavoursome food.
Simply step into the supermarket the follow your nose to hot pot heaven, because Crown Hot Pot really is the jewel in the crown.
Review by @coxys_kitchen
About Coxy’s Kitchen
Coxy’s Kitchen provides a dinner party and private dining service throughout Yorkshire. If you love having dinner parties but don’t fancy the cooking, contact Coxy’s Kitchen to cook your next dinner party. To make an enquiry or for an initial consultation, please email [email protected]
