Dragon Hot Pot — Gastrology

There’s queues out the door. But there is good reason. Dragon Hot Pot is not quite a grocery store, nor is it a made-to-order restaurant. Instead, it’s a happy combination of the two and has made it a hot pot powerhouse and an unstoppable force on Melbourne’s Chinese dining scene.

Launching their first store late 2017, Dragon Hot Pot has set the city ablaze with six stores across Melbourne. We loved visiting their Elizabeth Street outlet to find out what the fuss is all about.

The unique concept, created by owner Louis Kuo, is for the culinary intrepid as diners can customise their way to a delicious meal without hurting the hip pocket. With a supermarket style set-up, where customers can pick and choose from over 100 ingredients, Dragon Hot Pot provides hot pots based on almost any budget and appetite. With the base provided at no cost, customers pay only $3.20 per 100g of additions, with a minimum spend of $12.80 (400g).

Dragon Hot Pot has a modest range of five base stocks, but over 100 fresh ingredients to make it shine. The Signature Ma La Tang broth is a must-have and is available at all stores. The 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. Other bases, not available at all stores include, Ma La Spicy Stir-fry which is known as a dry pot and is tossed with Chinese herbs, dry chilli, Sichuan peppers and the Dragon Hot Pot signature spicy sauce.

To tantalise from the meekest palate to the most fearless, customers can choose their individual and preferred combinations – with an incredible array of ingredients ranging from bok choy, chicken, wagyu, shrimp, enoki mushroom, fish balls, octopus balls, tofu fish cake, pig’s kidney, duck blood, egg, seven variations of noodles, crab stick, and even frog’s legs. Customers can even choose their own spice level, from mild, hot, to fire hot and dragon hot, to add into their hot pot.

Location: 251 Swanston Street, Melbourne

Phone: (03) 9662 1833

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dragonhotpotmelbourne/