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Irene Jay Liu

Standout restaurants in the main hotpot categories:
Trendy 
Megan's Kitchen, 5/F Lucky Centre, 165-171 Wan Chai Rd, Wan Chai, tel: 1866 8305 A culture-crossing range of colour, texture and flavours. The 16 broths on offer range from the traditional to the quirky and extravagant, including English oxtail soup, Sichuan super hot chilli and escargot soup, and a tom yum kung cappuccino broth that looks and tastes like its Thai and Italian namesakes. 
East-meets-West 
Hotpot Instinct, G/F, 52 Tang Lung St, Causeway Bay, tel: 2573 2844. Try a range of East-meets-West hotpot options, albeit less colourful than those at Megan's.  Featured items include thick, hand-cut slices  of tender beef, black truffle squid balls, shrimp balls stuffed with a gooey, buttery cheese, and live prawns getting tipsy in a glass of wine. Featured broths such as the golden seafood soup come with large helping of clams, shrimp, tiny abalone and crab.  
Traditional Cantonese  
Budaoweng Hotpot Cuisine, 23/F, iSquare, 63 Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 2152 1166; Shop 1101, 11/F Times Square, Causeway Bay, tel: 3102 9363 
If fusion isn't your thing, try traditional Cantonese and Japanese-style hotpot.  Traditional broths are the focus, such as chicken soup in huadiao rice wine, winter melon with dried scallop, and miso, but more exotic fare is on offer such as spicy edible frog and sea-tortoise in herbal broth.  
Taiwanese 
Lin Kee Hotpot, 8/F, Causeway Bay Plaza 2, 463-483 Lockhart Rd, Causeway Bay, tel: 2834 0998;  87-105 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui,  tel: 2722 8828 
Lin Kee introduced Taiwanese hotpot to Hong Kong, featuring an aromatic broth of chilli, wine-fermented glutinous rice, duck blood and Japanese scallion. Another spicy option features lip-numbing huajiao, or Sichuan peppercorns, star anise and prickly ash.  The menu is all-you-can-eat buffet style, so come hungry.  
Sichuan 
Tanyoto Restaurant, 5/F One Grand Tower, 639 Nathan Road, Mong Kok, tel: 2381 2000. Branches in Wan Chai, tel: 2893 9268; Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 8120 0033; To Kwa Wan, tel: 3126 9982  Serves Sichuan and Cantonese dishes as well as the mouth-numbing, spicy hotpot soup native to the region. Tanyoto adds a fish head to the spicy broth. For those who don't want to breathe fire, try the tomato or Chinese herbal medicine soup base. 
 Mongolian 
Little Sheep, 2/F Causeway Bay Plaza Phase 2, 463-483 Lockhart Rd, Wan Chai, tel: 2893 8318. Branches in Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 2722 7633; Mongkok, tel: 2396 8816; Tsuen Wan, tel: 2940 7678  The hotpot chain  imports its signature lamb from Inner Mongolia.  Its supposedly restorative broths are filled with Chinese medicinal herbs, and are so strongly flavoured no dipping sauces are needed.



Home-style, souped up and hot to pot