I didn't really know what to expect when I was invited to a 'chinese hotpot buffet'. I'm not sure how many other (non-Chinese) people have tried this but it's good fun. Apparently it's a common chinese dish, mostly eaten in winter. I wanted to share it because it made me happy after a stressful day.
We went to 'Little Sichuan' which is just a few minutes from Finchley Road Station.
Now the idea is you get two pots, a spicy one and a non-spicy pot on a hot plate which you switch on to boil or keep warm (depending on what you are doing). You also get given a gazillion things to drop in it: shrimp, oysters, beef, tofu, fu-ju (tofu skin), noodles, pok choi, mushrooms, ham, fish, crab, squid. Really just about anything, and you then drop it into whichever hotpot you like and wait for it to cook.
You then got some more familiar dips to sprinkle on top, like peanut sauce, garlic and spring onions.
The fun bit is the little nets you get given to scoop out what you are looking for.
And why is this a buffet? Well, you can keep ordering your favourites. Wash it down with some jasmine tea and then get a banana fritter (one because you're going to be really full) to get that sweet kick at the end.
If you are really hungry, cold and a sharer this is definitely the perfect meal to sit down to.
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