Melbourne's best hot pots

Chongqing and its adjacent Sichuan Province are hot pot grandmasters. Here, specially designed tables are fitted with a sunken hot pot receptacle that houses an ornate steel pot. The pot is then often subdivided into at least two (sometimes nine-plus) different broth regions, with the fiery hot mala variety – usually a beef stock that grunts with tonnes of chillies and Sichuan peppercorns – a must-order. Patrons then order plates of raw ingredients off the menu, concoct themselves a custom sauce from the DIY sauce station, and get to business. 

Cartoon pop art covers the walls at David’s, a cute modern flourish that plays well against the otherwise lantern- and lattice-heavy Sichuan-kitsch design. We order a partitioned pot – one side mushroom broth, one side medium spicy mala broth – rolled pork belly, silken tofu strands, beef balls and a variety of vegetables, and we do so by scanning a QR code unique to our table through giant Chinese social media app WeChat. The soup is delivered to the table in a plastic cryovac bag, emptied into the pot and combined with a giant heart-shaped mould of oil to create the mala broth – a deeply bovine base that coats all comers with the inimitable lip-quivering hum of the Sichuan peppercorn, and whose rich aroma tends to cling to idle outerwear. Fortunately, David’s has a human-sized deodorising machine that rids you of your stench at the touch of a button as you leave. It may not be the cheapest hot pot in town but the depth of the spicy mala broth is worth it.

While Thailand has its own hot pot canon, for ours, the most exciting and interesting is moo kra tha: a blend of barbecue and hot pot that we scarcely deserve. Meat and vegetables are either cooked on the hot plate, or in the shallow moat of broth by which the hot plate is girt – or both.

Another car park favourite, Soi 38 is located on the bottom floor of the Wilson car park just off the Parisian end of Bourke Street, and is Melbourne’s new plastic-stooled home of mookata. After running arguably Melbourne’s best Bangkok street noodle program for the last couple of years, they now offer punters a Thai-style barbecue set for two, which includes pork neck, belly and liver, prawns, calamari, vegetables, glass noodles and an egg, and get to frying, poaching, or froaching their bounty. All of the ingredients are sliced super thin, so it pays to be vigilant when cooking your meat.

Soi 38 also offers a more traditional Northeastern Thailand-style hot pot, featuring similar ingredients skewed slightly in the porcine direction. Like the lamb hot pot at No 1 delicious, a thin, unobtrusive broth allows the flavour of the meat and veg to carry themselves, but the ace in the sleeve here is a complex and wildly vibrant tamarind-clad chilli sauce that justifies a visit in itself.  

While the ginormous and impressively ornate dragon suspended from the ceiling is one reason to stop in at Panda Hot Pot in Carlton, the signature Sichuan-style spicy soup is why you stay. Simmered for over 12 hours with a lip-smacking top secret spice blend, the brew seasons your array of paper-thin premium beef, seafood and veg to perfection – with extra sauces and toppings on hand for those who like to load up on flavour. The intricate ornamentation and moody dining booths make a dining experience here feel like more of a special occasion than an in-and-out meal, so make a whole night of it! 

Unlike the choose-your-own-adventure nature of Korean BBQ,  jeongol, a wildly popular Korean hot pot dish, hits the table preloaded with everything you’ll be eating already arranged inside the broth and sits above a portable gas burner that sets its contents asimmer from below. 

Guhng the Palace has refined digs rising four stories over McKillop Street in the CBD – a handsomely appointed and moodily lit space from which to do your hot potting. The seafood jeongol comprises an artfully arranged combo of fresh fish, scallops, mussels, octopus, prawns, several species of mushroom and a handful of vegetables in a delicate and pleasantly salty fish soup that, unlike its Chinese counterparts, is 100 per cent there for the drinking. 

Bolstered by a starburst trio of kimchi, pickled onions and pickled turnip – all bottomless, it’s a great value option for hot pot enthusiasts. Important to note: this isn’t the blisteringly raucous atmosphere you might find at another Melbourne Korean institution, say, Gami Chicken and Beer. Rather, its sense of decorum sets a cool mood of its own, and for seafood fanatics, the hot pot is arguably the best in the city.

If there’s a hot pot you’re yet to try on this list, it’s probably this one. Fairly new to the scene having opened in 2022, Cambodia’s Kitchen is still regarded as a well-kept secret among hot pot lovers and multiculturally adventurous foodies alike. The cosy Russell St restaurant serves authentic classic Cambodian fare, a rich noodle soup (kuyteav) being undisputedly the star of the entire operation and what many street vendors in Phnom Penh typically sell for breakfast. Here’s a kitchen with recipes that are age-old family heirlooms handed down across generations and rare ingredients imported from Cambodia, so you can bet you’re onto something special. 

But let's get to the juicy bit: the broth. The kuyteav’s is made from an aromatic and slightly unctuous pork bone one, with rice noodles and your preference of toppings. There’s nothing else quite like it in Melbourne, so be sure to stop in at this gem next time you’ve got a craving for a hot, steaming bowl of comfort soup.