HOT DAMN! I never knew this place existed in Sydney! EVER! For those of you who don’t know, Malatang is street style hot pot that originated in Sichuan and is popular in the northern China. It is soup, specifically HOT soup and you can add whatever ingredients you want.
At this store, it is amazing that they give their customers a choice to choose what type of ingredients they want in their malatang and how much you want to eat. You basically pay according to weight.
I came to this place on a school excursion to Burwood and my colleagues brought me here to try (since I’m a malatang virgin). It is a small stall but the workers are very fast paced. Here is what you need to do:
- Grab the big bowl, and a set of tongs.
- Join the queue and pick whatever ingredients you want to eat. (I chose a lot of MEAT!)
- Pay for your ingredients at the counter.
- Get the keyring they give you with your number and wait at your table.
- Once your number is called out, they will ask you what you sauce you want to add to your malatang. There are different sauces including: garlic, sesame past, chilli sauce, sugar, pepper oil and vinegar. (I got everything except the chilli).
- Enjoy! But, don’t forget to grab chopsticks and spoons. They have forks as well 🙂
If you can’t handle spice like me, ask for chilli on the side or just don’t add it at all. You can always request for “little”, “medium”, “very” or “super” spiciness for your malatang.
Ensure that you don’t have anywhere important to go to the next day because you will find yourself taking many trips to the bathroom if you order a spicy malatang.
I enjoyed it but I did find it too oily for my liking. Make sure to bring a bottle of water as your throat does get parch from the soup.
Anyways, if people bring me here, I wouldn’t mind it. But I will not be as obsessed as some of my other colleagues who in the last week had malatang TWICE!