Taipei

Coucou Hotpot at Taipei Dome | Taiwanese Mala Hot Pot, KTV Rooms, a Sauce Bar and Flaming Wagyu

Updated 2026-10-20・GO TAIWAN Taiwan Private Driver & Guide

Overhead view of Coucou's three-section brass hot pot, with red mala, milky white and clear broths side by side, surrounded by small side dishes

The short answer: Coucou Hotpot · Tea Break (湊湊火鍋・茶憩, COUCOU) is a brand of the Xiabu Xiabu group, and its first Taiwan location is on 1F of Far Eastern GARDEN CITY on the outer edge of Taipei Dome. It stays open until midnight (2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays). The signatures are Taiwanese mala hot pot and a three-section pot that cooks three broths at once, and the restaurant also has KTV rooms, live singers and a tea drink bar. It suits groups of four or more, birthday dinners, or a late meal after an event at Taipei Dome. In autumn 2026 the Taipei Dome location added a tableside stir-fried squid, conch and green garlic pot and flaming sake wagyu, available until November 15. A 10% service charge applies to everything.

In the row of restaurants beside Taipei Dome, Coucou’s frontage is easy to pick out. Red lightboxes with white lettering reading “湊湊 COUCOU” hang between the pillars, and another lightbox shows a hot pot, a microphone and a drink cup above the words “火鍋・歡唱・特飲” (hot pot, karaoke, specialty drinks), so you know right away this place is about more than hot pot. This is the brand’s first store in Taiwan, opened in June 2024. Coucou has more than 250 locations worldwide, and its concept is “hot pot + tea break,” meaning you drink a tea drink while you eat your hot pot.

Our visit happened to line up with the new autumn menu, and the table filled up with everything from the three-section pot and meat platters to dessert, in portions meant for a big group to share. Several of the dishes are autumn specials; their availability dates are in the table further down.

The Taipei Dome storefront of Coucou Hotpot, with red COUCOU lightboxes hung between the pillars and a wood-grain sign — The restaurant is on 1F of the 食尚庭園 dining area around Taipei Dome, so coming from the MRT you don't have to go through the mall building.

Restaurant Information

Item	Details
Name	Coucou Hotpot · Tea Break, Taipei Dome (湊湊火鍋・茶憩大巨蛋店)
Address	1F, No. 515, Section 4, Zhongxiao East Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City (食尚庭園, Far Eastern GARDEN CITY)
Getting there	Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station Exit 5, about 3 minutes on foot
Phone	02-2756-6986
Opening hours	Sunday to Thursday 11:00–24:00; Friday and Saturday 11:00–02:00
Service charge	10%
Private rooms	4 KTV rooms (announced at opening), minimum spend applies

Opening hours and phone number are from the Far Eastern GARDEN CITY website (checked in October 2026). The number of private rooms comes from information published at the opening; for the minimum spend and time slots, go by what the restaurant tells you.

Inside: Booths, Round Tables and the Bar

The entrance opens onto a long aisle lined on both sides with high-backed booths, separated by Chinese lattice metalwork, and each table has a ring-shaped gold induction burner set into the middle. Lantern pendant lights and dark walls keep the room dim, with the light focused on the tabletops.

Gray high-backed booths line both sides of the aisle inside Coucou, each table with a gold induction burner set into the center and a small Coucou Hotpot Live House sign on the corner — The little table sign reads "湊湊火鍋 Live House" (Coucou Hotpot Live House).

Further in, one section is lit in blue and purple, with a whole wall of folding-screen patterns. Toward the bar there is a big round table with a red semicircular sofa that can seat an extended family. Partitions and lattice screens between the booths give you a bit more privacy than open communal tables.

A dining area lit with blue-purple light strips, a folding-screen pattern on the wall, and two rows of four-person booths — This section is lit in blue and purple, a little darker than the aisle.

A red semicircular sofa wrapped around a large round table, with a round red pendant lamp above — The red-sofa round table seats a whole family or an office dinner.

A four-person corner booth next to an orange-red autumn flower arrangement — A four-person corner booth with a seasonal flower arrangement beside it.

A long bar backed by liquor shelves, beer neon signs and tea drink equipment, with a row of high stools with orange cushions in front — The bar has a liquor cabinet and draft beer, and solo diners can sit here too.

The period-drama posters and life-size cutouts around the restaurant are part of a Disney+ collaboration. According to an October 2026 press release, they will stay up until November 15, with the stills swapped out once along the way. If you don’t follow the show, it won’t get in your way: the decorations are at the entrance, on the partitions and on the walls of some seating areas, and have no effect on the meal.

KTV Rooms and Live Singers

This is the biggest difference between Coucou and an ordinary hot pot restaurant. Each KTV room is a separate small red room with a long table, an L-shaped sofa and two chairs, plus a song selector and speakers along the wall. The table still has its induction burner, so you can eat hot pot and sing at the same time.

Inside a KTV room: a long rectangular table, an L-shaped sofa and audio equipment along the wall under red lighting — Close the door and the room is all yours, with a burner on the table for the pot.

The touchscreen song selector in a KTV room, listing English chart songs, with Zhuyin and handwriting input — The song selector supports Zhuyin and handwriting search, and can switch to YouTube.

At the opening, the restaurant announced 4 rooms, each seating about 8–12 people. The rooms have a minimum spend, so if your group is small, a booth outside is plenty. The rooms are mostly booked for birthdays and company dinners. If you want one on a weekend evening, reserve early and ask about the minimum spend and available time slots on the phone.

You can still hear live music without a room. Coucou has resident singers under the name “湊湊好聲音” (Coucou’s Good Voice), and the board advertises “全台首創” (a first in Taiwan) and “火鍋 × 現場音樂” (hot pot × live music), with a whole row of singers printed below. The singers perform at set times, not all night. If you want to catch them, check Coucou Taiwan’s official Instagram (@coucouhotpottw) first, or ask when you book whether there is live music that day.

The upright "湊湊好聲音" (Coucou's Good Voice) board in front of the bar, with Taipei Dome at the top and photos of the resident singers above the words hot pot × live music — The live music board in front of the bar shows photos of the resident singers.

The Sauce Bar: Just Copy the Eight Recipes

The sauce bar has twenty-odd ceramic bowls in two rows, each with a Chinese and English label in front: shacha sauce, seasoned soy, sesame paste, sesame oil, black vinegar, mushroom sauce, minced garlic, chili, chopped scallions, white vinegar, oyster sauce and fried garlic are all there. The lightbox above spells out eight mixes, so if you don’t know what to combine, just follow it.

Coucou's sauce bar, with a lightbox above listing eight sauce recipes (Beijing, Hong Kong, Fresh and Spicy, Taiwanese, Light, Xiangchuan, Classic and Signature) and a row of ceramic bowls below — The lightbox above the sauce bar is the recipe chart, and each of the eight mixes says what it goes with.

Here are the recipes that were clearly legible on the lightbox (go by the lightbox on site):

Recipe	Ingredients	Pairing listed on the lightbox
Hong Kong style (港式)	Soy sauce, seasoned soy, XO sauce, chopped cilantro	Meat, live shrimp, clams and other seafood
Taiwanese (台式)	Soy sauce, minced garlic, chopped chili, chopped cilantro, XO sauce	Seafood
Light (清香)	Sesame oil, chopped scallions, seasoned soy	Mild in flavor, goes with any meat
Xiangchuan (香川)	Spicy chili sauce, seasoned soy, sesame oil, vinegar, minced garlic, chopped chili	Spicy and aromatic; for fish, glass noodles and napa cabbage
Classic (古典)	Mushroom sauce, vinegar, chopped scallions, sesame oil	Strong mushroom aroma; any meat

The other three are Beijing style (京味, with a sesame paste base), Fresh and Spicy (鮮辣) and Signature (個性). The lightbox recipes are base ratios, and you can add more garlic and chili yourself. If you are eating mala hot pot, a non-spicy sauce like the Light or Hong Kong style helps calm the heat in your mouth.

At the other end of the sauce bar are fruit and side dishes. The labels read red-fleshed dragon fruit, watermelon and Yanchao guava, with kimchi and other side dishes next to them, while sugar and pepper sit on the other side of the sauce bar. Reports from the opening said the self-serve area carried a small extra charge per person; check the notice on site for how it is charged now.

Slices of red-fleshed dragon fruit, watermelon and Yanchao guava on an ice tray at the self-serve area, with bilingual labels in front and side dishes and sauce bowls behind — The fruit comes pre-cut on ice, good for clearing your palate after the hot pot.

Ceramic bowls of sugar, pepper and chili oil at one corner of the sauce bar, labeled sugar and pepper — Sugar and pepper sit on the other side, for adjusting your broth.

The Three-Section Pot: Three Broths at One Table

Coucou’s pots are heavy brass with carved rims, and this time we had the version divided into three sections: one with red mala oil, one with a milky white broth, and one clear broth with corn and mushrooms. At the opening, the restaurant listed seven regular broths: Taiwanese mala hot pot (台式麻辣鍋), Chengdu aged numbing hot pot (成都老麻火鍋), golden broth pickled cabbage fish pot (金湯酸菜魚鍋), Hainan coconut chicken (海南椰子雞), tomato and beef knee bone pot (番茄牛膝骨鍋), Hong Kong-style chili pork tripe and chicken pot (港式辣椒豬肚雞鍋) and Yunnan wild mushroom pot (雲南珍鮮菌菇鍋). With the three-section pot, you can pick any three.

Close-up of the three-section brass pot at a boil, the mala section bubbling, with black-and-white penguin-shaped balls hanging on the divider — Once the broth is boiling, the penguin-shaped balls hang on the divider until they are cooked.

Chopsticks swishing a slice of beef in mala broth, with chilies and Sichuan peppercorns floating on top — A slice of beef needs only a few seconds in the mala section.

After a few rounds of meat, the mala section gets thicker and thicker, so in the second half of the meal you can ask the staff to top it up. If you can’t handle spice, don’t force it: the milky white and clear sections are better for seafood and vegetables anyway. The whole point of the three-section pot is that everyone at a table with different tastes has something to choose from.

Golden Autumn Special: The Tableside Squid, Conch and Green Garlic Pot

The highlight this time was the garlic pot a server made at our table. The pot was swapped for a two-section version, half mala and half empty. A dark sauce went into the empty half first, with diagonally cut green garlic and dried squid strips ready on a black plate beside it, and conch and clams in a small copper bowl. The server pushed a big handful of green garlic into the pot, stir-fried it, and only then poured in the broth from a pot.

A two-section pot with red mala broth on one side and a dark sauce in the empty half, with green garlic and dried squid strips on a black plate and conch and clams in a small copper bowl — The dark sauce goes into the empty half first, with green garlic, dried squid strips, conch and clams ready on the side.

A server uses a long ladle to push diagonally cut green garlic into the pot, with conch and clams in a small copper bowl beside it — The green garlic goes in one big handful at a time; the bowl next to it holds conch and clams.

A server pours broth from a pot into the half of the hot pot where the green garlic is being stir-fried, sending up steam — The green garlic is stir-fried for a while before the broth goes in, and steam rises off the pot right away.

A ladle lifts golden garlic broth with pieces of green garlic floating on top — After the broth goes in, it turns a glossy golden color.

Squid, conch and green garlic soup (魷魚螺肉蒜) is a classic of Taiwanese jiujia banquet cuisine, and Coucou has turned it into a broth made fresh at the table. According to the press release, the deluxe version also adds autumn mitre squid and abalone. The whole stir-fry takes only a few minutes and the server moves fast, so have your phone ready if you want to film it.

Based on October 16, 2026 reports from Economic Daily News and WalkerLand, here is what the Golden Autumn menu includes:

Item	Details
Availability	From now until November 15, 2026, Taipei Dome location only
Limited-time broths	Squid, Conch and Green Garlic Pot (魷魚螺肉蒜鍋; deluxe version, stir-fried at the table), Oriental Beauty Tea and Bird’s Nest Broth (東方美人燕窩茶湯鍋)
Set menus	Themed sets for two, four and eight; the two-person set is NT$4,049 at full price, with a promotional price from NT$2,999, plus a 10% service charge
Set menu dishes	Depending on the set, includes the Signature Kagoshima Wagyu Trio (皇牌鹿兒島和牛三拼), Flaming Sake Wagyu (火焰清酒和牛) and Dragon Palace Six Treasures (龍宮珍饈六寶)
Instagram promotion	October 15 to November 15: share on Instagram and tag the official account to get a “Blossom on Stage” (花漾入戲) mixed drink (choice of three, one per person)

The press release did not give prices for the four- and eight-person sets, so it is best to ask when you book.

Meat Platters: The Fan, the Three-Tier Tower and Flaming Wagyu

The way Coucou presents its meat is part of the draw, and every plate carries a label with the cut and origin. The biggest is a platter with a large gold folding fan standing at the back and three kinds of beef laid out in front, the fan painted with four big characters, “湊湊台北” (Coucou Taipei).

A gold folding fan reading 湊湊台北 behind a beef platter with three labels: US Choice short rib, Japanese A5 wagyu rib cap and premium Australian M8 wagyu shoulder — The three labels read US Choice short rib (美國特選級牛小排), Japanese A5 wagyu rib cap (日本 A5 和牛上蓋肉) and premium Australian M8 wagyu shoulder (極尚澳洲 M8 和牛背肩).

The marbling on the three beefs varies a lot. The A5 rib cap has the densest white fat lines and should come out after two or three seconds, or it shrinks into a ball. The short rib is chewier and can take a little longer in the mala section. Another plate is a three-tier metal tower, with labels on the top tier reading Taiwanese rose pork jowl (台灣玫瑰松阪豬) and USDA US beef (USDA 美國牛肉), and the pork jowl is even rolled into the shape of a rose.

A three-tier meat tower with Taiwanese rose pork jowl and USDA beef labels on the top tier and rolled beef belly on the lower tier — The three-tier meat tower puts different cuts on each level, so the table doesn't fill up with plates.

Rolled beef belly arranged in a ring around pork jowl rolled into the shape of a rose — The pork jowl is rolled into a rose and set right in the middle.

The real showstopper on the table is the Flaming Sake Wagyu. Slices of wagyu are layered into a dome with three cherry tomatoes on top. Once it reaches the table, the server pours sake over it and lights it, and blue and orange flames burn across the meat for a while before slowly dying out.

Slices of wagyu stacked into a dome on a round stone plate, topped with three cherry tomatoes — The wagyu dome before it is lit; the marbling stands out under the lights.

A server pours sake from a small glass over the wagyu dome — The sake goes on first.

Blue and orange flames rise from the wagyu dome, next to the brass hot pot — Once lit, the flames shoot up. Get your photo while they last.

The flame only touches the surface, so the slices are still raw, and after that you cook them one by one like any other meat. What you are paying for here is the few seconds of fire when it arrives. If you are on a budget and just want to eat well, a regular beef platter is enough.

Seafood, Shrimp Paste and Character-Shaped Balls

The seafood platter comes on a large black plate, with a skewer of large prawns standing upright in the center and a lobster at the back, surrounded by abalone, clams, scallops, shucked oysters, white squid slices, a red fish and fish fillets. The shellfish and fish fillets taste best in the clear broth, while the prawns can go into the mala section. Once the seafood has cooked in the clear broth, it is great for noodles or rice at the end.

A seafood platter with a skewer of large prawns standing in the center and a lobster at the back, surrounded by abalone, clams, scallops, shucked oysters, squid slices, a red fish and fish fillets, with side dishes nearby — The seafood platter is sized for four or more people to share.

On a black rippled plate, halved prawns topped with a layer of minced filling and chopped chili, next to purple, orange and pink balls — Halved prawns and three-color balls on one plate.

A chilled disc of shrimp paste topped with a small spoonful of dark sauce, served with lettuce and cherry tomatoes — The shrimp paste is pressed into a disc and served on ice.

A server in gloves scrapes the shrimp paste into the pot a small piece at a time with a wooden scoop, and it is ready once it floats. There were also black and white balls shaped like little penguins, which hang on the divider so you can watch them cook. They are very cute, but according to past reports, the penguin balls were released as a Mid-Autumn Festival special, so they may not always be on the menu.

A server in blue gloves uses a wooden scoop to scrape shrimp paste from the plate into the mala broth — The server scrapes the shrimp paste into the pot in bite-sized pieces.

White and black penguin-shaped balls hanging on the divider of the brass pot — The white and black penguins hang on the divider like they're soaking in a hot spring.

When the lobster is cooked, the whole thing turns orange-red, and the server lifts it out of the pot in one piece with long tongs. Another dish is a pink ball coated in dyed rice grains, with an orange-yellow filling when you cut it open.

A server lifts a cooked orange-red lobster out of the pot with long tongs — The lobster is ready once it has turned red all over.

A ball coated in pink rice grains cut open to show an orange-yellow filling, with a small piece of kale on the side — The pink rice-coated ball, cut open.

Even the vegetables get some flair: napa cabbage, mushrooms, baby corn and radish are arranged into bouquets and served in ceramic jars, while egg dumplings and another white dumpling are laid out in a row on long plates.

Two vegetable bouquets wrapped in white paper standing in white ceramic jars, with napa cabbage, mushrooms and baby corn — The vegetables come as bouquets; pull them out and drop them straight into the pot.

A row of golden egg dumplings on a long black plate, with another plate of white dumplings beside it — Egg dumplings and white dumplings laid out in a row.

Tea Drinks and Mixed Drinks

The “tea break” in the name refers to the restaurant’s tea drinks. One end of the long bar has a tea pickup area marked PICKUP; according to reports from the opening, this is the tea bar of 茶米茶, a tea brand under the Xiabu group. Drinks come to the table in big cups printed with phrases like “GOOD THINGS ARE COMING YOUR WAY” and “TEA ME.” An iced milk tea or fruit tea does a better job of cutting the heat of a mala hot pot than drinking spoonful after spoonful of broth.

A PICKUP sign and drinks menu screen above the long bar, the Coucou's Good Voice board in front, and an aisle leading to the dining area — The tea drink pickup counter is at this end of the long bar.

Two tea drinks in cups with green, blue and orange stripes and the words GOOD THINGS ARE COMING YOUR WAY, on a hot pot table — The tea drinks come in big cups; one can last you through a whole mala hot pot.

Beyond the tea drinks, our table also had a rose-pink slushy mixed drink in a stemmed glass, plus small square bowls of red jelly dessert, each with a pale yellow center, which made a good finish after a heavily seasoned pot.

A rose-pink slushy mixed drink in a stemmed glass with a line of chopped herbs on top, the brass hot pot behind it — The rose-pink slushy mixed drink matches the colors of the hot pot table.

Red jelly desserts in small gray square bowls, each with a pale yellow center and a small spoon alongside — Red jelly dessert, one bowl per person.

The Finale: Dry Ice, Gaiwan Bowls and Bird’s Nest

The meal ended with a whole row of painted gaiwan lidded bowls. Each person got a set on a wooden tray: a gaiwan painted with phoenixes and peonies on a gold background, a small glass teapot and a glass. When the server poured from a metal kettle into the glasses, the dry ice inside sent up white fog right away, covering the whole length of the table.

Lift the lid and there is bird’s nest with a few goji berries, and you pour clear broth over it from the small glass teapot. The appeal of this course is the dry-ice fog and the ceremony of the gaiwan, which makes it a good closer for a birthday or when you are hosting. The Golden Autumn “Oriental Beauty Tea and Bird’s Nest Broth” also uses bird’s nest in the broth, so if you are curious about bird’s nest, that pot is worth considering.

A row of gaiwan lidded bowls painted with phoenixes and peonies on a gold background on a wooden tray, with small glass teapots and glasses beside them — One gaiwan per person, lined up on a wooden tray.

White dry-ice fog spills out of the glasses and over the painted gaiwan bowls on the wooden tray — Once water hits the dry ice, white fog rolls over the whole row of bowls.

Clear broth poured from a small glass teapot into bird's nest and goji berries in a white porcelain bowl — Bird's nest and goji berries go in the bowl first, then the broth.

A white porcelain spoon lifting glossy bird's nest and a goji berry — Lift a spoonful and you can see the fine strands of bird's nest.

Who Coucou Is Good For

Situation	Good fit?	Tips
Group dinners or birthdays for 4–8	Excellent	Book a KTV room or the red-sofa round table; a set menu is the easiest option
After a Taipei Dome concert	Good	Open until 24:00 (02:00 on Friday and Saturday), but crowds pour out after shows, so book ahead
With older relatives	Fine	Choose the clear and milky white broths; aisle seats away from the live music hours are quieter
With kids	Good	Character-shaped balls and vegetable bouquets go down well with kids; it gets lively during live music
A simple meal for one or two	So-so	You can sit at the bar, but most set menus start at two people; the lunch sets are a better fit
On a budget	Be careful	Wagyu and seafood platters are pricey, and with the 10% service charge it easily tops NT$1,000 per person

A stand-up sign at the entrance also advertises a “半自助午間套餐” (semi-self-serve lunch set), marked “from $468,” in two types: individual hot pot sets and Hong Kong-style claypot dishes. It is cheaper than the dinner sets, so starting with lunch is the better deal if you want to try the flavors first. For exact contents, which days it is served and the hours, check the notice on site.

Know Before You Go

Book ahead. On Taipei Dome event days, every restaurant in GARDEN CITY is busier than usual, and the private rooms go even faster.
10% service charge. Neither the set prices nor the promotional prices include it; it is added when you pay.
Ask about live music times. If you want to listen while you eat, ask about the singers’ schedule when you book. If you’d rather have a quiet meal, avoid those hours.
Check the dates on limited-time dishes. The squid, conch and green garlic pot, the Flaming Sake Wagyu and the rest of the Golden Autumn menu run until November 15, 2026, and then the season changes.
There are other options in the same complex. Paradise Dynasty Signature is on 7F of the same GARDEN CITY; if you want roast duck and xiao long bao, see our Paradise Dynasty Signature roast duck review at Taipei Dome. For a different take on Cantonese hot pot, there is HK Hotpot on Jinzhou Street in Zhongshan District.

Fitting It into a Taipei Itinerary

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is right next to Taipei Dome. One stop east takes you to Taipei City Hall and the Xinyi shopping district, and to the north is Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, so you can spend the day exploring and arrive in time for hot pot in the early evening.

Families coming from outside Taipei, or staying far from Xinyi District, can arrange transfers through our Taipei Private Charter page, then get straight back in the car to the hotel after dinner instead of waiting for a taxi in the post-concert crowds. To fit this meal into a two-day trip in northern Taiwan, the Northeast Coast Photo-Spot 2-Day Tour heads back to Taipei from Keelung in the late afternoon of day two, just in time for dinner at Coucou. With kids, the Taipei & Yilan Family 2-Day Tour also returns to Taipei in the early evening. If you are starting from Taipei and circling the island, the 6-Day Food & Culture Round-Island Tour takes the high-speed rail back to Taipei on the last day, and a big group dinner around a three-section pot with a few songs that night is a fitting way to end the trip.

FAQ

Where is Coucou Hotpot at Taipei Dome, and how do I get there?

It is at 1F, No. 515, Section 4, Zhongxiao East Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, in the 食尚庭園 dining area of Far Eastern GARDEN CITY (the restaurant zone around Taipei Dome), not upstairs in the mall building. Take the MRT to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station and walk about 3 minutes from Exit 5. If you drive, you can park in the GARDEN CITY parking lot; parking validation follows the mall's posted rules.

How late is Coucou Hotpot at Taipei Dome open?

According to the Far Eastern GARDEN CITY website (checked in October 2026), it is open 11:00–24:00 Sunday to Thursday and 11:00–02:00 on Friday and Saturday. On Taipei Dome concert nights you can still come for a late-night meal after the show, but it gets busy, so book ahead.

How do I book a KTV room at Coucou? Is there a minimum spend?

When it opened, the restaurant announced 4 KTV rooms, each seating about 8–12 people. The rooms have a minimum spend, and the amount and available time slots may change, so confirm with the restaurant when you book. There are only a few rooms, so reserve early for birthdays or group dinners.

Does Coucou Hotpot add a service charge?

Yes. A 10% service charge is added to both set menus and à la carte orders. The Golden Autumn two-person set's promotional price, from NT$2,999, does not include the service charge either.

How long are the Golden Autumn limited-time pots available?

According to public information from mid-October 2026, the squid, conch and green garlic pot, the Oriental Beauty tea and bird's nest broth, and the Golden Autumn set menus that go with them are available until November 15, 2026, only at the Taipei Dome location. The in-store menu has the final word.

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