HK Hotpot on Jinzhou Street | Cantonese Hot Pot in Zhongshan: Chicken Pot, Hand-Cut Beef and Menu Prices

This stretch of Jinzhou Street is fairly quiet at night, so the lightbox sign of HK Hotpot (港撚原味．打邊爐) stands out from the end of the lane. The night we went, the bench by the door was full of people waiting for a table. “Da bin lou” (打邊爐) in the name is simply Cantonese for eating hot pot, and this place goes for the Hong Kong neighborhood hot pot style: chicken pot, satay broth, hand-cut beef and handmade balls. Even the menu is designed to look like a Hong Kong gossip magazine.

Restaurant Info

We copied the address from the number plate on the door. The opening hours come only from information compiled online, as the restaurant had nothing posted on site, so check its social account before you go. Online sources say it stays open until midnight; if that is accurate, it works as a late-night meal. We went at dinnertime, and people were already waiting at the door.

Decor: A Whole Hong Kong Movie Set

The decor here goes all out. The pillars are covered in calligraphy spelling out dish names like chicken pot, hand-cut beef and satay broth, there is a poster parodying The Last Supper, and another wall carries the slogan “打邊爐最緊要飲酒！” (“Drinking is what matters most at hot pot!”) in big characters above a collage of signature dish photos.

The most eye-catching spot is a gold dragon and phoenix carving on a black wall, next to a psychedelic disco ball and a hot pot hung on the wall. There is also a white chef’s jacket on the wall printed with red characters and a handprint on the back, and plenty of people stop to take photos.

The bowls on the table are blue-and-white porcelain with a big 碗 (“bowl”) character printed on the side. Sauces are self-serve, with chopped scallions, minced garlic, chili and soy sauce for you to mix yourself.

How to Order: Tick the Pink Order Sheet

The menu is a magazine; once you have flipped through it, tick what you want on the pink order sheet. The sheet is split into broths, meat, handmade items, vegetables, staples and drinks, so just work through it section by section. The menu notes that pictures are for reference only.

Broths: The Chicken Pot Is the Star

Here are the prices for single broths; you can also combine two in a half-and-half pot:

The Portland Street chicken pot (砵蘭街雞煲) is the reason to come here. It arrives in an aluminum pot, and the chicken, wings and sauce cook down on the burner first so every ingredient soaks up the sauce; the fried tofu skin is especially good. Once you have eaten about 70 to 80 percent of it, add broth and it becomes a hot pot for everything else. There are four spice levels from BB spicy to hot, and if you do not handle heat well, BB spicy still gives you all the aroma.

If you want more than the chicken pot, order a split yin-yang pot. We also had a red-and-white half-and-half; you could see peppercorns in the red half, so it was probably the Big Sister Sichuan peppercorn broth. For a big table, one spicy side and one mild side makes it easier to keep everyone happy.

Hand-Cut Beef: Get a Small Portion for a Small Group

Beef takes up the most substantial page of the menu, with the focus on hand-cut beef. Prices come in small and large portions:

There are also fresh (never frozen) beef brisket slices at NT$420 and the house signature tender beef at NT$480.

We ordered the hand-cut beef platter, with three cuts on one plate so you can clearly see the difference in marbling. Hand-cut slices are a little thicker than machine-cut ones, so give them a few extra seconds in the pot rather than fishing them out right away. At NT$2,000 the platter is too much for two or three people; for a small group, pick one cut in a small portion.

Pork, Chicken and Offal

The torched bacon pork (NT$380) comes rolled into slices on a plate printed with HOTPOT. The surface is seared first, so it is rich and fragrant after a dip in the pot and goes well with the sauce.

Another plate was chicken thigh pieces with goji berries, which stay very tender in the pot.

For offal, there is crunchy goose intestine at NT$180 and black and white beef tripe at NT$220. The tripe comes in both black and white on one plate; dip it up and down for just a few seconds, because it turns tough if cooked too long.

The Handmade Items Are Worth Ordering

Handmade items make or break a Hong Kong hot pot. Here they all fall between NT$180–320:

• Shrimp paste with dried scallop XO sauce and salted egg cuttlefish paste, NT$250 each, or NT$320 for both
• Handmade coriander beef balls and handmade preserved mustard green pork balls, NT$200 each, or NT$280 for both
• Shrimp wontons NT$220
• Crispy fried fish skin NT$180, fried seaweed tofu skin rolls NT$200

The pastes come as two mounds on a plate topped with fish roe. Scrape them into the pot a little at a time with a spoon; they are done when they float.

The order sheet says the shrimp wontons are wrapped by hand in-house. Cut one open and there is a whole shrimp inside; the wrapper is thin, so they do not need long to cook.

There are two ways to eat the crispy fried fish skin: on its own it is a snack, or dunk it in the broth for a few seconds so it softens and soaks up the soup. I prefer three seconds, crisp outside and soft inside.

Seafood and Vegetables

Seafood includes XXL tiger prawns at NT$280, boneless barramundi fillet at NT$250, tender sliced squid at NT$330 and sashimi-grade Japanese oysters at NT$120, among others. Going by the menu, the plate of squid tentacles in the photo should be the dai pai dong squid tentacles (NT$180), which you can toss into the chicken pot.

Most vegetables are NT$80–100, including fresh shiitake, baby napa cabbage, water snowflake, baby corn and water spinach; if you cannot be bothered to choose, get the mixed vegetable plate for NT$280. A portion of coriander is NT$160, pricier than the other greens, so coriander lovers should be prepared.

Drinks and Dessert

Hong Kong-style drinks are another highlight. The menu says the Dragon and Phoenix lemon cola (龍鳳檸樂, NT$130) comes with both fresh lemon and salted lemon, and the crushed-ice lemon cola in the photo should be that one. Large milk tea and large lemon tea are NT$120. For alcohol, there is Asahi draft at 330ml for NT$150, or the 3-liter Asahi Tower for NT$999, the best deal for a big table that is drinking.

To finish, we recommend the fried silver thread rolls with condensed milk (煉乳炸銀絲卷, NT$190), fried golden and served with a can of condensed milk for dipping. After a whole evening of salty and spicy food, it is the right sweet ending.

Staples include plain white rice at NT$30, Demae Iccho instant noodles at NT$60 and sanuki udon at NT$80. Chicken pot sauce over white rice is delicious, so save some sauce before you order rice.

Good to Know Before You Go

• You may have to wait at dinnertime. People were already waiting at the door when we went, so ask on Threads whether you can book first.
• Do not over-order beef for a small group. The large hand-cut portions and the platter are big; for two or three people, a small portion is enough.
• The chicken pot half-and-half is the best value. A small chicken pot + 388 broth is NT$788, and you get two broths at once.
• Your clothes will smell of it. The chicken pot and hot pot aromas are strong, so if you are heading somewhere else afterward, keep your jacket put away.

Fitting It Into Your Taipei Trip

Jinzhou Street is close to Xingtian Temple and the Linsen North Road area in Zhongshan District, where there are lots of hotels, so it is easy to walk back after dinner. For more Cantonese flavors, if you want a shared Cantonese banquet in a private room, see Jing Ying Cantonese Cuisine on Dunhua North Road | Private Rooms, Mud Crab and Set Menu Prices; for roast duck and xiaolongbao, see Paradise Dynasty Signature at Taipei Dome | Peking Duck Three Ways and the 6-Person Set Menu.

If you are in Taipei for a few days and want to reach farther-flung sights during the day, check out our Taipei private driver page, then come back into the city for hot pot in the evening.