Type of Cuisine: Chinese, Hotpot
Food: 
Service:
Ambiance:
Spent: TWD 950 per person
Will I go back again? Maybe.
Address:
No. 89 Guangfu N. Rd
Songshan Dist.
Taipei
Taiwan
台北市光復北路89號
Phone: +886 2 2742 1199
http://www.tripodking.com.tw/
One of the very famous hot pot restaurants in Taipei. You may have read many others who have had their meals their before, but I’m still going to write about this. The basic premise is a pot placed over heat on a dining surface. Friends and family gather around the table. A broth of choice, beef, pork, fish, of varying heat levels is brought to boil. Meats and vegetables, depending on culture, is added. A huge ladle is used to occasionally stir. Proper etiquette is to use the same ladle as a serving vessel. Personal utensils, chopsticks and soup spoons, are not used in the communal pot out of respect for other people. The idea is to keep adding ingredients and remove as they are cooked. The more people the merrier. This is a communal gathering event.
On our way there, I made the assumption that there should be no queue or waiting as it was rather late. At about 1030pm, we arrived at the very famous Tripod King Spicy Hot Pot along Guangfu North road. Looking from the roadside, I was happy as there were no visible crowd at the door waiting. As I was greeted by a staff from the restaurant, I was told I needed to wait for about 20mins as they were at full capacity. And I was astonished, but luckily it was only 20 mins.
Once you step in, the waitstaff pads about in traditional robes and slippers, dark wood furniture glows under paper lamps and even the small iron teakettle and teacups on the table have been carefully arranged. First impression was already “Wow!” and it becomes obvious that Tripod King is not your average hot pot restaurant. After the brief introduction of the restaurant layout and menu, the waitstaff exited with a bow. Not any bow, but a full 90 degree bow with a pause at the 90 degree mark.
They have a rather extensive menu, but we chose some of the recommended stuff plus there was only 2 of us, so we could not eat that much. We chose to go with only the “mala” hotpot, which also means spicy. The broth is suppose to contain 32 healthy ingredients. Of which, a spicy hotpot will definitely have the crunchy Sichuan peppercorns, star anise and dried “facing-heaven” chilies (朝天椒) that make a good hotpot and leave the mouth tingling are either missing or so finely ground they sneak past the taste buds.
Tripod Hotpot
I loved the fact that the hotpot comes in a tripod pot which is synonomous to it’s own name. And the best part is the broth and the duck blood come free flow. I never liked anything blood. But this duck blood is oh-so-good that I had several helpings of it.
Traditional Spicy Hotpot (Mala Guo with Duck Blood) 麻辣鍋
Mixed Mushrooms 綜合養生菇
Sliced Prime Beef 特級雪花牛肉
Crab Egg Paste In Bamboo (竹香蟹黃膏)
Red Crab Meat Paste 紅麴蟹肉鮮滑
After eating, their cult-like customers tote out plastic bags of the stuff to finish at home. Which is a nice touch, to enjoy the left over goodness at home by just reheating the contents.
Overall, I am rather pleased with this ambiance, the service and the quality of ingredients. However, the soup broth was rather lacking in the spicy kick and flavours. There was no dimension to the taste of the soup base. But everything else makes up for it.
The Greedy Squirrel 