7219 104 Street NW, Edmonton
In the last few weeks, I’ve been really into eating Hot Pot. On a cold winter day in Edmonton, nothing beats a hot bowl of broth and accompanying meats! I’ve gone to Chili Hot Pot a number of times, and a few other places as well. As I said my my last post, Hot Pot have been increasing in popularity in Edmonton, and now there’s many places to choose from. They are all essentially the same, with slight variations in what you can order.
For those of you who don’t know what Hot Pot is, basically it’s what I call a version of Asian fondue. You choose a broth, and then a bunch of things to cook in the broth. You can choose between spicy, sour, plain kinds of broth. The basic chicken broth is complimentary, and you can choose to pick a different kind of broth for a little bit extra. Then, you have choices of a variety of meat, vegetables, noodles, seafood, etc. I posted pictures of the menu at the end of my post for reference of what you can order.
Chili Hot Pot is located on 72nd avenue and 104th street. It’s a bit out of the way to get it if you don’t have a car, and the parking there can be a bit scarce. There’s some nearby parking on a side street if all the spots in front are taken. The food as most of the Hot Pot places are relatively similar, so for me it just mostly comes down to the atmosphere, and how enjoyable my experience is.
The sauce station at Chili Hot Pot is nice and organized. It’s nicely labelled and easy to make whatever sauce you like. I usually like two make two different kinds of sauces, one that’s just plain and simple, which is soy sauce, garlic, and a few garnishes, and another one that’s on the sweeter side, hoisin sauce with peanut sauce, and a few other ingredients.
As for things to order, I really like getting the mashes. These are handmade meat pastes that you can form into balls and put into your soup. They usually come out really tender and really enjoyable to eat. They also offer a few specialty items such as deep fried buns, green onion cakes, spring rolls, etc. Usually, when we go for hot pot, it’s just plates upon plates of sliced lamb, corn, and a mixture of different kinds of mashes. One thing that I can say about Chili Hot Pot though is that their mashes are really good. Definitely one of the better ones.
Overall, all of my experiences at Chili Hot Pot was decent. I feel that it’s gone a bit downhill since it has gained popularity. The service can be a bit spotty when it gets really busy. One thing that I do have to say about this place though is that it has quite an extensive list of house-made drinks that you can order, and this is what kind of sets it apart. Price-wise, I find that it’s actually now a bit on the higher side when it comes to hot pot, with the few price increases.
To be honest, I’d probably choose a hot pot places downtown if I were to go to hotpot, but if I was in the area or my friends wanted to go to Chili Hot Pot, I wouldn’t be too opposed to it. Again, Hot Pot is more of a social gathering for me. It’s a really good experience to share with people and have good conversation, and especially on a cold winter day. If you’ve never tried hot pot before, you can’t really go wrong for a first experience! I think you’d enjoy it anywhere.
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