Yuan’s Hot Pot

Holy hell, it’s a new decade! I feel deeply hit by the “new year, new me” this time and I have a looong list of changes I want to make this year. From reading more books to figuring out the meaning of life, it’s a busy year for my heart and mind. However, one thing stays the same: my love for food and sharing my thoughts with you.

I try to start every year with a cuisine or meal I never had before. This time, we’re talking hot pot. In my defense, the concept isn’t super present in Amsterdam, it only arrived recently. In case you are not very familiar with it either, hot pot originates in Changdu (China). It’s a big pot filled with spicy or non-spicy broth, in which you cook your favorite ingredients: meats, tofu, veggies, pretty much anything you could possibly want.

All gossip and talks were pointing at one place to get the real deal: Yuan’s Hot Pot.

Awesome! Reserved a table (after struggling for a bit – turns out, pretty popular spot), got there and waited 15 more minutes anyway (not pleased with this, naturally) and bam, we were in.

Your hot pot is placed in the middle of the table. It will keep simmering until you finish eating. At Yuan’s Hot Pot you can choose between spicy or non spicy, but the best part is being able to have both: half and half. That was our choice – keep in mind you can always make it spicier yourself by ordering the dipping sauce. Definitely go for this option, unless you really can’t deal with spicy food.

Step two is choosing your ingredients. These will come on a stick, like a skewer, and you will need to cook them. The staff will help you with time instructions, like how long does the chicken need and so.

If this is your first time trying hot pot, feel free to let them know! They will happily explain the process to you and also recommend the must-tries.

They told us to try a couple of pork and chicken combinations, which we did. In addition, we had dumplings, raw meats, noodles, eggs, frog legs, ribs, squid, spicy beef, tofu, and loads of veggies. It’s really cheap, so you can try all kinds of stuff without worrying about money waste.

If you’re feeling adventurous, Yuan’s Hot Pot offers plenty of peculiar options: pork intestines, ax aorta, beef tongue, duck gizzard or chicken feet. The sky is the limit, really – you do you.

Yuan’t Hot Pot left a very good impression on me. The ingredients were of higher quality than what I expected, and the bill was ridiculously low for how much food we ate and the variety we enjoyed. The broth will set you back only 10 EUR (per table), and every skewer 90 cents. This makes Yuan’s one of the best “value for money” places encountered in Amsterdam so far.

The only downside is that the ingredients keep on coming for about an hour, making it pretty hard to remember what is what and what exactly are you cooking / eating at the moment.

Yuan’s hot pot is a perfect spot for groups. The menu is very generous and everyone can find something, from the classic chicken wings to…you know, the weird stuff I said earlier.

I am impatient to return here, honestly. There is just so much that I want to try, it will probably take about 5 visits. Amazing experience to start the year and introduce me to the hot pot concept. What can I say?! I’m a fan.

Value for money: 10

Food Quality: 8

Location: 9 (Ferdinand Bolstraat 18; Rijnstraat 51)

Service: 8

Website:  https://yuanhotpot.com/

Have a suggestion, question, or just want to hola at me? Find me here: sayhello.eatandtell@gmail.com