Dip, swirl, and slurp your way through this choose-your-own-adventure feast! Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Walking into 101c Hotpot at Dickson, the first thing I notice is the smell: fragrant spices, a whiff of Szechuan and a chilli haze in the air. The second thing I notice is how busy it is. Walking past other venues in Dickson, I saw just a few customers scattered around, but 101c Hotpot is buzzing!
This venue has developed a strong following, and with an all-you-can-eat hotpot special, that’s hardly a surprise.
At just $49 per person, with 100 minutes to eat your fill, it’s excellent value. Stretchy pants are recommended, and don’t come straight from the office in a crispy white shirt (like one of our party did!)
We chose two soup bases: the Szechuan chilli soup (described to us as ‘very spicy’) and a mushroom soup. The Chongqing soup is the traditional base for hotpot and was described to us as ‘very, very, spicy’. You can choose up to 4 soup bases (but may incur an extra charge depending on how many diners are at your table).
Choosing a spicy and mild soup base is a good way to make sure you don’t overload on chilli! Photo: Lucy Ridge.
The soups arrived quickly and were slotted into the special table to start bubbling away, so we took the opportunity to peruse the buffet of additions. The range was impressive and frankly, a little overwhelming, so we started with a small selection of fresh veg, thick rice noodles, sliced wagyu beef rolls and dumplings. You can return to the buffet at any time to top up and choose more food, but be warned: any leftovers at the end will be charged at a hefty markup to discourage food waste.
There was also a bar for sauces and other flavourings, so you could customise the soup to your liking and have dipping sauces on the side. We particularly like the fermented mushroom condiment.
Once the soup was bubbling, we set about adding our ingredients. Ladles, tongs, and extra-long chopsticks are provided to make the cooking process a breeze.
The Szechuan chilli soup hit our sinuses like a freight train, and we wheezed, cried and coughed for a few minutes before adapting to the heat. We were pleased to have the mushroom broth for a mild palate cleanser between hits of spice!
The buffet of offerings ranges from offal to premium meats and seafood, vegetables, noodles, tofu, dumplings and more! Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Timing is everything: you want your ingredients to be well-cooked but not overdone. While buffets can be high-risk for food-borne illnesses, the rolling boil of the hotpot balances out many of the safety concerns by cooking at a high temperature (and you are in control).
Having eased our way into the process, we went back for more (and more, and more). I loved the fish roe dumplings, beef meatballs and the thick noodles, which sucked up all the flavours of the soup and had a silky, springy texture.
Finally, we decided that we had eaten our fill and cleaned our plates: no leftover penalty for us!
The mung bean soft serve was savoury and refreshing. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Our last stop of the evening was to the desserts buffet, which featured a range of jellies, fruit-flavoured ‘pearls’ and toppings. There was also a soft-serve machine serving vanilla and mung bean flavours, so of course I had to give that a try. I topped it off with peach jelly and black rice pearls, which added excellent texture. The result was a mix of savoury and sweet, which was extremely refreshing after the rich, spicy meal.
We had paid a deposit at the beginning of our meal and received $30 back for our clean plates, leaving the bill at the promised $49 each. After seeing a height chart on the wall, we discovered that kids under 1.2 metres eat for free!
We waddled out with the buzz of chilli still on our lips and staining a few shirts, but our friend with the white shirt turned out to be the cleanest of all!
101c Hotpot is located at 6 Cape St, Dickson. They are open seven days a week: lunch from 12 pm to 2.30 pm and dinner from 5 pm to 9 pm on weekdays, lunch from 12 to 3 pm and dinner from 4.30 to 9 pm on weekends. Follow 101c Hotpot on Instagram.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Region Canberra.
