Babaili Hot Pot Restaurant

Rating: 2

We ate dinner here in February 2025.

Satay broth
Spicy beef bone broth
Lotus root
Fried dough
Fried tofu
Hand pulled noodles
Dried noodles
Mushroom medley
Pork and cabbage dumplings
Wagyu beef
Pork belly roll
Noodle mushrooms
(this is four people’s worth btw)

Our second time having Hot Pot, and we can officially declare that it’s fun, especially with a larger group. Is it stressful? Yeah, sure. You’re gonna drop wagyu beef in the broth, then lose it, dig for it amongst the bubbling goodness and eventually fish it out once it’s way overcooked. You’re gonna drop dumplings in it which will break apart and merge with the broth, appearing only as occasional debris (we recommend not putting the dumplings in the broth at all). Not everything you buy is going to be a winner - the lotus root took absolutely forever to cook. It was eventually nice, but we’d eaten almost all of it as raw root before realising it just needed longer. We really liked how the tofu, fried dough, and some of the mushrooms and noodles really imbibed the flavour of the broth, which is what it’s all about. Conversely, the meat is the most expensive, hardest to cook properly, and doesn’t bring that much to the table.

We weren’t overwhelmed with the broth flavours. They were okay, but you wouldn’t write home about them, and the broth is the heart of this meal, their success will live and die by the broth.

Bookings essential.