In a traditional restaurant setting the rules are simple, you enter, wait for a table or grab one yourself and someone comes to take your order. Generally the drinks are ordered, you wait for them then the starters and mains come next.
The whole process can be stagnant - especially if the service is poor. However, what if you went to a restaurant where you order then everything else is left down to you?
There's a restaurant in Leeds where you can do just that, you order, your food arrives then you cook it, in most senses. Leeds Crown Hot Pot, located close to the University of Leeds is a fascinating venue. Located at the back of an Oriental supermarket lead the stairs to a room with just eight tables and a lot of fun.
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If you're unsure what I mean when I say hotpot, it's an ancient form of cooking, first coined in China but now it's stretched to reach Japan and Korea. The basic premise is, you sit at a big round table with a heat element in the middle and then a bowl is placed and filled with a soup / broth.
The broth starts off cold, then as it bubbles and churns you live out a cauldron fantasy as you drop little bits of meat, seafood, veg and noodles into the broth to create your own meal. It's a really fun thing to do and unlike my first thoughts, not remotely gimmicky.
We arrived at Crown Hot Pot after being generously invited down to sample the food, having never eaten hotpot and only gazed in wonder on TikTok at the great big melting pot that is a hot broth I was very excited. As I said the menu offers a range of items, a massive range too, when first presented with the double sided sheet I was safely overwhelmed.
The front of house staff recommended around 20 dishes but seeing as there were only two of us I asked them to bring what they thought was the best for a hotpot virgin. Before we knew it after one sip of our drinks various items started flying onto our table.
We had: noodles, a vegetable medley including pak choy and chinese cabbage, chinese smoked sausage, belly pork, crispy fried pork, tofu skins and the ultimate, a metre of beef.
Seriously, a metre long plank of ultra thin beef is a first and it was so so good - despite dropping on several occassions.
With all the food being uncooked or cold the service was interstellar. Within five minutes our broth was on and approaching a boil and the food was taking over - so we dug in.
On broths, we chose to go for a mix of two - with the bowl separated down the middle. We had a mild sichuan oil and a tomato and oxtail soup in which to dip, dunk and lose our various foods.
We were given very little instruction on how to cook the items, with the beef being to your tastes, that is something I wish had a little more explanation - namely just to get the absolute best result from our DIY cooking.
However, we soon got the hang of it and despite starting with a staggering amount we beat most of the waiting meat, veg and tofu. The whole process is a hoot, this place would be perfect for a first date or a group outing - if you don't mind potentially embarassing your date by losing a piece of beef.
Alongside the main choices there is a sauce station where you grab a small dipping bowl and add various Asian sauces such as soy, chili, sesame and satay - which can all be topped with crunch, fresh veg and seasonings.
It's very much a "do as you feel" restaurant and to be honest it was refreshing, once we got over the initial daunting tasks we were cooking with gas (broth?) We were dunking our meat, fishing out noodles and snacking on our own custom dishes.
Safe to say after tackling all the bowls we were delighfully stuffed - to be honest we had two much for two people, our choices could have served four easily.
Which brings me onto the price, it's very reasonable. Our bill came to just under £90 which if you brought the appropriate (four) people would be just over £20 each, for an experience such as this and ingredients that let's face it were as fresh as you could realistically get them I would say that is a very fair offer.
Crown Chinese Hotpot is a must visit, especially if you're a bit of a foodie (hate that word) like me. Take some friends, assemble your chopsticks - seriously they screw together - and go mad.
I will be visiting again, this time to try the Cuttlefish balls or the chicken feet, you've got to live a little.
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