Mr Hotpoter, Burwood

Mr Hotpoter is Sydney's new and only hot pot sushi train. Located on the second floor of Burwood Chinatown you can choose a range of soups and then select what you'd like to cook in your soup from the moving train. Each hot pot train item is $1, $2 or $3 each and there's also free fried chicken, samosas, fries, fruit, drinks and sauces! Find out how to make the most of your meal at Mr Hotpoter in Burwood!

Mr NQN is trying to be a healthier eater so when I suggested that we try hot pot he was ambivalent as it's usually a big meal. But then I reassured him that he could add anything that he wanted to his individual hot pot he became excited. It's mid afternoon on Saturday afternoon when we arrive to the Burwood Chinatown building.

We chose this time because neither of us like queueing for a table and at peak times the lines at Mr Hotpoter can be long. At 3pm we don't have to wait although there is a crowd outside with larger parties. The restaurant is still full and there are families and couples as well as people grabbing a quick solo lunch here. There are also two larger booths at the side for groups of 4 but they have to hop up and grab things from the hot pot train.

The sushi train spans the majority of the restaurant. "Is this your first time?" they ask smiling and we nod. They direct us to click on the QR code and this brings up a list of soup bases. There are a lot of soups from probiotic red sour soup, tomato soup, mushroom soup, beef soup, garlic soup, beef mince soup, tom yum soup and golden sour soup for $6.99 each. There are also double soups (two choices) for $11.99. I ask for a recommendation for a duo soup and they recommend the hot and spicy and the golden sour soup while Mr NQN has the hot and spicy and the tomato soup. You can also order additional items like sliced lamb shoulder for $9.99 or premium beef and meats.

I leave Mr NQN to wait for the soups while I get us some sauces and some of the other free foods. Water is complimentary and there's also a fruit slushie that you can help yourself to as well-it's nice enough and not overly sweet.

There is also a huge range of sauces and it's a bit overwhelming unless you know what you're doing. Honestly I'd recommend getting the premixed Thai sweet-spicy sauce that goes with everything. There's also pickled vegetables and kim chi as well as watermelon and oranges for dessert.

There's also a section of items under the heat lamp. I help myself to some fries - these are a bit cold although the seasoning is good. There are also mini vegetable samosas that are nice and some fried French bread pieces. The fried chicken is the most popular and disappears quickly. I watch one man take 10 pieces of it but I snag a few pieces. The fried chicken is bone-in and tasty, especially dipped into the Thai sweet spicy sauce.

When I return to our seat, the soups are there bubbling away. They're on induction heat which is good for safety reasons and you don't end up burning yourself. Turning my attention to the hot pot train there's a range of items available and they're grouped into vegetables, seafood, beef, chicken and lamb. My sweet spot for hot pot is with the fish cakes, vegetables and seafood with cheese fish, fish balls, shrimp dumplings. There are also taro dumplings, egg dumplings, lobster claws, squid feet, sticky rice taro, lotus root, duck blood, quail eggs, razor clams, corn on skewers and a range of mushrooms and greens.

If I were to come again I would just get the golden sour soup because it's both of our favourite. The hot & spicy can get a bit awkward if you end up swallowing some of the chilli and having a coughing fit which is exactly what I did. I'm not sure what is in the golden sour soup, I asked two staffers and they said vegetables. But I end up cooking pretty much everything in this soup and it's delicious.

I particularly love the fish balls, prawn dumplings, black fungus mushrooms, sweet potato noodles. And when I go up to retrieve some more sauce they bring out a different type of Korean fried chicken with sweet white snow cheese.

For dessert we have some slices of watermelon and orange wedges.

One thing it can be a bit messy so I don't recommend wearing white or anything that you don't want stained because it's a bit messy (it's also quite likely that it's just me). The bill is a nice surprise. It's $25 a person for a lot of food. I think you could also save some money by just getting one soup pot!

So tell me Dear Reader, would you enjoy this hot pot train? What do you like to put in your hot pot?

This meal was independently paid for.

Mr Hotpoter

Level 2, Burwood Chinatown

Shop 1 127/133 Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134

Open 7 days Monday to Friday 11 am–9 pm

Saturday and Sunday 11 am–9:30 pm