Liuyishou Hotpot Downtown Toronto – 254 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON M5T 2C2
Country: China – Chongqing Region
Seating: Large indoor dining room
Must-try broth: Mushroom Soup base with Chinese Herb 
Must-try: Sliced Beef
Dinner guests: Young Matt
The high: Their hotpot is all-you-can-eat, allowing us to eat until we were bursting at the seams.
The low: There is a two-hour time limit, and if it wasn’t for this we could have stayed there all day.

What started as a single location on a small street in Chongqing, China in the year 2000 has evolved 21 years later into a hotpot empire with over 1200 locations worldwide. When we chose this restaurant we thought it was simply a small Toronto chain, but little did we know it is an international hotpot sensation. McDonald’s ain’t got nothing on these guys!

It’s crucial to go over the hotpot basics first. Liuyishou Hotpot is all-you-can-eat, all the time. The way it works is that you pay for the soups (broth) and then there’s a fee per person for the all-you-can-eat portion. We opted for the trio of soups which was definitely worth the extra couple of bucks per person. To give you a visual, hotpot is similar to fondue that you would find in Switzerland or France, there is steaming hot broth and raw ingredients that you cook in the coup until ready to eat. Beware of burning your tongue! 

Let’s be clear – there’s an unwritten rule that when attending an Eat the World TO meal you come hungry, Suited Sebastien ended up backing out upon arrival as he discovered the all-you-can-eat requirements. It was his loss as this epic lunch wasn’t just delicious but left us with huge smiles on our faces.

If you find yourself at Liuyishou Hotpot don’t hold yourself back and go for the trio flavour soup base, as you wont regret it. We knew that we wanted the mushroom base because of it coming highly recommended by friends of the blog. We’re glad we went with their suggestions as the mushroom broth was the favourite of the day. This being said, a close second, the “Liu’s Special Vegetable Oil Spicy Soup Base” wasn’t far behind.

The server informed us that the highest spice level and even the medium are too spicy for the majority of palates, so we took her advice and got the mild. It was still spicy… Peppercorns, chilis and other aromatics create the flavour profile in this soup base. Finally, our third broth was of the pork bone variety because of its velvety texture and meaty taste. 

If you’re going by our judgement and appetite, you should order at least twelve portions of the thinly sliced beef. It cooks in under a minute and tastes fantastic in each and every broth. Other essentials to order are the cuttlefish, cilantro, squid, potato, wintermelon, thinly sliced pork, pork belly, soft tofu and broccoli. The benefit of all-you-can-eat is that you continue to order until the last person is full. You also pretty much have a carte-blanche to order whatever raw ingredients tickle your fancy. Over the course of the meal, the broth evolves in flavour from the ingredients cooking inside it, it will taste a million times better as you go. 

Whether you’re a hotpot guru or you’re new to the game, we highly recommend checking out Liuyishou Hotpot at either the downtown Toronto location or any of the plethora of other ones around the world.

Eat with you soon,

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)