LOOKING FOR HOT POT IN ABU DHABI?

Hot pot in Abu Dhabi? Definitely a culinary experience to try

It’s been a while since we wanted to experience hot pot in Abu Dhabi, a traditional East Asian soup dish. As the weather has been so cool and windy lately, we concluded it was the perfect time to give it a go.

Where to head then? The choice was actually simple as Xiao Wei Yang is said to be one of the best options. After discovering that they have four different locations around the Capital, we picked the restaurant located on Airport Road, beside Phoenix Hotel.

Arrived early on a Thursday night (7pm), we were surprised we had to wait for a few minutes as all tables were already packed with Asian families and large groups of friends.

Once seated on a table equipped with a central electric induction cooker, we thought we would get an introduction from our waiter as it was our very first time. Unfortunately, he was busy and hardly spoke English, so he kindly recommended that we browse the menu filled with big images. Good point!

First lesson learnt: do take advantage of the waiting time to observe what guests have ordered on their tables (broth, meat, vegetables, noodles…) as it may guide you for your own order.

As newbies, we went for a set meal priced at 128 AED for 3 to 6 people that consisted of a non-spicy broth, shrimps, frozen seafood dumplings, crab sticks, shitake and wood ear mushrooms, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, glass noodles, tofu and paper-slice beef.

If you are more into spicy food, then try their half-half broth with one side filled with the regular house broth and the other with a spicy crimson broth.

Unsure the whole family would enjoy the experience, we ordered a few other items such as shrimp rolls (22 AED), seafood fried rice (48 AED) and sweet and sour chicken (58 AED).

Our hot pot order arrived together, the metal pot placed in the center with the broth soon boiling and the different raw ingredients in different plates filling the whole table.

The fun then starts as after throwing a few dumplings, shrimps, meat slices and veggies, you have to dig and rescue the cooked items. Kids surprisingly enjoyed the game more than expected and the portion was indeed easily designed for 5.

Second lesson learnt: don’t over order and check first how all guests like the experience before ordering separate items apart from the hot pot.

When the raw ingredient plates were half empty, one of the waiter offered to refill the metal pot with house broth so the pleasure keeps on going.

We were totally full with this healthy pick and didn’t have room to taste their egg tarts that looked similar to the pasteis de nata.

An overall exotic experience you shouldn’t miss it while in Abu Dhabi to expand your world culinary knowledge.

If you’d like to read more about this restaurant, you can also read about the Dubai Confidential experience as they were far more familiar with the concept!

XIAO WEI YANG restaurant | Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Airport Road, near Al Wahda Mall

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