Haidilao

Do you like your anaesthetising Sichuan soup served with a side of pulsating dance music? How about a live performance of noodles twirled like a skipping rope? Perhaps you’d settle for a complimentary manicure? Fasten your bib, because this billion dollar global hot pot chain is going for sensory overload on all fronts.

Customise your broth and its additions – mushrooms stuffed with shrimp paste, paper-thin rolled raw lamb, the preserved greens gong cai – then conjure a dipping sauce from a profuse self-serve range.

The dessert buffet, loaded with ice-creams, tropical jellies and pearls, encourages more DIY. Dig around online for code words to unlock menu hacks and freebies, or settle for on-the-house popcorn while you wait for a sought-after table at this delightfully unpredictable hot pot theme park.

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