Megan’s Kitchen – a Hong Kong hotpot favourite

The temps are cooling, the humidity’s dropping, it can only mean one thing – HOTPOT time! We check out one perennial Hong Kong favourite, Megan’s Kitchen…

Megan’s Kitchen is located midway between Causeway Bay and Wan Chai – so unless you’re cabbing directly, it’s best to punch the directions into your Google Map beforehand. The restaurant itself is spacious and clean, not too crowded and much roomier than other hotpot establishments that usually pack in as many people as possible.

What’s great and different about Megan’s Kitchen is that for those of you who love to experiment and test out fusion hot pot broths, this is just the place! Most restaurants only let you go for one soup base or half-half, but Megan’s Kitchen boasts hotpots with room for three different soup bases – so Rach, Michelle and I all got to choose our own!

A fan favourite was the Tomato and Crab Soup in Soufflé Finish, which was fluffy and thick with tomato-goodness; meanwhile, the Malaysian Satay Soup will be a surefire hit with those who love this rich, nutty sauce. Our last option was the more traditional winter-melon soup with lotus seed, dried scallop and Chinese ham – the ideal soup to balance and cleanse after the first two heavier options.

It will probably take a bit of time to decide what to put in your soup (as we all know, hotpot places literally have everything on the menu); as for us, we went a little crazy and ordered a little bit of everything! Apart from their famous soup bases, Megan’s is also known for their extensive variety of special dumplings, such as the spicy Korean kimchi dumplings. Feeling a bit more indulgent? Order up a round of black truffle Wagyu beef dumplings to share – these were delicious! Just remember to only eat the dumplings once they start floating; when in doubt, just cook ‘em longer (better safe than sorry!).

I’m probably the only person I know that doesn’t like meatballs, so I can’t quite comment on the flavour and texture of Megan’s versions… but Michelle and Rach loved them! The chicken and quail egg meatballs had a salty yolky surprise in the middle, whilst the signature rainbow balls are a must-order – even I was intrigued with all the pretty colours!

Other must-orders include beef – it is probably the priciest thing on the menu, but you can’t have hotpot without a huge plate of beef, eh? To fill the tummy, noodles and udon are perfect for soaking up the flavours of each soup base. Fried beancurd balls and deep fried fish skin are my personal faves and I love how the texture of both of these immediately change from flawlessly crispy to soft and soaked with the intense flavours once you dip ‘em in.

Of course, a large part of the enjoyment of hotpot is the mixing of sauces to dunk your goodies in. Megan’s Kitchen gives you the full DIY experience, so have fun with the magic wheel of condiments to pick which you like best and which you might want to get creative with!

Aside from our hotpot add-ins, we also ordered a round of appetizers including the deep fried squid, deep fried Bombay duck and fried diced tofu in salty egg yolk paste (essentially, fried, fried and fried!). It was probably a tad excessive on our part, but I’d definitely recommend the soft Bombay duck fish covered in a blanket of delicious spicy salt and crunch to get your appetite kicking before the hotpot arrives.

For a hotpot meal that filled us up to the brim (with plenty of leftovers!), the meal totalled up to about $3-400 per head.We loved the flexibility of having three soup bases (sometimes you just want to try everything, right?!) and Megan’s Kitchen definitely has an extensive, more interesting and innovative hotpot menu than most places, with everything we tried being of great quality too. As we all know, hotpots are great for group dining; if you’re coming with a big gang, you can even reserve one of Megan’s six VIP rooms for a little more privacy – then head upstairs to their karaoke lounge, String, to keep the party going!

With icy-cold AC always available in the ‘Kong, there’s no reason why every day can’t be hotpot season with somewhere as delicious Megan’s Kitchen!

Check out the rest of our top five hotpot spots in Hong Kong here

Megan’s Kitchen 5/F, Lucky Centre,165-171 Wan Chai Road, Wan Chai
2866 8305 www.meganskitchen.com