築間麻辣火鍋台北西門町店

Item: 築間麻辣火鍋 台北西門町店
Rating: 1.5
Author: Sheng

台北市 • Hot pot

over 1 year ago

Lunch2 pplNT$1,200

📍Taipei Ximen Station

The new brand from the Zhu Jian Group takes a more upscale approach, located above the troublesome pickled fish restaurant. Initially, I thought opening Zhu Jian would be a good idea, but after trying it, my conclusion is that the cost-performance ratio is not high. The set meal for two costs 1880 NTD, and you also need to pay for two broth bases at 130 NTD each, plus a 10% service charge, making the total price 2400 NTD, which should offer more choices.

Unlike Zhu Jian Hot Pot, the Zhu Jian Spicy Hot Pot only has sauces and white rice available for self-service, and there are no self-service drinks! Desserts and drinks need to be ordered separately.

The decor in the store is nice, and during lunchtime on a weekday, there aren't many customers, with only four tables occupied. There are three servers, one for seating, one for delivering meals, and one for service. The server did not introduce the dishes after delivering them, which really didn’t give a high-end hot pot restaurant feel.

Dishes 🥘

Classic Sichuan Set Meal / 1880 NTD:
I initially wanted to order à la carte, but after some consideration, I realized that ordering the set meal allows for a greater variety of items. In the end, I chose the set meal. Looking back, if I had ordered à la carte, my dissatisfaction might have been less. The items in the set meal are shown in the picture below.

I ordered the classic spicy hot pot, and the bone broth on the left and the mushroom broth in the middle were complimentary; they were quite good. The spicy hot pot didn't have much heat, so I even asked for extra spice to add, but the spiciness wasn't very prominent, which was quite disappointing. However, the complimentary mushroom broth and bone broth were pretty good.

The spicy hot pot broth contains duck blood tofu, and you can have more.

Australian wagyu ribeye, American dry-aged flat iron steak, not much in portion, but the meat quality is decent.

Little Volcano Pork Ribs: The skin is very crispy, the sauce has a hint of spicy and fragrant scent, slightly spicy, and the meat is tender.

Mountain and Sea Nine-Square Grid: Signature Shrimp Paste, Black Taro Squid Paste, Japanese Yamasa Snow Crab Legs, Japanese Lobster Balls, Japanese Fried Scallops, Five-Spice Beef Tripe, Five-Spice Beef Tendons, Penghu Squid and Shrimp Dumplings, Fragrant Braised Pork Intestines. The nine-square grid tastes fairly standard, with some items that I wouldn't consider even when having hot pot. I feel like the set menu is a bit lacking because of these choices.

Bashu - Grand River Banquet: clams, shrimp, transparent squid, dragon and tiger grouper, bass. The clams are okay, but the fish has a bit of a fishy taste.