狂一鍋 宜蘭金東店

On Saturday night, I didn't know why, but after checking several hotpot restaurants, they were all fully booked. This place seemed to have a relatively shorter wait time, so we went there. It's located on the first floor of the Jindong Shopping Center, next to Daiso, across from the Ji-Mi Park.

After waiting for about 10 minutes, the staff said we could go in first, but the delivery might take longer; if we could accept that, we could sit down. Once seated, I ordered via QR code, choosing the spicy pepper clam and chicken hotpot with flank steak. It did take a while for the food to arrive. The spicy pepper chicken broth had a strong sesame oil flavor, which was quite pleasant. Inside, there were a few clams and a chicken leg cut into three pieces. After cooking for a while, when I poked the chicken, it still had some blood, and I started to wonder if this was normal. Eventually, the staff helped by taking it back to the kitchen to cook it faster.

My friend ordered their signature Kung Fu crispy pork ribs hotpot with bacon. The broth was quite fragrant but felt a little oily. I found the portion of meat to be quite adequate, even more than I expected. We also got the pineapple shrimp balls, which were alright.

The side dishes, drinks, and ice cream were all self-service. There were plenty of choices for the sides, and the staff was quite diligent in refilling them. I didn’t see any empty dishes despite going back two to three times. The drinks included tea, sparkling beverages, and slushies, while the ice cream options featured regular ice cream and soft serve. After trying the ice cream, I thought the matcha flavor was better than the soda flavor.

I felt pretty full from the meal. The self-service bar offered a good variety, and the overall flavor was quite rich. By the end, it became a bit heavy, so there was a bottle on the table to adjust the broth's intensity. It was a bit unfortunate that the spending couldn't offset parking costs, especially since the meal wasn't exactly cheap.