🔅Actual visit date: 2024/11/23
*Photos may not be reproduced or used for commercial purposes without permission.

I have heard about this place for a long time, and when I arrived in Taichung to wait for the meal, I discovered that it is all part of the Karuizawa Group, including neighboring places like Cha Liu, Lao Chang Zai, and Yi Ji Sushi, all of which belong to their group.

I checked the menu, and there are many variations of soup bases. You can choose the soup base and then look at the corresponding meat options. There are also special refrigerated meat options. On that day, I ordered the following dishes with my friends.

▪️ Sesame Oil Tender Pork Hot Pot $358
· Swap for Braised Black Pork Rice +$18
▪️ Spicy Tender Pork Hot Pot with Deboned Peppers $358
· Swap for Braised Black Pork Rice +$18
▪️ Refrigerated Premium Black Pork Tender Hot Pot with Deboned Peppers $558
▪️ Kombu Tender Chicken Fillet Hot Pot $298
(All sets come with the main dish, white rice, vegetable platter, winter melon tea, and shaved ice)
· Add Fried Enoki Mushrooms $18
· Add Fried Egg $30
· Add Exquisite Seafood Platter $198
· Add Handmade Squid Shrimp Paste $98
· Add Flying Fish Roe Dumplings $28/2 pieces
▪️ Shredded Ginger Rice Blood Cake $45/8 pieces
▪️ Taro Meatballs $60/3 pieces

First, regarding the soup base, both the sesame oil and the spicy pepper bases are really serious, super rich in flavor. Besides the chosen meat, the soup base itself includes chicken, along with plenty of deboned peppers. The menu design makes it feel quite reasonable without needing to pay extra.

The tender grilled pork is really delicious, with evenly distributed fat that makes it very fragrant—quite impressive. The chicken is also very tender, and although the refrigerated meats looked great, we happened not to try them.

Switching the main dish to braised pork was a great choice! The braised pork rice was seriously good, and the vegetable platter had a good variety, even including clams. The winter melon tea and the iced fruit vinegar prepared by the staff were very tasty. The additional items we ordered were all good; the fried enoki mushrooms were particularly impressive, and all the seafood items were fresh and tasty.

Overall, I really liked this place! Ordering the above items made me super full for only around $500 per person. Everything was fresh and delicious, especially the soup base, which was stunning. There is no service charge, and the overall decor and dining space are very comfortable. If it were located near my home, I would definitely visit often. This information is for reference.

Braces Review: The restroom has a separate washbasin.

That day was a holiday, and the reservation was quite full, but we were lucky to get a spot. During dinner time, the entrance was crowded with people waiting, but the waiting area was designed comfortably, and they offered unlimited winter melon tea, creating a pleasant overall atmosphere. The exterior was also quite eye-catching.

Environment
The decor style is similar to Karuizawa, adopting Japanese design, spacious and stylish.

Dining
There are several options for soup bases, including sesame oil, shochu, peeled chili, satay, and kombu. The meat platters are divided into chilled and frozen meat types, with frozen meat being relatively cheaper.
This time, the four of us ordered three kinds of soup bases: kombu, peeled chili, and sesame oil. In terms of the soup, Karuizawa's base is richer, while the sesame oil flavor is aromatic without being greasy. For the meat platter, we chose chilled premium black pork tender shoulder, tender chicken fillet, and tender shoulder pork. The meat was fresh and tender, especially the black pork tender shoulder that was exceptionally soft.

The vegetable platter also performed well, featuring common vegetables in addition to enoki mushrooms and the less common black oyster mushrooms, with high freshness.

For beverages, unlimited winter melon tea was provided.

The items we ordered are as follows:
Sesame Oil Tender Shoulder Pork Hotpot
Sesame oil soup base, black pork lu rou rice (substituted), tender shoulder pork
Add-ons: Fried enoki mushrooms, Fried egg [1 piece]
NT$ 424

Chilled Premium Black Pork Tender Shoulder Peeled Chili Hotpot
Peeled chili soup base, white rice, chilled premium black pork tender shoulder
Add-ons: Deluxe seafood platter
NT$ 756

Kombu Tender Chicken Fillet Hotpot
Kombu soup base, white rice, tender chicken fillet
Handmade squid and shrimp paste
NT$ 396

Peeled Chili Tender Shoulder Pork Hotpot
Peeled chili soup base, black pork lu rou rice (substituted), tender shoulder pork
Add-ons: Flying fish roe dumplings [2 pieces]
NT$ 404

Ginger Shredded Rice Blood [8 pieces] NT$ 45
Taro Meatballs [3 pieces] NT$ 60
Total: NT$ 2085 with no service charge.

Location
There is a Decathlon parking lot next to the restaurant, but it does not offer preferential parking discounts.

Conclusion
Overall, the taste is good, and the environment is spacious, making it suitable for gathering meals.

This time, I went out for dinner with friends to a place that can only be found in Taichung: Soup Station!

💫 Prices:
There are options for regular and chilled meats. This time, I ordered from the chilled meat series, which is a bit pricier. If you want something more affordable, you can choose the regular meat instead.

💫 Environment:
The overall design has a Japanese style, and the space is very spacious and comfortable. However, that day they were playing Taiwanese songs in the store 😂 and surprisingly, after finishing the hot pot, I didn’t smell like hot pot at all, which shows that the ventilation system is very well done! Awesome!

💫 Dishes:
Braised Pepper Hot Pot: The soup base has 3 large pieces of bone-in chicken, so the amount of meat is a bit less. The soup base has 4-5 slices of braised pepper, and it tastes a little sweet and spicy, which is very refreshing. This flavor is not common in regular small hot pots outside.
Meat: Although it looks thin on the plate, once you eat it, you realize the meat is definitely not thin! A piece is just the right size for a bite! Plus, there’s no meaty smell at all.
Vegetable platter: At first glance, it seems like there isn't much, but there are actually quite a lot of leafy greens pressed down underneath the plate. After finishing, I was really super full!