🚩The popular spicy hot pot restaurant performs well with beef noodles

Lao Cao Wang is located in the East District of Taipei City, originally named Lao Ding Wang, and changed its name due to a trademark dispute. It is famous for its spicy hot pot made with broth boiled from Chinese medicinal herbs. This restaurant is quite close to my office, and I often come here for business lunches. The space inside is quite large, but the ceiling is a bit low, and there isn’t enough natural light. There are quite a few customers at noon, and it’s common to share tables with others.

Upon entering the restaurant, the staff will arrange your seating. After choosing from the menu, you submit your order at the counter, and pay after the meal. They accept both cash and credit cards, and invoices are provided with a carrier. There is no service charge.

Today I ordered:
Braised Chicken Feet: The chicken feet are of medium size and are stewed to be very soft; they can be easily separated from the bones. The sauce is rich and flavorful.
Spicy Duck Blood Tofu Noodles: The ramen has a very chewy texture, with four large pieces of duck blood and three large pieces of tofu. The tofu is on the softer side, and the duck blood has no gaps inside, so it doesn’t splatter when cut. Today's broth is extremely spicy; I didn't drink any at all.
Spicy Beef Offal Noodles: There is quite a lot of beef offal, and it’s cooked very soft and flavorful.
They offer complimentary drinks on-site, which are very cold but mild in flavor, likely winter melon tea.

The business lunch also features braised and tomato soup bases, but they are in short supply and often run out. The spicy broth is rich but the level of spiciness is not very consistent. Sometimes it’s acceptable, and other times it’s incredibly spicy 😂. It seems that the duck blood tofu is cooked in the spicy hot pot broth; one time I ordered the braised duck blood tofu, and the broth was even spicier than the spicy beef offal 🥵. Those who can handle spicy food should be fine, but those who only eat mildly spicy will have to take their chances.