TONG LE Hot Pot is located around the Giant City area and is a small hot pot restaurant that emphasizes high cost-performance value. The overall space is spacious and bright, with a comfortable dining environment. Its biggest feature is the self-serve ingredients bar and free-flowing drinks, which increase dining freedom and enhance the overall value. For those who want to eat hot pot while having more options, it is indeed quite appealing.

This time, I chose the beef plate hot pot. The portion of beef is just right—not too much and not too meager. The thickness of the meat slices is moderate, and after being cooked in the pot, they maintain a certain texture and flavor, performing consistently well. Paired with hot pot vegetables and ingredients from the self-serve bar, it is actually enough to feel full.

The soup base selected was the vegetable and fruit broth. The flavor of the broth is refreshing, carrying a natural sweetness from the vegetables, and it is neither too salty nor overly seasoned, making it suitable for long cooking of various ingredients, creating a lighter overall dining experience.

The highlight of the self-serve bar is the braised pork rice. The ratio of fat to lean meat is well-balanced, providing a fragrant oiliness without feeling greasy. The braising sauce is flavorful but not overly salty, and it pairs very well with the white rice. While many hot pot restaurants' side dishes are just an afterthought, the braised pork rice here leaves a strong impression. Before I even started cooking the hot pot, I had already eaten a bowl, and by the end, I found myself a bit too full.

The selection of drinks and ingredients is also quite comprehensive, making for a complete overall experience.

Overall, TONG LE Hot Pot's greatest advantage lies in the balance between price, portion size, and the self-serve bar. The soup base and meat quality are stable, combined with the unexpectedly excellent braised pork rice, resulting in a very high cost-performance ratio. It is a hot pot choice worth revisiting near Giant City.

Tong Le Hot Pot (Hsinchu Mega City Store) - Delicious hot pot but not very suitable for group meals

This weekend, I met up with friends for a meal at Tong Le Hot Pot near Hsinchu Mega City. The restaurant specializes in a buffet-style eat-as-you-go combined with individual hot pots. This time, I ordered the sauerkraut fish soup base (+99 NTD) and the fresh fish and clam pot. Overall, the quality of the meal was quite good, but the arrangement of the space was somewhat disappointing for a group dining experience.

🍲 Sauerkraut Fish Soup Base + Fresh Fish and Clam Pot
The sauerkraut fish soup base comes with tilapia slices, and the broth has a nice tang without being too overpowering, making it flavorful with the hot pot ingredients. For an additional charge of 99 NTD for the soup base, I think it’s a worthwhile choice. The fresh fish and clam pot included three types of fish with generous portions, and the ingredients were fresh. However, the pairing of salmon with the sauerkraut soup was somewhat uncoordinated, with a flavor that felt a bit abrupt. A clearer or seafood-style broth would have matched better.

🥬 Self-service Area and Ice Cream
The self-service area offers a rich variety of vegetables, as well as common noodle options, which are similar to the standard setup of other all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurants. What’s unique is that the ice cream is not self-serve but needs to be ordered from the staff. Although there is no extra charge, this design can be somewhat inconvenient during peak hours.

🪑 Dining Environment and Flow
Although Tong Le Hot Pot focuses on individual pots, the seating arrangement was quite inconvenient for a large group. This time, the three of us were seated in a row, making it difficult to chat, and the food pickup flow was cramped. This kind of partition design diminished the interaction and relaxed atmosphere that a group meal should have.

📝 Overall Evaluation
If you’re dining solo or with one other person, the quality and self-service offerings at Tong Le Hot Pot are worth recommending. The portions for the soup and main dishes are generous, the ingredients are fresh, and the prices are reasonable. However, for groups of three or more, the space and seating arrangements are really not friendly, which negatively affects the overall dining atmosphere.