I never thought I would encounter such genuine milk hot pot here 😆

📍Location: Chiayi, Taiwan
👉 at the Garlic Sugar Factory
I took a quick look at the park map, and it seems this is the only place in the Garlic Sugar Factory that offers a full meal 😆

Nearby, there's the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum, and you can come here for hot pot after visiting the museum. Afterward, you can grab some ice cream from the factory, making for a simple and relaxing day trip 🚗👌

🗣️Let’s talk about this dining experience:

Honestly, I didn't have any big expectations.
👉 Hot pot x buffet x priced based on soup base x dual-flavor pot
These combinations are just too common, and this place isn’t a famous chain, so I initially thought I would just "fill my stomach."

Until the staff brought out an entire bottle of New Zealand milk 😳

Ordering milk hot pot used to make me really anxious:
Either it was diluted and tasteless (no flavor but colored),
or the milk flavor only lingered for the first sip (becoming more bland as you drink).

If this restaurant doesn’t add cheese or something similar to the pot (to enhance the milkiness), I often feel that ordering a milk hot pot is just not worth it—it's like paying for a milk hot pot but only getting a vegetable broth experience.

---

This time I went out with a few friends, but since some were unfamiliar to me, I was hesitant to order a different flavor. When I saw they wanted the milk hot pot, I decided to go along with their choice.

I must say, they were right this time 🤣

An empty pot, paired with a whole bottle of milk.
I self-poured! Hot pot broth (milk) was mine to add!
Without a doubt, it was a milk hot pot!

The first time we poured about 2/3 of the bottle, and as we reached the middle and end of our meal, everyone had enjoyed quite a bit of the soup before finishing the remaining 1/3.
(I think this bottle must be about 900-1000ml, right?)

As we cooked further, because we added a lot of vegetables, the flavor gradually transformed into a milk vegetable pot, so later we added vegetable broth to keep the hot pot soup, which made the difference in milk color and vegetable flavor less noticeable.

The abundant food and the all-you-can-eat hot pot materials were truly satisfying! 👍

A friend’s other pot was also cleverly ordered 👏

👉 Thai Tom Yum hot pot
I’m not familiar with Tom Yum (I don’t eat it often), so I can't judge if it's authentic or substantial.

But I heard it’s spicier than the usual Tom Yum soup. I also had a few bowls of Tom Yum soup myself, and it definitely has a lingering spiciness!

Mixing Tom Yum soup with the milk soup gives it a less numbing yet flavorful experience, which is a nice added enjoyment 😂
(I personally thought the flavor was good, haha)

This location is really more for tourists, so I wouldn’t say it’s a place I can visit often. However, if I’m nearby, I would still be willing to come and try it out 😆!

I’d give it 4.5 stars, losing that 0.5 star because I felt the environment was slightly lacking.

After all, being located in the sugar factory, the buildings might be a bit old. The decor and arrangement are actually quite nice, but facing many dining tables, the restrooms are rather small and few (it’s easy to wait to use the restroom).

The buffet was ideally divided into two areas, so when self-serving, there was no crowded waiting, but one of the areas actually is right in front of the restroom... Although the restroom is tucked away inside, it still feels a bit awkward.

Overall, it was actually quite good, and perhaps my expectations weren’t high, but I was pleasantly surprised 😆!

---

Regarding the pricing explanation:
This restaurant uses online ordering, which might be different from before, so the paper menu found online seems a bit different from what was available when dining.

Pricing can be roughly divided into a few categories:
1️⃣ Buffet
Adults $268; Children $168 (100-130cm)
Under 100cm $0
2️⃣ Pot Base Prices
Vegetable Pot $38; Oat Milk Pot $268
Most other pot bases are $168
3️⃣ A la carte meat/seafood
Meat starting from $99, seafood from $129;
Ranging from $148 to $999 depending on the grade, the selection isn’t a lot.
There are set packages for seafood.
4️⃣ Beverages
The buffet itself provides tea and slushies, but if you want to drink other types of tea or coffee, you’ll need to order them separately.

I went to the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum to see an exhibition, and since there were a lot of people inside at noon, we decided to go eat at the sugar factory. I initially searched Google reviews and found that they had a wide selection of fruits and vegetables, good parking, and friendly service. Since it's located in the sugar factory, parking is free and close by, just about a 5-minute walk.

The entire restaurant is decorated with dolls, so I felt very warm and cute as soon as I walked in. The space is planned with partitions, and we were seated at a table for six, where only one side had a walkway. After the table next to us was occupied, the space became a bit cramped, and we had to maneuver around each other to get to our seats.

Ordering was done by scanning the QR code on the table. Since it was a hot pot setup, we could choose either a yin-yang pot with two flavors or a single flavor. My friends and I chose to have two pots: one with a milk base and the other with a spicy tom yum flavor.

Aside from the pot base and meat, everything else — vegetables, mushrooms, staples (rice, noodles), hot pot ingredients, and drinks — was self-serve. They had a few cabinets filled with a generous selection, and the vegetables were really fresh and diverse. There were also eggs available for self-service, and the staff quickly replenished items that ran out.

Overall, it's easy to end up eating too much and find it hard to move, but I feel like this is a place I'd want to visit again. I recommend it (perhaps next time I should ride a bike to the sugar factory to exercise a bit).