Big Boils Club Tsuen Wan 荃灣大滾友火鍋 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

My busy season is coming up soon and like I always do in previous years, I squeeze in a few group gatherings just before the start of heavy loading. I wasn’t the one calling the shots tonight but I was glad that someone picked a hotpot restaurant. It’s been a while since I last had hotpot dinner locally so it gave me something to look forward to tonight.

Big Boils Hotpot (大滾友) has a number of locations in Hong Kong and I was told the prices ain’t cheap but the combination of vintage vibe and innovative dishes is always difficult to turn down.

I got some much needed time to get my personalized sauce ready.

Obviously, making an entrance is important and here comes the broth. The clear broth with winter melon and seafood looks like a hand full. We were all waiting patiently (or taking photos one way or another), while our server sliced the gourd wide open.

     

Beef platter (牛肉拼盤) – This comes with different cuts of beef including beef tongue and with of course different degrees of marbling. Not bad.

Lamb – Very succulent and to a certain degree, it was more tasty than some of the beef cuts.

Dumpling with crab roes (蟹黃餃) – Very nice presentation but this was just OK. I always think anything that has to do with crab roes is overrated (just me).

Luncheon meat - I don’t remember us having luncheon meat for hotpot when I was a kid but it’s now a fixture in any hotpot meal. This was thick and savory, which was always a nice combo.

Handcrafted squid balls with goose liver (手打鵝肝墨汁墨魚丸) – The squid balls were decent but the flavors from the goose liver hardly registered.

Crab meat (蟹柳) – One dish we could probably do without.

Bean curd roll (響岭) – Yeah, always a crowd pleaser. Takes a few seconds to be ready and never disappoints. 👍🏻

Flambéed douhua with caramel (火焰焦糖豆腐花) – Another Instagrammable dish, this from the dessert department.

The tofu pudding, topped nicely with brown sugar powder, got a flashy flambe finish.

I thought tonight's dinner was a little pricey. $500-600 per head for a hotpot meal is pretty standard these days but at least, they should be serving us more than paper-thin meat.

Food Rating: 5.1/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Shop A&B, G/F, Kapok Mansion, 125-133 Castle Peak Road - Tsuen Wan, NT, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsuen Wan

Tel: +852 2383-2268

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 1:00am daily