My first Cantonese hotpot ever! Congee hotpot at Shunde Hotpot in Industry, replacing Blossom Season Hotpot. First Cantonese specialty hotpot restaurant I’ve heard of. Dragon Beaux in San Francisco used to feature Cantonese hotpot at dinner as a counter to their dim sum lunch before switching to a traditional dinner menu, and that’s all I know of. Quite different from your typical hotpot—not spicy, a little bland, the chicken was bone in (typical Cantonese, and an issue where I side with millennials and can’t stand), slightly gooey and quite pricey. This pot was $50 before tip. An interesting and refreshingly different experience.
Shunde Hotpot is an offshoot of Sunjow Cafe, whose opening last year highlighted the flux in Cantonese dining both in Hong Kong and Los Angeles. In Hong Kong, longtime residents have been fleeing abroad, while Cantonese from the mainland have moved into Hong Kong, causing new dishes to appear in local restaurants. Meanwhile a wave of restaurant closures has hit Hong Kong as more Hong Kongers choose to dine in Mainland China restaurants which provide a much greater value proposition.
The effect has spilled over into the San Gabriel Valley with complaints about newly opened Hong Kong style cafes whose menus stray from what Hong Kong Cafe menus used to look like in the SGV. However with these new restaurants being operated by owners from Shunde, Foshan and even Taishan, it’s no surprise that these restaurants don’t fit the pre-existing mold.
This is very exciting. I like congee hotpot but it is very hard to find! I was in Hong Kong earlier this year and even there was not able to find more than one or two places that potentially have it. @chandavkl is your hotpot base in this picture the Shunde Wumi Congee Soup + Hand-Made Pork Meatballs (this looks like the only congee option on their menu)?
I know this style of hotpot as zhou di huo guo (粥底火锅). If anyone knows of any other places in the LA area that have it, please share!
Rather than being an offshoot, I think they closed the old Sunjow Cafe and moved into this location? I can’t confirm via Yelp/Google but that was my understanding.
It seemed to me that they didn’t consciously choose a hotpot spot. That other hotpot spot failed and just turned everything over as is. I think some of the decorations even are simply from the hotpot spot and not from the Shunde folks (though I recall Sunjow did have a collection of knick knacks). Have not tried the hotpot but I visited as a fan of the Sunjow days and they still serve the same great food as then. I’d definitely recommend it just for that. Yeah its hotpot but its also a great place for Canto and Shunde style food. I think I previously might have posted about the Rainbow Chicken and it’s always a must for me there.
If anyone is curious about Shunde and its place in Chinese food culture/history, Sgee turned me on to a Netflix show called Flavorful Origins which apparently might have an episode focusing on Shunde. I haven’t watched it myself but might be visiting that area in a couple months and looking forward to it. Hopefully I’ll get around to writing about it a little.
If you order the pork broth hotpot it could be the same as the pork broth hotpots at the existing Sichuan and other hotpots. Your add in products include meat, vegetables, tofu products, noodles, etc.
This place has been open since the 80’s during that golden era wave of HK expats. Canto hotpot is usually a clear broth (typically chicken) and not spicy at all. Goji berries and dried root/herbs, ginger are common ingredients in the broth as you can probably see in some of the photos. The point is to preserve the natural taste of ingredients and appreciate the ingredients you dip into the pot and Landmark prizes itself on sourcing excellent seafood even from places such as Japan.
Does this style not exist elsewhere in LA (or did it exist, even if rarely, prior to mala becoming so popular)? It sounds rather familiar to me, although maybe I’m mixing it up w/ memories of my mat grandmother’s cooking somehow…..
Don’t know if it exists in LA but I just got back from toisan and this is common at night and they seat you on tables set up right in front of the restaurant on the sidewalk
Also some of the new Taishan restaurants open in San Francisco have a hotpot option on the menu. And I just discovered there was a Taishan hotpot place that opened and closed up there.
It seems like there are two different types of hotpot being discussed in this thread.
One type is what I think you (@paranoidgarliclover) are referring to – non-spicy broth, could be pork, chicken, veggie, or otherwise. This one you can find plenty of places in LA and elsewhere.
The other type is porridge pot / zhou di huo guo, where the soup base is literally congee (and is delicious to eat at the end of the meal). This is the type that I’ve had a hard time finding, though I see Landmark in Vancouver has it, thanks to @JLee.
