JinRi Niu Shi

The hot pot restaurant near my office is always doing great business. Whether it's cold or hot, there's always a line at dinner time. The taste is always good, and the prices are affordable. There's also a membership day on Mondays, where all meat is discounted, and you can earn points every time you eat to redeem the hot pot base.

20% off every Monday and Saturday is a great deal! Beef is a must-order for Chaoshan hotpot. My favorite is the lean, tender beef, which is also the cheapest variety and a great value! Actually, all cuts of beef have similar textures, except for the amount of fat and tendon, and I don't like fat and hate tendon. The beef balls were average, with a slight beefy flavor. I wanted to order beef heart, but it was out that day. The soup base must be clear to capture the true flavor.

Today's beef stew left a very positive impression. Before the meal, the waiter immediately boiled the colander, serving chopsticks, plates, bowls, and cups in a pot of hot water. This was a fantastic touch; I've never encountered such a pre-meal disinfection method in any other restaurant. It's hard to tell which of these fresh-cut raw beef dishes, the dragon and the tender meat, are better; they all tasted similar and were both quite good. I tried beef tendon for the first time today, and it was quite good. The crispy tripe was incredibly crispy, completely different from what you'd expect from a typical tripe. The cuttlefish balls are highly recommended; they're chewy and you can even feel the cuttlefish. The beef balls are a Chaoshan specialty, and my friend devoured them with relish. Enoki mushrooms and bamboo shoots are essential hot pot accompaniments. The spring onion sprouts were quite tender, which seems unusual in local markets. The hot pot didn't seem spicy, which suited us well, as we don't like spicy food. The signature beef stew also included several pieces of beef that were half tendon and half meat.

This beef hotpot restaurant specializes in Chaoshan-style fresh-cut beef. Even with the recent pandemic, it's still quite popular with customers at mealtimes. Compared to the local Chaoshan hotpot, it still feels a bit less beefy, but the overall freshness of the dishes and the service level of the staff are still very good. I hope you'll stick with it.