YangGuoFu is opening a third location in South Australia, as two just isn’t enough for Adelaidians who love authentic hot pot. The venue is set for Firle Plaza which joins the SA venues already well established in Mawson Lakes and Chinatown.
Although owner Jessie said this one is a bit smaller, it’s still got the same or perhaps an even better offering than the city venue.
“We have what they have, the beef bone broth, tomato broth, and some spicy mixed flavour, but something they don’t have is the signature stir-fry spicy pot and the laksa broth,” she said.
The space of the city venue may trump Firle but they’ve got two dishes that the city venue don’t, offering stir fry and fried rice dishes to its customers.
As a national food chain, it’s one of the most well known Malatang brands, originating over 20 years ago and now has grown to more than 7000 national stores, in locations like New Zealand, Spain, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, Italy and more.
Inside, the venue fit-out features bold oranges, olive-green tiles, a neon-lit logo and a swirling mural that spreads across the back wall, giving the space a bright, energetic feel. Burnt-orange booth seating runs through the venue, paired with marble-look tabletops, rounded chairs and warm pendant lighting, while the ceiling makes a statement with illuminated orange logo panels set into a checkerboard-style design.
An unexpected drawcard for the venue opening in the eastern suburbs, is the free parking.
“We’ve got lots of parking space here, so it gives eastern, northeast suburbs the choice to come closer,” Jessie said.
“It’s so hard to find a park and you have to pay for parking in the city, but in our local area, it’s easy to park.”
So what is Malatang?
It’s basically a Chinese soup-based bowl of street food from southwestern China with a herbal base. It’s a bit of a DIY moment, with customers coming into the venue having to pick a bowl to fill with ingredients like vegetables, noodles, tofu, seafood and meat. For Firle residents it means they’ll have a fully customisable meal, that’ll feel like it’s been cooked straight from the street markets of China.
Usually there are around 200 different ingredients that YangGuoFu offer to build your own lunch or dinner, and a eight-hour beef bone broth, which is what makes hotpot, well hotpot.
The Firle store has five different broths ranging from classic beef bone broth malatang, sweet and sour tomato malatang, to a dry spicy mix and a very special exclusive broth, stir-fry spicy pot, that you won’t find in the Mawson Lakes or Chinatown venues.
“Come to try our signature stir-fry or laksa broth, which they can’t try in the other shops,” Jessie recommended.
Expect the freshest meals, as once you’ve got your carrot, noodles, onion, beef rolls and whatever else you choose, the in-house chefs then cook your bowl and serve it straight up. If you’re up for a bit of a saucy side dish, you can mix different sauces and create the ultimate pairing.
In the future, Jessie said they’ll start introducing more offerings and even dessert but for know they new team are working on getting the basics down pat for all to enjoy.
YangGuoFu Firle
Where: Shop 21/171 Glynburn Rd, Firle SA, Adelaide, South Australia 5070
When: Open daily from 11AM
For more info, click here.
