Image credit: Hotpot Commune
If you’re a fan of the beloved Southeast Asian eatery Gin Long Canteen, you’ll be happy to hear that its owners have recently unveiled a brand-new restaurant on Greenhill Road: Hotpot Commune.
While the new venue will also pay homage to Asian cuisine like its sister restaurant, its sole focus will be on hot pot – a dish that’s over 1000 years old originating from China. The dish is traditionally a simmering pot of Szechuan chilli broth which you can add whatever ingredients you like to, and in recent years it’s taken the world by storm.
“It’s clear hot pot has gained a lot of popularity among the younger crowd in Adelaide, so opening this new restaurant made a lot of sense,” co-owner Wen Khaw tells Glam Adelaide.
Although there are a number of popular hot pot locations around South Australia, Hot Commune is giving the dish a unique twist with eight different soup bases inspired by different locations around Asia.
“We create our hot pots our own way, with our own interpretation on the soup bases. You can choose flavours like aromatic Thai Tom Yum and Malaysian Laksa, and a range of rotating specials like Japanese Ramen,” Khaw says.
“We have unlimited creativity which is great. We don’t want to constrain ourselves to traditional hot pot; when we leave our imagination open, creativity comes.”
While Hotpot Commune might have a unique take on the cuisine, it doesn’t make it any less authentic. A talented chef from its team dedicated a year to perfecting the art of Szechuan cooking in China, guaranteeing that their broth rivals the authenticity found within the heart of Szechuan itself.
The ingredients are also fresh, marinating and preparing the ‘toppings’ like vegetables and meats in-house.
“Basically you pick up a tray, pick your own ingredients, choose your soup base or stirfry base and then the chef cooks it,” Khaw says.
Its simplicity and variety are what make it perfect for communal dining; true to its name.
“The reason we love hot pot is because we can put the choice back into our customers hands. The customer can control how much food they eat and how much they want to spend. It’s a little but like Yo-Chi Frozen Yoghurt where you can choose your own toppings and how many toppings, and therefore the price. There’s a lot of freedom and flexibility with the dish,” Khaw says.
He also suggests the restaurant is also a lot more child friendly than other locations with cheaper prices and fun cartoon utensils.
“Normally with hot pot you need to pick 300g minimum for the ‘toppings’, but for the kids we wave the minimum. The kids can have just two vegetables if they wish. We want to try to look after families,” Khaw says.
While the new bright, airy and communal dining experience is expected to be a lot more casual than its sister restaurant Gin Long Canteen, it’s still expected to deliver on great quality and taste. In fact, the venue calls it “happiness in a bowl” and claims via its Instagram that it’s the “best hot pot in Adelaide”.
Hotpot Commune
Where: 466 Greenhill Road, Linden Park, 5065
Open: Tuesday-Sunday Lunch 12pm Dinner 5pm
More info: Click here
