David’s Master Pot has thirteen locations across Victoria and is regarded as one of the state’s favourite places to get hot pot. Now, the chain is making its Adelaide debut with a new restaurant in the CBD.
The restaurant adds to the other high end eateries in the newly developed Level 1 Rundle Place. It joins the likes of Eastea and God Father Fried Chuan, C9 Chocolate & Gelato, and Doughballs in the food hall adjoining Hijinx Hotel and Archie Brothers.
Lydia Zhang, of David’s Management Group said, “We didn’t want to do levels of spice, we just wanted everything to be authentically spicy. We’re all about strong concepts, and flavours that are very spicy.”
Although the group is aiming to bring the most authentic food possible, they’re mixing it up with the ambience, moving away from the look of a traditional Chinese restaurant.
“We’re all quite young,” Lydia said. “And we wanted the fit out to have a strong visual concept.” That’s where the restaurant’s bold colour scheme came from. “The interior has lots of red and yellow, representing China, and spice. The red specifically represents spice and reflects the colour of peppercorns,” Lydia said.
A major drawcard of David’s Master Pot is the build-your-own style service. You start by grabbing a bowl and a pair of tongs, and then fill it with whatever takes your fancy from the colourful open fridge full of over one hundred fresh ingredients. Lydia assures us that the fridge will never contain less than 125 options. On top of that, there are more than 40 soft drinks on offer.
After selecting your ingredients, you weigh your bowl to determine the price, and choose a soup base from eight distinct options. Some highlights are the signature Malatang soup, Sichuan spicy dry pot, and the vegan tomato soup.
“With a fully stocked sauce station featuring more than eight different options, every visit can be a new taste experience” says Lydia. This style appeals to picky eaters and foodies alike, meaning that no matter what your personal preferences, you will be able to create a lunch that satisfies.
After its recent opening, David’s has been ultra busy, with huge lines full of anticipation in its first week of soft opening. “We want to say thank you so much for such a warm welcome. It’s a very exciting feeling bringing David’s to Adelaide.”
When asked ‘why Adelaide?’ Lydia said, “There were two reasons: One was that we wanted to add to the rich Chinese community, and the other was being asked by Rundle Mall to bring our authentic flavour over.”
David’s Master Pot claims to have adopted its cooking methods from the birthplace of Malatang, Sichuan. They make their popular Malatang soup base by stir-frying more than twenty different Chinese herbs and spices, including Sichuan peppercorns, and then add pork bone broth and their secret chilli oil to be boiled together for twelve hours. “We insist on using locally made hot pot soup bases, crafted using traditional techniques to create a richer more flavourful broth” Lydia says.
Vegans will also be satisfied, with two vegan soup base options and more vegan options on their ‘sichuan snackie’ menu, including taro and sweet potato rice balls and spicy potato noodles.
“We aim to create a mini food hub in Adelaide, where people can stroll around and try different foods.” This one stop shop for milk teas, skewers and hotpot is Adelaide’s own customisable taste of Sichuan, and it’s open now!
What: David’s Master Pot
Where: Level 1, Shop 104, Rundle Place, 77-91 Rundle Mall, Adelaide SA 5000
For more information, click here.
More News
