The public's favorite "Top 10 Hot Pot Restaurants of 2014" are out — Ding Wang and Wu Lao Guo, say goodbye!

Reporter Chen Zi-Yin / Comprehensive report

With temperatures dropping sharply, hot pot is the perfect way to warm up your stomach. A well-known web portal today (12th) announced the public's favorite "Top 10 Hot Pot Restaurants of 2014." ▲Photo provided by YAM.The first place went to the 50-year-old veteran hot pot restaurant "Taiwan Power Lijin Pickled Mustard & White Meat Hot Pot." The second and third places were awarded to "Zhan Ji Spicy Hot Pot" and "This Pot Royal Secret Collection Hot Pot," respectively, while Ding Wang and Wu Lao Guo, which faced food ingredient controversies this year, both dropped off the list.

Regarding the sources of the images used in this article, the public relations department of the original news publisher, YAM, explained as follows:

YAM announced the public's Top 10 Hot Pot vote on the 12th, and the photos were provided by YAM, some of which came from bloggers, including "Xiao V" and others, all of whom are users of YAM's Sky Blog. Therefore, it is stated in the membership terms that articles and images posted on Sky Blog may be used. As a result, YAM extracted photos from bloggers such as Xiao V, removed their logos to avoid any advertising implications, and provided them to the media for reference.

Due to YAM’s lack of thoroughness in the process, they failed to remind the media that these images could not be post-processed with any logos. As a result, they specifically asked Eastern TV to remove the Eastern TV logo from the images.

The above is the full account of the incident. We have informed multiple media outlets. Thank you for the discussion. Here, the YAM PR team sincerely apologizes once again.

The complete list of the public's favorite Top 10 Hot Pot Restaurants of 2014 is as follows:

1. Taiwan Power Lijin Pickled Mustard & White Meat Hot Pot

▲Photo authorized by YAM.

2. Zhan Ji Spicy Hot Pot

▲Photo authorized by YAM.

3. This Pot Royal Secret Collection Hot Pot

▲Photo authorized by YAM.

4. Tainan Xiaohaozhou Satay Hot Pot

▲Photo authorized by YAM.


5. Old Sichuan Bashu Spicy Hot Pot

▲Photo authorized by YAM.

6. Orange Shabu-Shabu House

▲Photo authorized by YAM.

7. Kaohsiung Shantou Quancheng Satay Hot Pot

▲Photo authorized by YAM.

8. Shi Er Guo

▲Photo authorized by YAM.

9. Karuizawa Hot Pot

▲Photo authorized by YAM.

10. Jixian Hot Pot

(Source: YAM)

Multiple chain hotpot restaurants, including "Dingwang" and "Wulao Pot," which were involved in food safety issues this year, did not make the list. Meanwhile, those that ranked high—such as the first-place winner "Taipower Lijin Pickled Mustard & White Meat Hotpot," second-place "Zhanji Spicy Hotpot," fourth-place "Tainan Xiaohaozhou Satay Pot," sixth-place "Orange Shabu-Shabu House," and seventh-place "Kaohsiung Shantou Quancheng Satay Hotpot"—are all well-known local hotpot establishments within their respective cities or counties. This also shows that after the emergence of food safety concerns, the public has placed greater trust in these time-honored, locally-rooted businesses.