The inn-style house's Northeastern pickled cabbage and pork hot pot is packed with ingredients and delicious—could this hidden gem be the surprise hit?

Text and photos byAhmon

Restaurant Name: Yizhanfang Northeastern Pickled Cabbage and Pork Hot Pot
Phone: 04-22200168 (Closed on Mondays)
Address: No. 5, Section 3, Liuchuan East Road, Central District, Taichung City
Price: À la carte, no service charge
Dining Date: February 2014

Hot pot restaurants in Taichung are always fully booked in winter, such as Karuizawa, Bazhian, and Duoxifu, all packed to the brim. All-you-can-eat hot pot options are limited, and prices have been rising year by year, leaving me, a hot pot enthusiast, suddenly unsure where to go for my fix. Later, I came across a review written by a friend about this place called 驿站房 (Yizhanfang), a rather unique name. It specializes in Northeastern pickled cabbage and pork hot pot, serves set meals, and considering the price factor, so I ended up going with a group of friends, which allowed us to order more dishes. Yizhanfang is located on Liuchuan East Road. Walk from Minquan Road toward Wucyuan Road, turn right onto Liuchuan East Road, and you’ll find the restaurant. Its yellow signboard is very eye-catching, but remember not to make a right turn on a red light—there are police officers hiding around to catch red-light runners.

They have a break time at noon, so don’t show up and find them closed.

Inside, there are almost equal numbers of round and square tables, with about 10 tables in total. Perhaps due to the warmer weather, there weren’t many diners.

Menu
Yizhanfang’s menu is divided into group set meals and à la carte options. The set meals are categorized by the number of people, with three price tiers, the lowest being $1000, and the meal combinations are pre-set. For smaller groups, you can also order the pickled cabbage and pork hot pot individually—the small pot is $490, offering quite a bit of flexibility.

Add-ons section
Besides hot pot ingredients and meat slices, they also sell pancakes here—Northeastern-style, like rolled pancakes and griddle cakes. If you have a big appetite, you might as well try a bit of everything.

Side dishes, noodles, and drinks

Sauce station
Since the highlight is the pickled cabbage and pork hot pot, they don’t offer satay sauce here. Instead, they provide sesame paste, fermented tofu, and leek flower sauces. So if you’re used to satay sauce, you might find it a bit unfamiliar. If the sauces run out, just let the server know, and they’ll refill them right away.

Since we were a larger group this time, we went straight for the set meal, choosing Set No. 1 for $1000. It comes with two side dishes, 20 dumplings, two types of stuffed pancakes, a small pickled cabbage and pork hot pot, and one scallion pancake. We also ordered a few additional side dishes. After placing our order, the waitress first brought out a selection of side dishes for us to choose from—this service was pretty great. We could pick the ones we liked, reducing food waste.

Appetizer Clams
Marinated in sauce with a slight spiciness, it was pretty okay.

Pig’s Ear
This one was just so-so for me—I didn’t particularly like it. I probably should’ve gone with the cold cucumber salad instead.

Pickled Cabbage and Pork Hot Pot (Small)
The small pickled cabbage hot pot included in Set No. 1 is suitable for 2–3 people. The pot uses charcoal fire, just like Songhua River’s. You can see the lively flames at the bottom of the pot, and the airflow is controlled by the lid on top to adjust the flame size.

But unlike the Songhua River pickled cabbage and pork hot pot, this one arrives already loaded with plenty of ingredients—sliced meat, hot pot items, and more are all inside. Even if you didn’t order the hot pot base or ingredients, the small pot still comes with some: tofu skin, fish cakes, meatballs, dumplings, and more, each in small quantities. You can try them first and add more if you like. With a generous layer of pickled cabbage and pork, this pot is quite hearty and offers good value for money. I tried a few spoonfuls of the broth—the sourness of the pickled cabbage is very mild, smoother and less irritating than Songhua River’s. After one bowl, you’ll be hooked. The pork belly has the right thickness and is tender, also better than Songhua River’s.

If you feel the pickled cabbage isn’t strong enough, there’s also a small plate of plain cabbage provided on the side that you can add yourself to adjust the flavor—how thoughtful is that?

Beef Roll
For Set No. 1, you can choose two out of three roll flavors, so I went with one pork and one beef. The rolls served were pre-sliced, generously filled with thick, sizable slices of meat. The dough is chewy and gets more aromatic the more you chew. Best eaten while hot—absolutely delicious.

Cross-section Show

Pork Wrap
Compared to the beef flavor, although the filling also contains quite a bit of meat and vegetables, and the sauce is the sweet bean sauce used in Peking duck — which gives it a lot of layers and texture — I still feel the pork wrap is slightly inferior.

Cross-section Show

Scallion Pancake
Cooked to order, the texture of the pancake is quite substantial, and the aroma is enticing. But after a few bites, I felt the scallion flavor wasn't strong enough — it could be better.

Garland Chrysanthemum $60
This isn’t part of the set meal but was an extra order. The portion was surprisingly large — a whole big plate. It took me a while to finish it all without wasting any, but later I thought maybe I made the wrong choice. After cooking the garland chrysanthemum in the pickled cabbage and pork hotpot, the taste becomes somewhat unique — not one I particularly liked. Garland chrysanthemum tastes better in a regular hotpot.

Plum Blossom Pork Slices $120
We ordered this extra just in case people weren’t full. There were over ten slices in one serving, a very generous and hearty portion. The marbling on the pork slices looked quite good. After a light dip, there’s a slight tanginess that gets more appetizing the more you eat — really satisfying.

Leek and Shrimp Dumplings $8 each
The set meal includes 20 dumplings. If you don’t like leeks, you can also choose cabbage and shrimp dumplings — the flavors can be customized.

The leek and shrimp dumplings were one of the most surprising dishes of the day. They can be eaten right after being served, no need to cook them in the pot. The dumpling skin is smooth and chewy, and once you bite in, the fragrance of the leeks hits you. The filling is generous, and there's even a Q弹 (springy) little shrimp inside. Both texture and taste are excellent, though the price per piece isn’t cheap. Getting the set meal is probably more cost-effective. These leek and shrimp dumplings are a reason I’d revisit this place.

A whole table full — the portion from Set Meal No. 1 plus the extra pork slices and garland chrysanthemum made for plenty, even for five people. We ate very happily.

Overall
The flavor of the pickled cabbage and pork hotpot here was quite well-liked by everyone. The leek and shrimp dumplings and wraps were also pretty tasty. Service was fast, the staff attitude was great, and the waitresses were adorable (undoubtedly). It’s a place worth revisiting, and I recommend it to everyone. The above is just my personal take, for reference only.

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