A Taipei hotpot spot known for lobster and seafood — and a hidden “golden crab”!

Text and photos byPingzi

In recent years, food safety has become a major concern, making healthy and nutritious eating more important than ever. Near Minsheng Community, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and Dunhua North Road, Pingzi recommends Xiaodangjia Seafood Hotpot Minsheng Branch if you’re looking for an upscale shabu-shabu experience. The restaurant adheres to the principles of “local sourcing, seasonal freshness, and wild catch,” letting you choose your own live seafood which is then handled with care on-site. Their signature dishes include premium lobster and a hidden gem on the menu — golden crab — available strictly by reservation. The broths are simmered using fresh ingredients or seafood, completely natural with no MSG added. Ideal for dates or gatherings with friends, the venue also offers free Wi-Fi service. Once you try it, you’ll keep coming back.

Although Xiaodangjia Seafood Hotpot Minsheng Branch is located in Taipei’s Songshan District, it’s tucked away in a lane near Minsheng Community. Nearby landmarks include Songshan Airport, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and Taipei Arena. To get here, take the Taipei Metro to Taipei Arena Station and walk for 11 minutes, or to Songshan Airport Station and walk for 10 minutes. It’s a bit of a walk from both stations.

Xiaodangjia Seafood Hotpot Minsheng Branch has a very eye-catching location at the corner of a lane. It features a sleek black floor-to-ceiling glass window, a glass storefront, and cement walls, all combining into a minimalist design. The black sign with white reversed text gives off a high-end vibe, immediately signaling a top-notch seafood hotpot joint known for direct sourcing, great value, and gourmet flavors — a true hidden gem.

For Pingzi, a restaurant isn’t just about good food — the ambiance and image it conveys are equally important. Only then can the meal be truly elevated, visually and gastronomically.

Before even stepping into Xiaodangjia Seafood Hotpot Minsheng Branch, you’ll notice large glass doors with several menus displayed for browsing. Passersby can flip through them at leisure. Signage highlights the restaurant’s focus on premium seafood such as lobster and crab, although meat options are also available.

The entrance of Xiaodangjia Seafood Hotpot Minsheng Branch clearly states that outside food, smoking, and pets are not allowed. Free Wi-Fi is provided.

As you enter, you’re greeted by a wooden reception counter. Behind it hangs a striking visual display of the restaurant’s brand identity, with a design that blends wood textures and wall elements beautifully.

The interior of Xiaodangjia Seafood Hotpot Minsheng Branch follows a simple wooden design — a common and popular style in modern hotpot restaurants. The spacious, dimly lit space is brightened by strategically placed lights, while mirrors help enhance the sense of openness.

There are no private rooms here. All tables are in an open dining area, though those near the windows offer a bit more separation.

The atmosphere at Xiaodangjia Seafood Hotpot Minsheng Branch is cozy and warm, like being in a comforting home.

The restaurant offers tables for 4 and 6 people, perfect for dates or small gatherings.

The table design at Xiaodangjia Seafood Hotpot Minsheng Branch is very considerate. The oversized wooden hotpot tables are thoughtfully designed for four diners — the ideal number when enjoying a diverse hotpot meal. Each table comes with two burners, ensuring a comfortable dining experience. The spacing between tables is wide enough to avoid accidental bumps, making it easy for friends to chat without feeling cramped — a really thoughtful setup.

Near the glass cabinet corner, you’ll find live Boston lobsters and golden crabs, full of life. These are the very seafood items that are selected and handled fresh on-site, staying true to the “local sourcing, seasonal freshness, and wild catch” philosophy.

Drinks are complimentary and mostly canned — a generous offering.

There’s also an ice cream cooler featuring Mingo Ice Cream, a well-known Thai fruit ice cream brand. It’s quite unique and a delightful surprise to find Thai ice cream in a Japanese-style hotpot restaurant.

There are four ice cream flavors to try.

Once seated, condiments and sauces are promptly served.

The sauce selection here differs from many other hotpot spots. They don’t automatically provide satay sauce — you need to ask the staff if you want it. With such fresh ingredients, too many sauces can be unnecessary. The freshness speaks for itself. The sauces, from left to right, are: yuzu vinegar + daikon radish (ideal for seafood), chopped scallions + minced garlic + chili, and Japanese soy sauce (perfect for meats). You can also mix the middle ingredients (scallions, chili, garlic) into the soy sauce on the right to customize your flavor.

The menu is a long, single booklet with a Japanese-inspired design and plenty of photos.

The first page introduces the brand, its founding philosophy, and the commitment to “local sourcing, seasonal freshness, and wild catch.” The attention to detail is evident, and just reading the introduction gets Pingzi excited — even before tasting the food.

Seafood caught in-season ensures stable supply and consistent quality. Seasonal catches are at their plumpest, juiciest, and most tender. Wild seafood means minimal human interference and firmer, springier textures.

À la carte: minimum spend of NT$250 per person, plus NT$249 per hotpot pot. The set meals include a main dish (choose either beef brisket or pork belly), a vegetable bucket, Sanuki udon, steamed noodles, wide vermicelli, rice noodles, or seafood rice (5 options to choose from). The set meals are more cost-effective. Restaurant mains and set meals range from NT$699 to NT$3999, offering great variety — check the menu for details.

Seafood lovers like Pingzi who enjoy lobster and crab must try the hidden gem — the golden crab set meal (priced at NT$2380). It’s not listed on the regular menu, so you’ll need to call ahead to reserve, as availability isn’t guaranteed.

After you place your order, the staff will hand-pick your live golden crab (as shown in the photo), let you choose which one you’d like, bring it to your table for inspection, and then prepare it — it’s truly alive when served.

The restaurant offers five types of broth, and you can choose any two (from a selection of five) — ideal for a shabu-shabu duo experience to satisfy two flavor preferences in one meal.

On this visit, Pingzi picked these two broths: plain vegetable broth (left in the photo) and pork bone seafood broth (right in the photo). Both are simmered with fresh ingredients or seafood, completely natural and MSG-free. Just looking at the broth tells you it’s fresh, with a natural color — essential for healthy, wholesome eating that emphasizes original flavors.

Even just looking at the utensils, the selection feels premium—just the tactile experience is different. The cookware heats up quickly and retains heat well; before long, the broth was boiling.

Plain Vegetable Broth (as shown on the left): This is a broth made by simmering a variety of vegetables, resulting in a light and fragrant vegetable flavor.

Pork Bone & Seafood Broth (as shown on the right): Made by slow-simmering pork bones for hours over high heat and enhanced with seafood for flavor, this broth combines the richness of pork with the sweetness of the sea, creating a uniquely aromatic soup.

Even the tongs are thoughtfully designed. One thing I really hate about hot pot is how tongs touch the table directly when placed down. These tongs are designed to keep them off the surface—such a small detail, but it shows real care. Just from the selection of utensils, you can feel the attention to detail. Details truly make the difference.

A portion of the vegetable bucket (for two people) includes basic ingredients like napa cabbage, mushrooms, tomatoes, loofah, pumpkin, bok choy, and baby corn, plus incredibly sweet corn that was so delicious I wanted another serving right away.

It’s recommended to start by adding the vegetables to the pot first—this helps bring out the natural aroma of the broth. Plus, when vegetables are cooked in the rich stock, they taste great even without dipping sauce. Just this simple double-flavor hot pot is not only healthy but also gives you peace of mind. The broth alone shows how much care went into it.

Next came the seafood platter, which was another delightful surprise. It included: fresh shrimp, large scallops, squid paste, squid, clams, and big oysters—absolutely generous. As someone who loves seafood, Pingzi couldn’t resist the temptation. The quality of the ingredients truly justified the price, and just seeing them on the table made it clear these were top-notch seafood.

The golden crab arrived next—it’s Canadian golden crab. By this time, it was already toward the end of the golden crab season, so if you want to try it, it’s best to go early. Due to seasonal availability, it’ll become even rarer soon, making it quite precious. They even provided scissors on the side, which was very thoughtful.

The golden crab was very plump and cleaned thoroughly before serving, so there was no worry about dirtying the broth or turning it black and murky.

When the golden crab was served, the staff kindly reminded us not to leave it sitting out too long and to put it in the pot early to enjoy the freshest crab meat. They also suggested that the golden crab pairs best with the plain vegetable broth, as the vegetables help enhance the crab’s natural “freshness.” Avoid putting it in the pork bone & seafood broth, since that already has a strong pork and seafood flavor that could overpower the delicate taste and freshness of the crab meat, masking its unique layers.

After putting the golden crab in the pot, it didn’t take long for it to cook. Within minutes, the crab meat was incredibly sweet and tender, absorbing the broth’s flavors with a naturally rich aroma. It was absolutely delicious. Pingzi’s family loved the golden crab too and couldn’t stop praising it.

The fish was presented in a way that breaks from the usual—it was rolled into the shape of a beautiful rose, which was very charming. The portion was generous, and the fish tasted amazing, with high-quality flesh.

The scallops were huge—so big it was almost comical. Each scallop was about one-third the size of a NT$100 bill, plump and super fresh.

The shrimp were also exceptional. The quality was top-notch; after cooking, the shells came off cleanly, separating easily from the meat, which was delicious.

Every type of seafood was incredibly satisfying—not just polite words, but genuinely recommended. You get what you pay for, and their commitment to “sourcing from origin, seasonal availability, and wild catch” makes their ingredients stand apart from the ordinary, giving them a distinct edge over other seafood suppliers.

For meat, the selection includes either beef brisket (as shown on the left) or Kurobuta pork (as shown on the right), with generous portions.

Kurobuta pork (as shown above): Just looking at the meat, the color and marbling are clear, with a nice red-and-white contrast and some fat streaks. Visually, it’s already very appealing.

After placing the Kurobuta pork in the pot and swishing it for 30 seconds, it was ready.

The Kurobuta pork had a delicate texture with some fat marbling, offering a clear layering of flavors. The meat was excellent and delicious.

The beef brisket (as shown above) was long and strip-shaped, staying intact as one big piece.

After just under a minute in the pot, it was cooked.

The beef brisket was just as good—you could taste the natural tenderness of the beef. A must-try for beef lovers.

Seafood rice and Sanuki udon (as shown above): The seafood rice is made in-house using various seafood, scallops, squid, mushrooms, shrimp, and more, all simmered with raw rice. It was incredibly delicious—the grains were separate and fluffy, and while it looked a bit like oily rice, this seafood rice was even more fragrant and full of ocean flavor.

The Sanuki udon, after being cooked in the pork bone & seafood broth, absorbed the rich flavors. It was very aromatic, and the noodles were delightfully chewy. No extra sauce was needed—it was delicious just as it was.

For drinks, Pingzi chose Feixiang Tea—Mango Green Tea and Lemon Black Tea. These sweet-and-sour beverages paired perfectly with the seafood and tea, delighting the taste buds.

After seeing Pingzi’s introduction to this Little Chef Seafood Hot Pot Minsheng branch and its refined, high-end double-flavor seafood hot pot, don’t you think it’s an incredible value? The abundance and freshness of the ingredients alone are enough to build anticipation. The overall hot pot experience is simply delicious beyond words. You truly get what you pay for—the value is unmatched. If you’re a seafood lover like Pingzi, especially for lobster and golden crab, and you care about fresh, direct-from-origin ingredients with discerning taste, after just one visit here, you’ll never forget it. You’ll keep coming back for more of this amazing food. When you think of hot pot, you’ll think of Little Chef Seafood Hot Pot.

Little Chef Seafood Hot Pot Minsheng Branch.
Official Website、FB
Phone: 02 2715 0850.
Business hours: 11:30 AM to 10:00 PM.
Address: No. 1, Lane 1, Alley 56, Section 4, Minsheng East Road, Songshan District, Taipei City.
Taipei Arena MRT Station, a 11-minute walk away.
Songshan Airport MRT Station, a 10-minute walk away.
Wi-Fi service is available.

upssmile Pingzi (up’s smile – Upward Smile)!
She is a designer and also the photographer for Upward Smile Travel, Food, Design & Film.
Passionate about “travel,” “food,” “design,” “photography,” and film.