The broth base is richly spicy yet full of flavor, and even after simmering, the beef retains its natural sweetness.

Text and photos byXiaohu’s Dream Food Blog

To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of “spicy hot pot,” and all-you-can-eat restaurants don’t usually appeal to me either. As a result, readers might notice I don’t write much about spicy hot pot or all-you-can-eat places—both are usually experiences I only agree to when friends invite me.

Although I’m not into spicy hot pot and rarely go for all-you-can-eat meals, I’ve often heard of 满堂红 (Mantanghong), which many even rank as the best quality all-you-can-eat spicy hot pot restaurant in Taipei. It was only thanks to my friend “Xiaobao” treating us that I finally got to try it out a year or two after it became popular.

We were too full and having too much fun chatting to remember to take a photo of the storefront… so let’s head straight to the second-floor dining area. The interior design adopts a slightly red imperial style, with comfortable sofas and a fairly spacious layout that feels very relaxing, and the service is also quite good.

The drinks are served in higher-cost glassware, and sodas, sparkling drinks, and even MeiriGuo fruit juices are all kept in the fridge for guests to help themselves.

The variety of seasonings on the condiment rack is dazzling—you’ll find almost anything you can think of or want, allowing guests to mix and match according to their own taste preferences.

For the post-meal ice cream, they use a dual-brand of Häagen-Dazs and Meiji, no wonder many people dig into the ice cream before even trying the hot pot...

In addition to the must-order signature spicy hot pot, we also chose the aloe vera health pot, where a large piece of cabbage sits at the bottom of the pot—quite eye-catching and unique.

The broth base of Mantanghong’s spicy hot pot is somewhat similar to what I tried before and enjoyed at 【Xiaohu’s Foodie Group】【Nanjing East Road Station Food】Ma Shen Zhao Dai. In terms of the ratio of numbness to spice, it emphasizes “spice,” and Mantanghong takes it even further—the chili oil is relatively heavier, more fragrant, more prominent, and noticeably spicier. Even the mild spice level was almost too much for us... The duck blood had a slightly crispy texture and didn’t absorb the broth as much, but this made it less excessively salty and spicy, and thus smoother on the palate.

There are over ten types of meat options for the hot pot, with beef alone coming in as many as five different grades and cuts. In addition, there’s plenty of pork, lamb, and chicken, along with a full range of seafood, meatballs, mushrooms, and seasonal vegetables.

Premium wagyu, premium ribeye, premium select short ribs, and beef short ribs—of course, we had to try a bit of each.

In addition, the graded beef and marbled beef had quite good color and fat marbling, sliced at varying thicknesses and sizes.

Among the pork and chicken options, you can also see Mantanghong’s high standards for “meat” quality, which is quite impressive for an all-you-can-eat place.

Because I’ve found myself less able to handle spicy food over the past year or two, I usually start with the plain broth and eat without dipping sauce, to first savor the inherent sweetness of the meat. The moment I took a bite of the beef short rib, I understood why Mantanghong does such brisk business—the selection and maintenance of the meat is key. While the beef short rib isn’t mind-blowingly amazing, it’s absolutely delicious, and in terms of fat render and sweetness, it’s quite high-quality for an all-you-can-eat setting.

Sometimes I don’t like using beef in spicy hot pot—it might be because my taste buds aren’t sensitive enough, and I always feel the numbness and spice overpower the natural sweetness of the beef. Second, as someone who increasingly can’t handle spicy food, I feel that “spice” and “oil” interfere with the pure joy of eating “beef.” But I found that even though Mantanghong’s spicy hot pot is very oily and spicy, it couldn’t stop me from continuously picking up more slices of beef...

Next, the premium ribeye was thick, tender, and melts in your mouth—the speed at which the fat renders, the sweetness, and the level of aging all made me smile with joy. I don’t remember how many plates of beef I ate that day, but it was definitely the most I’ve had in six months... Additionally, the pork and chicken were also pretty good in terms of texture and flavor. Just in terms of “meat,” Mantanghong really earns its red reputation.

For seafood, we only ordered snapper and clams, both of which were decent, but compared to the meat, their freshness was more average.

The dumplings were of mid-to-high quality, and the meatballs—especially the fried ones—were crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, with a solid texture and the best sweetness. They were the only non-meat item we asked for seconds (twice, actually).

There were also quite a few mushroom options, which were tasty and had a decent texture—at the very least, for an all-you-can-eat place, they didn’t disappoint.

Tendon, tripe, and intestines have always been my second-favorite choices (beef being the first, of course). The tendon and tripe were of decent quality, but the intestines were a bit too soft. Their selection and quality control could use some improvement.

Among the tofu options, the bean roll stood out as particularly delicious—especially after absorbing the broth, it had a nice balance of warmth and slipperiness, with sweet bean flavor meeting the spicy broth, making it very satisfying.

Toward the end, Xiaobao mysteriously told me that 满堂红 has a secret weapon. As he spoke, he cracked an egg into the spicy hot pot base, creating a uniquely delicious spicy soup dumpling. The semi-cooked yolk paired surprisingly well with the spicy broth =)

And finally, of course, we had to grab a few scoops of delicious Häagen-Dazs and Meiji ice cream to cleanse our spicy-fatigued palates. Truly, nothing beats “an ice ball after the hot pot, happiness like the heavens.”

【Mantanghong Premium Spicy Doubles Hot Pot (Taipei Songjiang Branch)】
Address: 2F, No. 185, Songjiang Rd., Zhongshan District, Taipei City
Phone: Reservation line: 02-25170889
Mantanghong Premium Spicy Doubles Hot Pot official website:http://www.mantanghung.com.tw/

Xiaohu's Dream-Eating Web
If "eating" is just about filling your stomach, then "food" would be far too boring～～