Brunch with hot pot? Taichung hot pot spot offers unlimited Starbucks coffee!

Text & photos byOrange Dog Loves Sweets

Brunch has been popular for years and remains a top holiday meal choice. Weekends see every brunch spot packed to the brim. But no matter how you have your brunch, it usually revolves around bread, steak meals, and light coffee fare—with few options if you want to feel more full or satisfied. But right across from Chaoma Lin Hotel, 【Yueshangyin Hotpot Cuisine】 goes all out with an all-you-can-eat brunch hot pot combo plus unlimited Starbucks coffee. We’ve been waiting for a brunch this satisfying!

After the ban on wagyu was lifted, they immediately introduced A5-grade Japanese Miyazaki beef—now you can enjoy premium wagyu in Taiwan without leaving the country. And I also really like their first branch, ‘Aimux Hotpot’. So of course I had to check out this more spacious new location!

This 【Yueshang

The overall exterior features a deep black tone with a texture, combining iron elements with wooden accents to enhance the spacious and comfortable feel. The seating isn't cramped to maximize table turnover; instead, it's designed for a relaxed and stress-free hot pot experience.

The daytime atmosphere is quite different from the evening. Since I visited at night, the entire indoor space is illuminated with vibrant blue lighting, adding a fashionable ambiance. Options include shared hot pots for multiple people or individual pots, as well as private rooms designed for groups.

The overall decor layout is completely different from the original Ai Mu Hot Pot, but I personally feel the food quality has been well maintained.

Briefly touching on the MENU, Yueshangyin’s ordering system is mainly based on set meals for two, three, or four people. The cheapest is the 1188 RMB seafood and meat hot pot set for two, while the most expensive is the 2788 RMB seafood and meat set for five. In addition, there are à la carte options. I especially love their variety of seafood and meat ingredients because the owner is truly dedicated and particular about hot pot ingredients.

They source as many direct-from-origin or premium ingredients as possible to include on the menu, whether from within the country or Japan—such as Penghu squid paste, Hokkaido crab roe tofu, and Hokkaido raw scallops. It’s completely different from your average hot pot restaurant.

The cheapest hot pot option is probably the 168 RMB hot pot brunch, offering a choice among beef, chicken, pork, and fish—quite a good deal.

Of course, if you’re someone like me who often eats alone (tearful), there are also specially designed single-person hot pots.

There’s also a somewhat unique ‘private room menu,’ entirely tailored by the number of guests. Starting at 666 RMB per person, the group hot pot includes the same high-ceiling seating area, large tables, and individual pots—but the ingredient quality remains just as high. Today’s feature is the 【Yueshangyin Three-Person Set 1688 RMB】. I found the set to be quite generous, including a choice of seven meats (pick two), nine seafood options plus five noodle/rice choices (pick two), and a dessert. Plus, unlimited STARBUCKS coffee is included!

The “unlimited STARBUCKS coffee” part doesn’t mean you can directly order Starbucks coffee and drink it endlessly—it uses Starbucks coffee beans, but guests don’t have to start from grinding the beans themselves. The shop has a coffee machine.

Just press a button and easily order; enjoy authentic Starbucks coffee just like at the original store, and drink to your heart’s content!

【1688 Three-Person Set │ Plum Juice │ Complimentary】
It’s delicious, sour, rich, and refreshing, but it’s served before the meal. After drinking the sour one, it kind of overstimulates my appetite XD

【À La Carte │ Tsukiji Direct Uni Tofu │ 288 RMB】
It’s not cheap, but it’s Yueshangyin’s new signature dish. Previously, the crab roe tofu I had at Ai Mu was already quite impressive, and this uni tofu also has a strong uni flavor blended in. I really love both of these dishes!

【1688 Three-Person Set │ Stone Pot Broth Base │ Choose One from Five Broth Bases】
Choosing this follows the traditional stone pot hot pot method. When the pot arrives, staff help stir-fry the base first. Here, they use white sesame, white sesame oil, and diced onions to stir-fry until fragrant, then add kombu dashi to bring it to a boil. The aroma during that process already made me really hungry. The resulting golden broth is very clear. You definitely don’t have to worry about Yueshangyin using broth powder—the taste is delicious and food safety is assured.

【1688 Three-Person Set │ Mixed Vegetable Platter │ Ten Ingredients】
Includes cabbage, zucchini, sweet corn, Xinshe dried shiitake mushrooms, Wufeng enoki mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, pressed tofu, etc. Among them, the more unique items are milk corn and Japanese takoyaki balls—you rarely see typical hot pot ingredients here.

The dried shiitake mushrooms also have a naturally richer aroma. The boss cares even more than the customers about making sure it’s not just tasty but also healthy, using almost all natural ingredients, and insisting on the best quality. Each ingredient is portioned for the number of diners.

【1688 Three-Person Set │ PRIME American Snowflake Beef │ Choose Two from Five Meats】
Compared to Australian beef, I actually prefer American beef more—the texture is just a bit different. Large slices with a moderate thickness are a feature of Yueshangyin. The marbling ratio is also quite good. The stone pot option I chose today doesn’t have an overly heavy flavor.

The beef retains a naturally sweet and tender taste when blanched. Among the two-meat choices, you can pick two types of beef—their beef quality is really excellent!

【1688 Three-Person Set │ A5 Japanese Miyazaki Beef │ Add-On Option from the Five Meat Choices】
This year in the second half, 'Japanese wagyu' has become the hottest new ingredient in yakiniku and hot pot restaurants. Although many places have started offering it, not every restaurant has it. Yueshangyin directly offers A5-grade wagyu. Just looking at the dense marbling and the tender pink color of the meat is already amazing, and each slice is cut as thick as a face. In the past, I had to go to Japan to enjoy it, but I never expected it to be available in Taiwan too.

They even go straight for A5. The à la carte price in-store is 999 NT, but if you order a set meal, you can upgrade the meat for an additional 700 NT. For example, this set meal allows you to choose two types of meat—one is the PRIME beef mentioned earlier, and the other is upgraded to Miyazaki beef. Then it’s a bit more delicate than I imagined XD. When left at room temperature for more than five minutes, the edge fat starts to melt. If you don’t want it to be too greasy, you can simmer it a bit longer, but personally, I’d recommend about three to four seconds.

The moment it enters your mouth, it’s truly ‘a second trip to Japan.’ The fat melts completely, and the lean part is so tender it feels like it melts away with just a light bite. The rich aroma fills your entire mouth. I couldn’t bear to dip it in sauce—it felt like experiencing the pure essence of top-tier Japanese wagyu.

[1688 Three-Person Set │ Assorted Seafood Platter │ Direct from Origin]
It includes fresh clams, squid rolls, Penghu seaweed shrimp balls, Penghu squid paste, Penghu shrimp paste, French blue shrimp, Hokkaido fresh scallops, Donggang dragon-tiger grouper slices, and more—not just the usual common seafood.

In the seafood platter, only the squid paste and shrimp paste are served separately. The portions may look a bit refined, but the quality is impeccable. The absolute standout is the ‘French blue shrimp.’ I first tried it at Aimu, and even raw, these blue shrimp are incredibly delicious. Once you’ve tried them, you won’t forget the experience—the sweetness is extraordinary, and the shrimp meat is crispy, sweet, juicy, and simply astonishing.

The ‘Penghu seaweed shrimp balls’ were a first for me. You can see bits of shrimp meat and green-speckled seaweed inside. This one is pretty good too. The ‘Hokkaido fresh scallops’ are even more impressive—they’re air-freighted directly from Hokkaido and kept in a refrigerated fresh state. They have no fibrous texture at all, and chewing them gives a soft, sweet mouthfeel, plus they’re quite thick.

Finally, these ‘Penghu squid paste + Penghu shrimp paste’ are also must-try delights. Unlike regular squid pastes, the squid here doesn’t have a hard, crispy texture—it’s Q-tender like fresh squid. I really liked it after trying it at Aimu too.

[1688 Three-Person Set │ Pingtung Wanluan Rice Noodles + Taiwan No. 9 Rice]
The rice noodles are pretty good—not overly Q or bouncy, and they break easily XD, but I quite like the texture.

[1688 Three-Person Set │ Dessert - Red Bean Soup]
Even the final dessert is made with Taiwanese Wandan red beans. There are quite a few beans, with a plump yet soft texture, and the flavor isn’t overly sweet. It’s just right for after the meal.

[Japanese Hot Pot Ingredients Series │ Japanese Dumpling Assortment │ 298 NT]
Although I mentioned earlier that the Aimu vegetable platter doesn’t use hot pot ingredients, if you’re really passionate about hot pot ingredients, you can order these imported Japanese ones here. They include Hokkaido crab horns, scallion-grilled octopus, triangular vegetable tofu,

fried scallop tempura, and mentaiko cheese balls, among others. Unlike the usual Taiwanese hot pot ingredients like soup dumplings or fish dumplings, each variety has a unique flavor and texture—you can try these less common tastes.

The single-order iced lemon tea is delicious, full of fresh lemony sour-sweetness, and pairs perfectly with the seafood hot pot.

While writing this food review, I also roughly browsed some online reviews about Yueshangyin and compared them with my own experience from today. I think I can understand why some netizens have given criticism. To be honest, in terms of ingredient quality, from Aimu to Yueshangyin, it’s consistently high-end, premium-quality ingredients—Japanese wagyu, PRIME American beef, and various domestically and internationally sourced seafood, all outstanding. Moreover, the ingredients used in the dishes aren’t padded out with cheap bulk items or hot pot fillers. You can definitely taste the care put into it. So I still highly recommend giving it a try, though taste is ultimately subjective. Here’s a simple sharing of my thoughts with everyone.

[Yueshangyin Hot Pot Cuisine, Chaoma │ Xitun District]

Address: No. 116, Chaofu Road, Xitun District, Taichung City
Phone: 04-27029640
Business Hours: 8:30 AM – 11:00 PM
Consumption Reminder: The 168 brunch hot pot is only available before 11:00 AM. All other sets are available all day.

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