The most heartwarming spicy hotpot restaurant ever—comes with massage chairs and manicure services, so you'll never get bored!

Text and photos by /Burnout Nurse

This time, friends planned to go out for a meal and wanted to eat at Haidilao, so we all agreed to meet on the 6th floor of ATT 4 FUN. While waiting for our table number, the staff kindly brought us tea and asked, “Would you like a cup of herbal tea?” and “There are snacks inside that you can enjoy.” Just the waiting experience was already impressive.

Arriving on the 6th floor of ATT 4 FUN—ah~ this is definitely what lunchtime looks like!

Earlier, we went to pick up our queue number, and the staff weren’t unfriendly at all—they kindly asked how many people were in our party. After getting the number, we just waited for our turn to be called. When we left, one of our friends who was waiting near the restroom was asked by the registration staff, “Did you get your number?” The overall service felt incredibly attentive—so thoughtful it was almost cheesy. We chatted and dined, and with service and flavors like this, it completely outshines Ding Wang.

While waiting at the entrance, someone came out with herbal tea and asked, “Miss, would you like a cup of herbal tea?” “There are also some small snacks you can enjoy!”

Nearby, there were massage chairs, manicure services (unfortunately, we couldn’t get a spot before leaving), a kids’ playroom, as well as fruits, desserts, and ice cream that you could help yourself to. It’s safe to say waiting here was far from boring.

Then the announcement called our number—“Have you been here before? Come on, I’ll show you to your seats.”

Want to see a face-changing performance? Later, there’s one starting at 1 PM over there.

But my stomach’s growling—let’s follow the staff to our seats first. For hotpot, you can of course choose your broth base, but Haidilao lets you have up to four different ones—that’s amazing!

Here, use this to put your phone in so it doesn’t get splashed with oil~

Sir, since you’re wearing glasses, here’s something to clean them with.

Also, we’ve prepared these little scarves for you to wear to prevent hot soup from splashing on your clothes.

Oh my god, oh my god—in just a short time during ordering, before the broth even arrived, the server had already introduced themselves and gone through every kind of greeting. Not to mention, once we sat down, they even gave us warm towels, which they changed once during the meal~

Such thoughtful care completely shocked the four of us, who were there for the first time—it was the cheesiest service ever, but at the same time, you didn’t feel fake or uncomfortable, just really, really attentive.

What would you like to drink? We have unlimited herbal tea and soy milk for 50 RMB per person. Sauce is also unlimited, also 50 RMB per person.

Huh—sauce costs money???

That’s probably the reaction most people would have, but hey, since we’re here, let’s give it a try (maybe it’s actually really good, we thought). Sure enough, the sauce area was lined up with offerings: congee, pumpkin congee (it was seriously wild that there was congee), fruits, cold side dishes, and a bunch of sauces that looked amazing. We mixed up a dipping sauce following the “Haidilao flavor dish” guide and took it back to our seats.

By then, the dishes had arrived. Look at this spread—we hadn’t ordered much, but just seeing it was already impressive~

“Would you like some soup?” Our server, Ah Hui, came by again. Sure—“Which one would you like?” How about tomato soup? “Go ahead and try it. Do you eat beef? Adding some beef mince makes it even better!” Sure—so Ah Hui quietly went off to get some beef mince.

With some scallions and beef mince added to the soup, that first sip was really delicious—my friends, who tried different broths, all agreed it was tasty. This kind of service, compared to just scooping a bit of soup to taste before putting meat in, adds so much more flavor.

Then came the refilling of broth—this “refill action” happened at least ten times, and not once did we have to ring the service bell. This little section was Ah Hui’s domain—he patrolled on his own and refilled on his own.

“Shall I cook the food for you?” Ah Hui came by again—what broth would you like? (Let’s do spicy and kelp.) This beef only needs to cook for a minute. Our beef is chewy even when cooked longer—it’s really delicious.

The red oil wontons arrived, so we dug in while they were hot. Our wontons are really tasty—sure enough, the flavor was perfectly balanced, and they were deliciously rich.

Thinking we’d just take our time eating, “Sir, let me cover your bag with a sleeve so it doesn’t get any smells on it.” In the blink of an eye, Ah Hui was back again.

“I’d like some soy milk,” I said. “Sure, coming right up~” Every time, it was “coming right up,” along with a friendly smile, which made me, also in the service industry, feel a bit ashamed. Next time a patient rings the bell, I’ll have to say, “Sure, coming right up~” (Colleague: Can you please stop ringing the bell? (%o°□°）%o? ┻━┻)

“Is it good?” Ah Hui asked as I took a sip. “Our soy milk is freshly ground every morning, with sesame and peanuts added. Half of it is turned into tofu, and the other half is served to guests.” It was really delicious—the 50 RMB all-you-can-drink handmade soy milk is really a great deal~

Speaking of Haidilao’s dipping sauces, when paired with the spicy broth, it unexpectedly had an amazing kick. I didn’t expect it to be this spicy—meatball (a friend) dipped way too much and ended up coughing from the heat. After finishing the soy milk, “Excuse me, I’d like some herbal tea.” “Sure, no problem, coming right up~” Ah, it’s really nice having Ah Hui hovering around the table like this.

Shall I prepare the shrimp paste for you? We make the shrimp mixture ourselves—it’s really delicious. It’s done in about a minute once it floats to the top~

“We have a special dipping sauce. Come, try some.” Honestly, this shrimp paste is seriously so good~

It was quite fun watching others order noodles, so we ordered some too. The noodle dish comes with a performance—such great value~

“Let me serve you the noodles.” Not long after the noodles were cooked, Ah Hui appeared again. Seems like Ah Hui has been watching our every move like a ghostly presence. Anyway, it’s a good thing Ah Hui helped serve them—the chewy ramen was actually so slippery it was hard to pick up with chopsticks. Chewy, bouncy, and delicious, plus there’s a show—it’s really such great value~

Here comes the face-changing act！ Please step a little further forward to watch~ “This meal has been so busy.” Haha, eating this meal felt a bit hectic, with new surprises popping up from time to time. It was really a lot of fun~

After watching the face-changing, we got a bit hungry again. Let’s order some more food！ Along the way, Ah Hui asked if we wanted to join the membership, and then—now there’s a bowl on the iPad | Kang Na? To be continued...

When the duck blood was served, there was also a special dipping sauce. “This chili is stir-fried from the mainland, and it tastes a bit like the texture at the end of dessert noodles.” Huh~ There’s even a dipping sauce for duck blood. This place is seriously amazing！

Putting the duck blood into the spicy hotpot base. “No fishy taste, delicious, and it’s really yummy with this sauce！” As soon as it was fished out, we couldn’t wait to eat it. It was truly delicious, especially the dipping sauce, which was incredibly impressive.

The handmade tofu is really made by hand. After cooking, its firm texture paired with the shop’s special dipping sauce is truly memorable.

After the meal, just sit back, enjoy the mint candies served to you, and wait for the bill. It’s really an extremely thoughtful service.

Today we came to this so-called “meat-ma-style” service Hot Pot at Hai Di Lao, and only then did we truly understand what service means. In the past, people often compared it to Ding Wang, but after personally experiencing this place and the subsequent food safety incidents, it’s really beyond comparison. After eating at Hai Di Lao, you’ll want to come back a second time.

Hai Di Lao Hot Pot
Location: No. 12, Songshou Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City
Business hours: 11:00~04:00

We are the overworked nurses “Rice Ball” & “Bowl | Jun Bao?? Came to share with everyone a super satisfying meal and mood, as well as the local scenery, food culture, and delicacies of the area. It’s hard for friends who haven’t experienced it to imagine the feeling.
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