Affordable Hotpot in Taichung Boiled with Traditional Chinese Medicine, Featuring Unlimited "Spicy Duck Blood"

Text & Photos /Mika

As someone from the coastal area, when I get a sudden craving for hotpot, where do you usually go? Personally, I used to frequent this one on Wenwu Road in Dajia.Dahan Fengqing Mongolian Grassland Hotpot. But ever since they closed their Dajia branch, and unless I go all the way to their Daya branch, I was totally devastated!! I had to find a new spot to satisfy my hotpot cravings. A friend recommended Er Guo Zhai Iron Pot Canteen. While its broth isn’t quite on par with the Mongolian-style one, it’s still rich, aromatic, and full of flavor—it’s made by simmering Chinese herbs and real ingredients, unlike the instant hotpot broths you find in most places. Just for that reason, I had to give it a try. I found their self-service offerings—drinks, ice cream, mung bean soup, and especially the unlimited spicy duck blood—very satisfying. The portions are generous, even the seafood and meat are served in big portions. The taste is pretty standard, but the value is great.

This place is also on Wenwu Road in Dajia. It’s been around for a few years, I think, but this was actually my first time visiting.

The place is really spacious and can accommodate dozens of people, and the decor is quite thoughtfully done.

Especially these umbrella-style lanterns with a strong Chinese aesthetic

The hotpot base also has a Mongolian-style flavor

Self-service area

President Ice Cream

There are six flavors alone, and each tub is pretty full—you can scoop as much as you want, which is really generous.

Traditional-brewed dark plum juice

This is great for cooling down the spiciness, so whenever I order spicy hotpot, I always drink dark plum juice or soy milk to balance it out. Not every hotpot place offers this, by the way. The best part is that it actually tastes good—it’s that old-school style of dark plum juice, sweet and fragrant.

They also have two types of Nestlé tea drinks—one lemon C flavor and another lemon black tea

Why not offer unsweetened green tea? Or maybe oolong green tea? Any unsweetened kind would be great. I’m the type who doesn’t really like drinking regular beverages with hotpot—I prefer unsweetened tea, but hotpot places never seem to consider us girls who are watching our weight XD

You can help yourself to premium broth, toothpicks, mung bean soup, and spicy duck blood

The fact that spicy duck blood is offered as an unlimited self-service item is really generous

Sauce station

They also have craft fruit vinegar, which feels quite healthy.

There are really a lot of choices—the à la carte options are quite diverse, and the prices aren’t expensive either.

I’m the lazy type who doesn’t like to think too much, so I prefer ordering set meals—they’re already prepared, which saves so much trouble, right? Er Guo Zhai also offers vegetarian sets, and you can even switch the broth type—for an extra 50 NT, you can choose from medicinal, kimchi, spicy, or miso broth.

Sliced Wagyu Beef Set – NT$320

My friend ordered the original broth—it didn’t look like much, but it was surprisingly flavorful.

The vegetable platter is pretty standard, but colorful with a five-elements concept.

After cooking the ingredients together, the broth becomes richer, saltier, sweeter, and more aromatic.

Cooking it with instant noodles makes it even better

The sliced Wagyu beef is also thick and generously portioned. Considering the self-service bar, the side dishes, the soup, and this plate of Wagyu beef, NT$320 is actually a pretty good deal.

Shrimp Combo Hotpot (Shrimp + Pork) – NT$330, Spicy Broth Additional NT$50

I just can't get enough of spicy food—I always go for the spicy broth when having hot pot, which is why I love Mongolian Prairie Hot Pot so much. Its spicy broth is rich, aromatic, and full of flavor. The spicy broth at Er Guo Zhai isn’t particularly fragrant, but it’s still quite flavorful and honestly super spicy. Still, it tastes pretty good.

This time, I didn’t scoop out the spicy oil from the top. I just threw all the ingredients straight into the pot to cook together. In the past, I used to skim off the oil not because I couldn’t handle the spice, but because I was worried about consuming too much oil—after all, spicy hot pot is insanely high in calories, ugh!!!

Ordering the spicy broth also comes with a plate of crispy fried dough sticks—crispy, delicious, and absolutely spot-on.

Spicy hot pot just begs to be paired with instant noodles (Prince Noodles)! But after this meal, my calorie intake is definitely going through the roof...

Pork slices

Personally, I think the meat platter at Er Guo Zhai is quite generous—the slices are thick, look fresh, and are very appealing.

Shrimp platter

The server did mention in advance that there were no live shrimp available today, only frozen ones, and confirmed with me before taking the order—which I really appreciated. It’s great to have honest communication... But actually, the frozen shrimp were still pretty fresh, the texture remained springy, and the overall quality wasn’t bad at all.

A shrimp combo hot pot like this is only 330 NT dollars, which is actually not expensive. I personally think the cost-performance ratio is pretty high. Not sure what others think, but I found it super filling, with generous portions. Aside from the broth being just okay for me, everything else was pretty solid. Recommended for everyone to check out—if you know of even better hot pot spots along the coast, feel free to recommend them to me. Excluding DIY hot pot kits and all-you-can-eat hot pot, thanks XD.

Er Guo Zhai
Address: No. 160, Wenwu Road, Dajia District, Taichung City
Phone: 04-26889518

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