Yilan’s Popular Bear-Themed Family Restaurant Specializes in High-End Wagyu Hot Pot

Text & Photos /Purple Smile

Xiong Bao Hot Pot is a truly unique eatery. Many people assume it’s a family-friendly restaurant, but it’s actually a full-fledged high-end hot pot spot!! Let’s just say, in Yilan, places where you can enjoy premium wagyu, top-tier seafood, and Iberico pork~~among other high-quality ingredients—are few and far between, but you can find them here. Many are drawn in by its bear-themed playground, but it’s really just a restaurant that happens to have a family-friendly space. Foodies looking to try high-end ingredients will still find plenty to love here.

But honestly, it’s no wonder—it’s hard not to mistake this place for a kid's restaurant with those adorable bears around.

As soon as you walk in, you’ll see the bear playground near the entrance—many visitors are drawn in by these cute bears.

It’s seriously adorable. Taking photos here will definitely bring out your inner child.

The waiting area near the entrance.

Come on, let’s see who’s cuter—the bears or you.

The restaurant has a great sense of space. It may not look very big from the outside, but inside, there’s plenty of room to accommodate dozens of diners at once.

DIY sauce bar.

The area up front is purely decorative; the small section behind is the actual family corner.

Our little bagel couldn’t wait to eat once he saw this area—he rushed over as fast as he could, but since he was the only kid there that day, we were happy to enjoy our meal in peace.

Here, you order individual hot pots—one per person—and the pots aren’t huge, so everyone can customize their own meal.

Black tea

Start with an appetizing and tangy fruit vinegar drink~~

There are both high-end dishes and more affordable, quality options too.

The broth is the soul of any hot pot restaurant, and the ones here have quite the reputation.

We ordered two broths: a refreshing and tasty kelp-based one, and a rich, aromatic milk cheese broth.

Assorted vegetable platter for hot pot

The platter comes with a diverse and rich selection of ingredients!! How you pair them is almost an art—good pairings can really boost the visual appeal.

Mixed dumpling platter – 60

Handmade mixed paste – 150

The star of the wagyu marbling set menu: wagyu with marbleized fat. Just looking at the distribution of the white fat makes your mouth water—it’s truly a feast for the eyes.

The other set is a premium seafood and meat combo. For the meat, we chose Angus boneless short rib, and for the seafood, a combination of Argentinean angel shrimp, fresh oysters, squid, and clams.

Angel shrimp are a high-quality seafood choice, and paired with the tender squid, oysters—they’re all super fresh and juicy!!

Premium Angus boneless short rib—the quality of this meat is also excellent!!!

The fat marbling is just as mesmerizing.

The thickness and size of the meat slices are well-balanced—this really affects the texture. And with such high-quality slices, just a quick dip in the broth is enough. They’re best enjoyed when still pink and tender. We recommend trying the first slice plain to savor its natural flavor—trust us, even without sauce, the meat is incredibly delicious on its own.

Mushroom and Winter Bamboo Shoot Egg Dumplings 99

Japanese-style Beef Egg Dumplings 99

The egg dumplings here are very special, made to order, so I bet not many people have tried them like this. The freshly made ones have an incredibly tender texture—definitely better than the frozen ones. Whether it’s mushroom and winter bamboo shoot or Japanese-style beef, the flavors are top-notch.

Japanese Wagyu beef~~~If you’ve never tried Wagyu, you really should give it a go. We've had it raw, grilled, and lightly blanched. As long as the quality of the meat is good, you can enjoy the original umami flavor of the beef—it's truly a delight for the taste buds.

Angel Red Shrimp

Squid

The Angel Red Shrimp also has an amazing texture, fresh, juicy, and bouncy!!

In the freshly made mixed paste we had earlier, one of the varieties even had shrimp in it. The texture is soft yet springy—absolutely wonderful!!

While we were enjoying the meal, Xiao Beige suddenly pointed and said there were bears up there. Haha, turns out even the lampshade features the Bear Bao Hot Pot logo.

The side snacks are pretty average.

Full and happy, with great food and fun, these two siblings are overjoyed.

The meat quality at this restaurant is excellent!! If you want to try high-end ingredients and indulge in delicious food, you should definitely come here. Of course, premium ingredients cost more, but when you want to celebrate, this is a great place for a treat.

Bear Bao Hot Pot
Address: No. 435, Gongyuan Road, Yilan City, Yilan County (next to the Yilan Sports Park Track and Field Stadium)
Phone: 03-9251818
Business Hours: Tue–Fri 11:00–14:00, 17:00–22:00 / Sat–Sun 11:00–22:00 / Closed on Mondays

We are Ben & Jean, and we love food, travel, photography, and consumer electronics.
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