Review: Hong Kong Fat Tu

Hot pot restaurants in Shanghai are a dime a dozen. The trick to standing apart is the quality of the soup stock. The tasteful Hong Kong Fat Tu requires a fistful of red notes, but in return delivers a superior base and luxury ingredients including live lobster and abalone. Their signature satay soup (RMB58) is a sultry rich cacophony of peanuts and spice. We spent the next hour dunking and consuming an all-star line up of raw ingredients to find exactly the right mix.

Our recommendation? Take marble beef (RMB68-158), fresh squid (RMB32), home-made mixed wontons (RMB48), egg noodles (RMB15), Japanese tofu (RMB12) and spinach (RMB18), swirl it all around and slurp up the bubbling goodness.