Red bowl's chic hotpot

Restaurant combines Western bar culture and Chinese hotpot to distinguish itself from the pack

About 1,500 years ago, Mongol horsemen, cooking over campfires, seared meat in their shields and simmered soup in their upturned helmets. This primitive cooking would eventually become one of China's signature dishes-hotpot.

Eating hotpot is a wonderful ritual of selecting morsels of raw food, placing them in boiling broth, waiting, fishing them out of the pot, dipping them into sauce and finally put them into your mouth.

But there is much more to hotpot than meets the mouth or the eye. An ingredient that is just as important is the cheerful air that comes with good company, lively chatter and possibly a hint of fashion and style.

There are many regional variations of hotpot throughout China, with many kinds of broth and, of course, myriad kinds of food that go into it, but few could match Red Bowl in style. This place is not so much a run-of-the-mill hotpot joint as a hotpot bar buzzing with life.

It opened little more than a month ago, but it already has a wide following, thanks in great part to its sheer style. The minute we entered Red Bowl, it was obvious we were in for something special. Food is served in chic and sleek surroundings that mix both raw and refined: exposed brick walls, recycled timber and stylish street art blend with speakeasy-lighting and splashes of bright colors.

The raw building materials, most of which were reclaimed from demolished houses and construction sites, are accented with moody lighting, red lacquer tableware, brass hot pots and bold contemporary art.

Throughout, the sophisticated decor blends rustic with chic.

In fact, this visual feast manages to do something I had never seen before: presenting a one-of-a-kind restaurant that connects Western bar culture with Chinese hotpot.

In pride of place near the entry bar, lines of seasonal ale are custom-brewed in 10 kg kegs. The spirit of sharing in hotpot extends to four-liter draft beer towers, a great complement to the rich hotpot vibe in the air.

"This is a nice place for foreigners who have never had hotpot in China," a diner from the US said. "They will be smitten."

Individual drop-ins can start with the ale, creative cocktails, sake or wine at the bar, before rubbing elbows with fellow hotpot aficionados at a hotpot counter with individual burners.

Four or more can dine at tables with a communal pot; larger groups can take over private rooms named ma (numbing) and re (hot) with multiple communal pots.

We opted for the traditional Chinese way of sharing, sitting around and using a communal pot so we had much more room to mix and talk.

But there was a much tougher decision to make - choosing a flavored broth out of yuanyang, spicy Sichuan, seafood congee, tomato and potato, Beijing traditional and wild mushroom. We plumped for yuanyang combo stock, half spicy and half wild mushroom stock.

I was greedy with the dipping sauces as well, choosing two: sesame paste and sesame oil with garlic. The two other options - dry chili sauce, and the seafood sauce both also sounded inviting, but really I was too busy to try the mall.

Now the real fun started, selecting from an extensive menu of ingredients to cook in our pots.

Meat lovers are spoilt for choice at Red Bowl, with a list including Japanese kobe beef sirloin, hand-cut beef shank and exotic meats such as Inner Mongolian sheep rib and hand-cut lamb leg.

Offal is a must have in any hotpot meal, and Red Bowl is no exception. The restaurant that belongs to the luxury hotel Rosewood Beijing, says it adheres to the program called "Partners in Provenance", which means selecting poultry and produce fresh from local and indigenous farms.

Duck kidney and blood jelly are absolutely fresh. After being scalded in the broth, the duck kidney takes on a unique crunchy texture; and the blood curd gives a waxy texture with a mellow aroma.

If you have never had beef bone marrow, an adventure awaits you. Red Bowl's beef bone marrow (48 yuan) may look unsightly raw, but pulled from the pot it is delicious, with a light aromatic and buttery taste.

Handmade beef tendon balls (48 yuan), and cuttlefish balls (78 yuan), contain generous helpings of meat, and little starch seems to have been added. The feel may be less springy and bouncy than with factory-produced tendon balls, but they taste great. One tip for hotpot novices: You know the balls are almost done once they start floating in the hotpot.

An extensive list of fresh vegetables includes enoki and matsutake mushrooms, organic sweet corn, spinach and lotus root.

One other surprise at Red Bowl is its dumplings, which I have not had in hotpot before. They require more attention in cooking because their wrappings are apt to break, leaving the fillings floating in the soup.

We are impressed by Red Bowl's wide selection of drinks that few other hotpot restaurants provide. A selection of Chinese baijiu, such as Moutai, and Japanese sake and shochu, and an extensive list of fine Old World and New World wines are offered.

I sip two Beijing-inspired cocktails: Red Bowl G&T made with tanqueray gin, tonic, goji, lemon and star anise, and a mixed Hutong Daiquiri, comprising plantation three-star rum, strawberry, Sichuan peppercorn, lemon and kaffir lime, a fruity and sweet drink.

The lychee soda-large whole pitted lychees infused in soda with lychee juice - is a great non-alcoholic treat.

Often in hotpot restaurants, cold starters are far from a highlight, but here there is at least one delight: poached black chicken with sour chili sauce (48 yuan). It consists of deboned silky black chicken strips on the surface, which are extremely tender and scrumptious, with flavorful konjac knots beneath in sour chili sauce.

In Red Bowl's opening season there are themed promotions every day. Turn up on Friday for free flow of house cocktails 7-9 pm; or come on Wednesday after 8pm and get 30 percent off your bill; or take unlimited items from the appetizer table free on Sunday.

You will find this is an eclectic hotpot restaurant, combining the flavors of traditional Chinese hotpot and innovative contemporary bar culture.

dongfangyu@chinadaily.com.cn