Today we were the the 7th and newest location of Haidilao in Brentwood Mall. There are now 7 locations all across Canada. Three in BC alone, with the first in Canada being the Richmond location.
The international brand is known for their hospitality and we would get the full experience of that today. Good explanations of offers, attentive service, and a phenomenal attention to detail. No glass was left half full, no empty plate loitered on the table, the broth in our pot never boiled down, and our spills were soon mopped up. The restaurant’s name translates to “happy now” and I can see why.
During our visit, we were in time for their “Be Duck” promotion, so took advantage of that. This is the name of a popular cartoon rubber duck, who made an appearance on the electronic iPad menu, and had his own merchandise line available with the restaurant.
Haidilao has three campaigns throughout the year, all of which with its own merchandise. This happens during the end of the year to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving, March 20th during their anniversary birthday party, and mid June for a new product collaboration. We were here for the latter.
Our meal started with a platter of fruit, but we never got to it as our ordered food came hot and heavy after it. That is to be expected considering how much of it was raw, to be cooked at the table.
We went with the Be Duck hot pot combo with a curated selection of protein, vegetables, appetizer, main dishes, drinks, and desserts to choose from. You can pick what you like from this and add on anything else from the regular menu.
This combo offers the exclusive four way broth pot, with your choice of broths to go within each separate compartment. However there are only four broths listed, with the fifth option being water.
The Spicy Soup Base With Sediment was spicy and refreshing with a clean, non-greasy finish. The Tomato Soup Base was my favourite, sweet and tangy, it had the most flavour that easily latched on to the cooked ingredients. The Mushroom Soup Base was rich in mushroom aroma with intense umami. And the Pork Bone Soup Base was light and savoury, serving as a nourishing, rich soup.
Our attendant/server scooped us each a bowl of the above tomato soup with bits of ground beef and chopped vegetable to start. This warmed and helped along our appetites.
Each broth had its own unique characteristics, and was delicious as soup. However, it was all inconsequential for cooking in, in the long run. As most of the flavour came from all the sauces I mixed together from the self serve sauce bar.
My go to is sesame paste, seeds, and oil; oyster sauce, minced garlic, and green onion. I am not shy to glob my meat and veggies into it, enjoying more sauce than either.
The unique protein options for the Be Duck menu included a Marbled Beef Volcano. Slices of beef over a mound of ice in display.
There was also slices of lamb, but this was flat on a regular plastic plate. For seafood there was a snakehead fish and black tiger shrimp combo platter.
Plus a piping bag of fish paste you use to squeeze fluid paste into boiling broth to form cooked balls. Our attendant made quick work of this with skilled chopsticks.
With a limited selection of vegetables and mushrooms we supplemented the enoki, fried bean curd roll, lettuce, and spinach with others in the regular menu.
We selected our favourites of seaweed and vermicelli knots, lotus root, winter melon, and bamboo shoots.
The Be Duck menu also includes spinach and pumpkin noodles to cook and fried rice that is already cooked. Other cooked items included calamari and cheese stuffed fried fish sticks. The latter made a great snack while waiting for the food to boil, or as a crispy textural break.
The colourful and gradient Starry Night Sparkler was a great drink to balance out all the sauces and spices with. A refreshing and fruity sparking soda.
For dessert there were two picturesque mousses. A Sakura shaped Mousse in strawberry and a Matcha Red Bean Mousse shaped like a Zongzi. Both, a light a creamy way to end our rich and salty meal.
And best of all the Be Duck combo comes with toys you can either purchase, add on, or redeem for points.
This includes a rubber duck, a squeezy duck stress relief toy, bubbly duck stickers, a duck water gun, and a mini duck tote bag with plastic protruding beak. Each like the toy included with your happy meal, a nice reminder of your time with the restaurant and each made of great quality.
I have heard and seen online that a meal with Haidilao includes entertainment, but never caught a show. Today I got go see their legendary mask swapping performance. A performer in costume dances in between tables and customers, seamlessly swapping colourful masks to music. Equal parts comedy and magic.
The other performance you have to order and pay for, but you get to eat it at the end. A dancer dressed in red equipped with his own music comes around with noodle dough that he hand pulls before you. He spins and dances with it like ribbon. Highly energetic and entertaining, he certainly pandered to our cameras.
And in the end we got to choose which soup broth the noodle will go into, to be boiled and later eaten. I enjoyed the texture of the over twisted dough and would want to order this each time I visit for the show and the results.
In short, we had a great time at Haidilao. The full experience is more than just food. Between food, service and the shows you won’t be disappointed.
Haidilao Hot Pot Brentwood
2nd Floor, 4580 Brentwood Blvd #2220, Burnaby, BC V5C 0K3
(604) 565-8808
haidilao-inc.com/ca
