Have any OzBargainers got a few hacks to maximise a trip to a 'pay by the weight' hot pot restaurant? What ingredients are the best bang for buck?
For the uninitiated: https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/restaurants/where-to-eat-h…
'Pay by weight' Chinese hotpot (malatang) - tips and tricks?
Lbarrybarrybarry on 31/07/2019 - 23:22
Comments
Can you purge and make money?
Depends if it's seafood or veggies!
Let them enjoy a nice, filling meal…
I say: Hang (upwards) a Helium Balloon, connected to the scale's table.
I have been reliably advised that this technique can be detected (unless one uses "invisible" fishing line & balloon is ~at ceiling during weighing.
Seriously, find a place that doesn't sell-by-weight
(There are plenty in + around Adelaide, I'm told..)
LAKSA
If you want value for money - more meat , less veg.
And fresh meat only, none of that processed could-be-meat stuff. And no carbs - those will fill you up.
Eat less dense vegies, and get at least 50% meat.
For the stuff that are watery get rid of the water first. You are really paying $15/kg for tap water if you don't!
Also, choose light weight stuff over heavy stuff and don't get the cheap stuff. You are paying $15/kg for whatever you put in why why get something that is cheap and heavy?
Where can you get malatang for $15/kg?!??!
I normally get things like the rice cakes, tofu, beef, and also split with another person
I like to use slight upward pressure with my finger discreetly just underneath the scales tray.
I use significant upward pressure and the restaurant ends up paying me!
My suggestion is to only pick what you enjoy if eating alone. If more than yourself is eating, it should be a group decision
dont get noodles. Just get more meat.
Make sure to dry out the watery ones.
If you like variety, then make sure not to take too much of each kind.
Lot of meats, no veggies, a little bit of frozen meatballs, order it for take away, at home cook your own noodle (or any carbs you want) and veggies and put it in.
It always costs me less than $10 with this method.
^ do take away for the soup
have not found a pre-made which mimics close to the classic yang guo favourpick things you dont/wont have at home and would be unwilling to buy a full portion
ie napa cabbage
buying a full one to use yourself for this purpose only (where you would only 1 or 2 leaves) does not make financial sense
but of course if you buying it for other means and take a few leaves off for this then do not pick it at the storeie napa cabbage
heck no, napa cabbage weight so much, it's not worth it getting it from the restaurant. You can always buy the half size from the shop I'm sure.
i seldom see half cuts in my area, probably cause every just buys the full one
probably lamb/beef slices would be a better example
normal people wont eat a whole tray of meat per serving
though, most places just use frozen meat. so if at home…you could just pop unfinished back into the freezer
assuming you have space in freezer for random frozen meats
Might as well just buy everything from the grocery and cook it at home.
Might as well just buy everything from the grocery and cook it at home.
Obviously you can do that, there are many packaged paste out there for the soup base.
But as many are aware here, it's so hard to recreate the taste of the soup you got from the restaurant. The soup is the reason you eat malatang.
Also just FYI:
Chinese hotpot (malatang)
Hotpot in Chinese is "huoguo", literally "fire pot". "Malatang" translates to "spicy (ma) spicy (la) soup (tang)". The two spicy's are for the two different types of spiciness.
ma would be numbing
Yeah, but in this context, it's the numbing kind of spiciness.
So maybe put that instead of just 'spicy', because ma is numbing
just call it poor man's hot pot.
@HighAndDry is right.
Ahhh, beat me to it
If you have good appetite, I'd suggest to go for Buffet, or eat-all-you-can, or Banquet.
To me, Pay-by-weight tends to be more expensive and I find that's too much hardwork.What's the quality of the veg like? E.g. exotic mushrooms such as shiitake? Do they have them, and if so are they from China?
usually the bowl u put the stuff in still has water, shake that off
vermicelli noodles usually comes in a bunch and weigh less than the other noodles
Eat less and the bill will be less!