As a huge fan of Hai Di Lao 海底捞 hotpot and having spent a lot of time in Singapore (which has a far superior chain of HDL compared to the experience in the Chatswood store), these sauces are a must have for anyone having hotpot at home. Whilst I haven't tried the pre-packaged sauces, my experience dining at Hai Di Lao overseas has taught me the importance of a good sauce mix and at $1, this is a pretty good bargain. Expiry is 18 Dec 2019 on the original and spicy sauces I picked up today. There were quite a few more on clearance behind the ones I took (estimate around 15-20?) and this promotion price might be available at other stores however it isn't available online where it is still $2.20 https://shop.coles.com.au/a//product/hai-di-lao-dipping-sauc… .
[NSW] Hai Di Lao 海底捞 Dipping Sauce (Original and Spicy Flavour) $1 (Was $2.20/$1.50) @ Coles Pyrmont
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Just so you know you are not suppose to just dip in the base, it is rather for mix with other different sauces and spices. I’m sure the original base by itself taste very flat.
spicy one's ok. non-spicy taste crap.
Just to clarify are you both basing on absolute or relative terms? i.e. is it crap as a hotpot dipping sauce, or crap vs what you get in the restaurant when dining in?
I was so excited by this as it'll make my takeaway mala hotpot more like HDL!
Hai Di Lao? Fai Di La!
Extremely salty
Save 50 cents !!!!!!!!
33% off the previous price! Or more if you compare to $2.20… and I'm pretty sure when it launched in Australia it cost more but I have nothing beyond a faint recollection of seeing it in Coles many months ago when they first launched the HDL brand.
50c at Epping. Maybe 20 left.
Is this for the soup base of the hotpot not for dip?
This is to dip after cooking food in the hotpot broth.
Also I'm confused the comment at top says it's a base.
So is this a dipping sauce or a base for the broth/soup?
Og haidilao is chinese not Singaporean
Oops. I phrased my post poorly and have tweaked it to be factually correct. I meant to say I enjoyed eating it overseas when I travelled and i spent a lot of time in Singapore. Corrected.
MSG sauce.
Free MSG.
I quite enjoyed Hai di Lao in Chatswood. The overseas one must be amazing.
You wouldn't believe it.
Food quality, service, etc.
Damn, now I'm hungry. What would be the biggest difference, would you say?
Argh why must you do this to me.
I’d say flavour. There was something about the strength of the broth or the flavour of the meat which changed when they brought it here. It felt weaker or less substantial. Not sure if it’s the recipe or ingredients which differ.
Beyond that I’d say the menu choices, the service, the pre meal and post meal experience, also come to mind. For example there were free manicures for customers whilst waiting. There was also a large range of snacks like popcorn, fruit, biscuits and herbal tea whilst waiting (sometimes the wait was hours long despite being open 24/7), and dessert was unlimited ice cream. Staff would constantly watch and tend to your needs like a cloth cover for your bag, phone pouches to keep your phone clean (essentially a zip lock bag), pour you extra soup and tea, serve the hotpot, clear the oil floating on top of the broth, provides glasses cleaners, regular hot towels to keep hands clean, new bowls when they saw you needed one (or earlier!), etc. the service was very very friendly (and not typical for an Asian restaurant).
Minor points yes, but part of the package. There were birthday celebrations and gifts (I got an HDL pen and photo frame plus a song where four staff got a light up sign and a ukulele out and sang to me), and when you order hand made noodles, they bring it out to you and throw/stretch/air it in a dance with music in front of you. There was also a cool loyalty system where you earn points to get discounts as well as branded gifts eg a portable cooler.
Just to update this thread, I opened the spicy one and it was delicious. Went great with my takeaway Yang Guo Fu Mala Tang hotpot (my favourite hotpot takeaway in Sydney).
Do you take this into restaurant and dump it in?
No, I had takeaway hotpot, brought it home, and then ate it with steamed rice and dipping sauce.
I was stupid enough to check my stores in VIC they had none, damn me wanna taste.
I bought the original one the other week, and chucked it out after the first dip. It’s actually quite bad..