We’ve got sushi and cheese trains, but Divine Hotpot’s track boasts 50 trays of ingredients ready for DIY dipping.
Do you like food delivery? Not the type where someone comes to your door with a bag. The better sort, when you’re in a restaurant and a conveyor belt brings you edible delights. We’re used to sushi trains, and there’s even Splatters cheese train in Geelong and West Melbourne, but hot pot trains are surely the best way to choo-choo-choose-your-own-adventure when dining.
Divine Hotpot in Footscray (there’s also a CBD branch in Bourke Street’s Midtown Plaza) seats 30 people around a tight U-shaped track that holds about 50 covered trays of ingredients. You select a soup base, then use tongs to pluck vegetables and meaty morsels from the parade for DIY cooking.
“Diners are given 90 minutes to have their fill. Well done if you can string it out that long.”
Unlike communal hot pot restaurants, where your table uses (and loses items in) the same pot, everyone at Divine has a personal cauldron. You dunk your bits, cook them as desired, eat, then repeat the process until you’ve had enough.
What might you nosh on? Everything … Translucent beef, pork or lamb slices, prawns and pipis, corn on the cob, bok choy and spinach, mushrooms and fungus, different textures of noodles, soy cakes and tofu sheets, dumplings, Spam and cheese-stuffed sausages.
Everything is fresh, pert and decent; you’re not going to get the best beef of your life, but the offering more than matches the investment, and vegans and vegetarians have plenty of choices, too.
The city is dotted with hot pot restaurants: there are lavish buffets, self-serve fridges, tick-a-box menus, and cuisines including Korean, Thai, Japanese and various parts of China.
Divine Hotpot is a very Melbourne version of the genre, with Thai-style tom yum base, Sichuan-peppery “spicy and hot” soup, and even a “plain” herbal broth among the eight options.
Going for a dual soup adds a few dollars to the bill but I think it’s worth it. Having one side of your pot spicy and the other mild is a nice way to mix and match flavours.
There’s also a condiment station where you create your own dipping sauce. There is no wrong combo, but I reckon a rich, creamy dipper is a nice counterpoint to the clear broths, so I muddle sesame paste, black vinegar, garlic and coriander.
This help-yourself depot also has seaweed, tofu and mushroom salad entrees to nibble along the way.
This is an all-you-can-eat scenario, with diners given 90 minutes to have their fill (lunch: $35-$39; dinner: $42-$47). Well done if you can string it out that long. I tried to be measured and was done in about 20 minutes.
Given the style of dining, there’s not much in the way of service, but there are hands on deck for advice and trays go via the kitchen on every loop so they are tidied, replenished and swapped out frequently.
Divine Hotpot isn’t quite a ticket to food heaven but it’s a fun, engaging and joyfully customisable meal.
Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.
