Hottest-level Chengdu mala hotpot with chili bomb: Lao Chongqing

Why I sought out Chongqing-style hotpot in Hwaseong

A must-eat spot recommended by a close coworker — Lao Chongqing Hotpot! I love hotpot and I'm a huge fan of spicy food, so when I heard this place served Chongqing-style hotpot, I really wanted to come!! I've had my eye on visiting Chongqing, China itself... apparently Chongqing is even spicier than Sichuan, which is famous for spicy food in China!! That's why I wanted to come to Lao Chongqing Hotpot in Hwaseong, which serves Chongqing-style hotpot — wish finally granted~

I came to Lao Chongqing Hotpot, the number one hotpot spot in Hwaseong. You can park at the Hwaseong Paragon underground parking lot. The entrance road was so narrow I nearly cried, but the parking lot itself was spacious so it's fine...

Even though I visited late on a weekday, the place was packed with customers!! They also have private rooms, so it looks perfect for all kinds of gatherings!!

Ordering via tablet, à la carte — ₩93,000 for two

You can order using the tablet PC set up at your table. Like at haadeulro, you pick broth + hotpot ingredients à la carte to suit your taste. Our picks were:

• Sauce bar ₩3,000 for 2
• Chengdu mala red broth, hottest level ₩14,000 (*Chengdu mala red broth is spicier than Chongqing mala red broth)
• Tomato broth ₩13,000
• Pork shoulder 400g (extra-large) ₩33,000
• Mixed vegetables 450g ₩13,900
• Enoki mushrooms 150g ₩3,500
• Shiitake mushrooms 50g ₩3,900
• Egg noodles ₩4,500
• Soju ₩5,500

So altogether our first round order came to ₩93,100 haha. The price is a bit steep, but the ingredient quality is there and above all it's delicious ... 6

Making Gunhui sauce at the sauce bar

We placed our order and headed off to make sauce—

There's a wide variety of sauce ingredients, and we decided to make the Gunhui sauce we'd tried before! < Insanely good

• Peanut sauce 1
• Chili sauce 2.5
• Garlic 0.5
• Chopped scallion 0.5
• Sesame seeds 1
• Peanut powder 1
• Chili powder 0.5
• Chili oil 1
• Sugar 0.3
• Beef sauce 0.5

Or you can follow Lao Chongqing Hotpot's own suggestions and make sesame sauce, garlic sauce, soy sauce, or sesame oil sauce! They kindly explain everything — Lao Chongqing Hotpot is the best

Whoa, there are even wasabi crackers at the self-serve bar. These are famous as a China shopping-list item, and they're seriously good!!

I loaded up on the sugared peanuts they'd already set out plus the corn salad from the self-serve bar — great as an appetizer while the hotpot broth comes to a boil

Milk tea (provided via promotion)

Add Lao Chongqing Hotpot's KakaoTalk channel and get one free milk tea! I'm someone who's really into milk tea these days

The hottest level of Chengdu mala red broth — not as spicy as expected?

Chengdu mala red broth / tomato broth

Supposedly spicier than Chongqing hotpot, the Chengdu mala red broth has beginner, intermediate, and hottest levels — we went with the hottest!!! But it wasn't as spicy as expected, so we later asked for it to be made even spicier** haha haha at this rate, could Chongqing hotpot really be eaten by people of all ages?

Pork shoulder 400g (extra-large)

The hotpot meat came out fresh, served over ice! Since we ordered the extra-large size, we got to eat plenty of meat along with the hotpot — so good..!

Egg noodles, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms

I ordered egg noodles because I figured they'd taste amazing in the tomato broth > conclusion: tomato broth with egg noodles is insanely good. And our beloved mushrooms haha haha the ingredients feel really fresh

Mixed vegetables

There was a duplicate shiitake mushroom in the mixed vegetables too lol we ate every bit of that as well lol. Plus bean sprouts, lotus root, bok choy, napa cabbage, and crown daisy! Usually hotpot places give you mung bean sprouts, so it was interesting to see bean sprouts instead. But it goes really well with the tomato broth... a genius move...

Let's demolish the first round of dishes we ordered. Yay, I'm so excited

Dropping these delicious fresh ingredients into the red broth and tomato broth

Extra fried tofu roll, beancurd skin

Oops — we hadn't ordered any tofu items, so we got the fried tofu roll ₩4,900 and beancurd skin ₩4,900. Beautiful color, as expected. Fresh. My partner, who's recently been obsessed with fried tofu rolls, ordered it again this time too hehe

Dipping meat and beancurd skin pulled from the red broth into Gunhui sauce ♥ insanely good, ugh. I've been all over eating hotpot at various places, and this one definitely has good reason to be famous and recommended!!!!

Rich tomato broth, chili bomb in the red broth

That sharp mala flavor mixed with spicy heat and each ingredient's own natural taste blending together — this hotpot flavor is truly great. How can you resist?! I personally really love tomato broth too, but Korean hotpot places' version of tomato broth tends to be way too bland... so the success rate isn't high, but Lao Chongqing Hotpot's tomato broth is genuinely rich and delicious. I kept spooning up the tomato broth on its own because it was so good;

Even at the hottest level, the Chengdu mala red broth wasn't spicy for us spice lovers...! We asked for it spicier and got a chili bomb lolololol adding that in made it finally feel properly sharp and spicy, and it was so good

Tomato broth + egg noodles combo

We made sure not to shortchange the tomato broth either. Try putting egg noodles into the tomato broth. You'll seriously experience a whole new world. I'm giving my partner, who thought of this combo, two hundred compliments. Once the noodles go in, the tomato broth gets even thicker and even more delicious.. and tomato broth + bean sprouts pair incredibly well too

Drinking the broth straight really hits the spot as a hangover cure. My partner didn't expect much from the tomato broth either but was raving about how delicious it was haha haha — truly premium hotpot feel, with high-quality fresh ingredients, rich flavor and aroma, plus a wide variety of ingredients — Lao Chongqing in Hwaseong was perfect ♥