It was a cold windy day. What is better than a hot pot meal?

Ben brought me to a Dong Lai Shun Muslim Restaurant for dinner. Dong Lai Shun is one of Beijing’s oldest Hui, Chinese Muslim restaurants. It is a hot pot chain.

We waited for at least 30 minutes to get a table. It was full house. This is a popular restaurant; more so in cold nights.

The blueish porcelain hot pot vessel is the signature of this hot pot chain. Charcoal in the center of the pot heats the broth.

We ordered a combo for two for RMB298 (CAD$50). Condiments include pickled garlic and sesame sauce. Ben does not like sesame sauce to go with hot pot. He prefers to make his own sauce with soy sauce, raw chopped garlic and chili. Too bad there is only one sauce available.

Some of the items for the combo are vegetables, artificial crab sticks, tofu, vermicelli and wood ears.

Some fatty sliced meats.

I remembered we had lamb and beef. Not sure which is which now.

The broth area for cooking the meat and vegetables is not big as the funnel for the red hot charcoal in the center took up a lot of space.

The combo also includes 2 lamb skewers.

Lastly, there were two raisin cup cakes and two sesame shaobing (which were quite dry) for dessert. It’s an ok meal.  I prefer Hai Di Lao Hot Pot. Checked off one place to try on my checklist.