Panda Laozao Hot Pot is the original Shanghai Huangmen Laozao Hot Pot, which was changed to Panda Laozao Hot Pot after losing the brand lawsuit with Beijing Huangmen Hot Pot. After the name change, the popularity of Panda Laozao has not diminished, and even during non-dinner hours, there are many customers waiting at the door.
The secret red soup pot of the panda old stove is fried with a variety of spices such as kaempfera, star anise, grass fruit, cinnamon and butter, the fat is mellow and heavy, the color is slightly dark, and there are a variety of spice crumbs floating on the bottom surface of the pot. There are a total of 5 levels of spiciness to choose from, and the chef will add different amounts of dried chili peppers and peppercorns to the base of the pot according to the spiciness level chosen by the customer.
The red soup pot is made of butter, and the leaves should not be used in the pot to suck the butter, and if you want to taste the greens, you can have a chestnut chicken soup base with a mandarin duck pot. Chestnut chicken soup is made of chicken and chestnuts, red dates, and wolfberries stewed, the soup base is fragrant, and no excess spices are added. The sour radish and duck soup base is also the star soup base of Panda Laozao, but the slightly sour hot dish taste is not acceptable to every customer. The duck soup shop is divided into two soup bases, "sour radish duck" and "sour radish loose duck", the latter price is almost 3 times that of the former, but from the perspective of past consumption, ordinary customers basically can't taste the difference between the two soup bases or duck meat, if you want to taste this soup base, it is recommended to order the ordinary version, and you don't have to pursue the names of "free-range", "free-range", "native duck" and so on.
The freshness of the dishes has always been the main selling point of Panda Laozao, and the restaurant claims that all tripe, yellow throat, and goose intestines are flown in from Chongqing, while the ingredients such as meat slices are M5-M7 Australian Wagyu beef, and the ingredients are of good quality. In the middle of the menu, the store has a special column of "Ecological Vegetable Garden", which includes a variety of mushrooms and vegetables such as enoki mushrooms, white jade mushrooms, lettuce, green bean sprouts, etc., all of which are cultivated by the store in its own ecological house.
The Three Treasures of Panda contains three kinds of fresh tripe, fresh yellow throat and fresh goose intestines, and several dishes are neatly arranged, and the shape and size of the tripe are close to uniform, which shows the fineness of the ingredients. After blanching, the hairy belly is elastic and tough, the yellow throat is crispy, and the goose intestine is thick, and each food retains the taste of the fresh ingredients themselves, and the taste is authentic. There are many kinds of meat slices, such as the delicate emperor meat, the fat and lean carroubi, and the tough sirloin, which can be as rich as a steakhouse. Although the fish is large, it is not as fresh as other dishes, and the fish dishes are more recommended for eel and black fish fillet, which are slaughtered immediately.
The mushrooms are cultivated by Panda Laozao, and the dishes served contain the mycelium in its original state, and customers can experience the process of cutting the mushrooms from the mycelium by themselves. Like mushroom dishes, green bean sprouts resemble a potted plant with soil on the table, and customers need to cut the sprouts from the green beans themselves. These dishes are not only fresh, but also very interesting to eat, and must be ordered on the basic table.
The drinks are also not bad, and the richness is comparable to that of a professional bar. There are more than 100 kinds of beer, liquor, and wine displayed in several large freezers on the second floor, and there are professional bartenders at the bar next to it, so even if you want to taste freshly made cocktails, you can also meet the needs here. It is worth mentioning that the restaurant has also designed the bar counter in the form of a dining table, with 10 small hot pots placed to facilitate single diners. The dishes of the small hot pot are exactly the same as the normal hot pot, the difference is that you can't choose the mandarin duck pot, and the price of the single pot bottom is more affordable, and several pot bottoms are 30 yuan / pot.
The old panda stove is located on Dingxi Road, surrounded by red geometric decorations on the front, several chubby pandas on the ornaments are unique, and the interior of the restaurant is also full of panda murals, which looks lively and cute as a whole. The dining area has two floors and is larger, but compared to many chain hot pot restaurants, the hot pot tables in Panda Laozao are nearly one-third larger, and the distance between tables is also relatively spacious, so the total number of tables is actually not too much. Next to the stairs on the second floor is the store's ecological vegetable garden, where a variety of mushrooms and vegetables are cultivated, and every customer can go in and watch the vegetable planting. When ordering, the service staff will give a detailed description of the signature dishes, and the hot time of different dishes will be emphasized again after the dishes are served, and occasionally the store manager or manager will come to the table to ask for customer needs and opinions, and the service staff will smile and be polite throughout the whole process, and the service level is very good. There is a free parking lot behind the hot pot restaurant, and you need to pay a deposit of 100 yuan when parking, and then return the deposit with a stamped receipt to pick up the car.
Located in the K11 shopping mall, the five-kitchen hot pot is similar to the Panda Old Stove, and many dishes are also planted and cultivated in the store by the store itself, but the taste and stability of the hot pot are relatively average.
