When it comes to Chaoshan beef hot pot in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, the left and right courtyards are brands that cannot be avoided. Although it was founded in 2015 and is only a follower of the beef hot pot boom, it has now become a hegemon in the Shanghai beef hot pot industry with more than 50 directly-operated stores in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Beijing and Tianjin.
The core selling point of Chaoshan beef hot pot is the word freshness, which stems from the "original taste" needs of Chaoshan people. Unlike most meals that emphasize the removal of acid from meat, Chaoshan beef hot pot requires that the beef is not frozen or deacidified, and diners eat it for a limited time after the whole beef is slaughtered. In Chaoshan, the slaughterhouse usually delivers the beef to the store as soon as the cattle are processed - this is the reason why the promotion of Chaoshan beef hot pot was restricted in the past. In recent years, big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen have copied Chaoshan's beef slaughtering, transportation and other business models, and beef hot pot has become famous.
But beef isn't always fresher, and many media outlets like to claim that the beating beef is the best. In fact, umami comes from amino acids, and the protein in fresh beef, which can also beat, has not had time to be broken down into amino acids by the action of enzymes, and the umami that most diners like is basically impossible to talk about. According to the traditional Chaoshan beef hot pot practice, the 4~6 hours of natural cooling and draining under limited conditions is the best tasting time.
As a large-scale beef hot pot brand, the beef supply chain of Zuoting and Right Courtyard has certain advantages, and the steps of purchasing calves, breeding, processing, distribution, and in-store sales have their own set of standard processes. The official cooperated with the relevant government departments of Guanqi County, Guizhou Province to build a breeding base, and the 3~4-year-old calves will be transported to the Huzhou slaughterhouse in East China, and the slaughtered and decomposed beef will be transported to the branches in Suzhou through the logistics cold chain. Some of the beef is sent to the processing base to be made into beef balls and other products.
It is worth mentioning that Zuoting and the Right Court claim that there are 2 batches of beef arriving at the store every day, but in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places, there is only a delivery frequency of 1 batch per day. The Suzhou Impression City store in Suzhou has a rare and commendable delivery frequency of two batches per day, "eating beef at noon in the morning, and eating beef in the afternoon at night" - the smiling waiter shows his confidence in his own beef.
Chaoshan beef hot pot divides beef into categories such as hanging dragon, three-flower toe, five-flower toe, fat calluse, chest skull, spoon handle, spoon skin and other categories (the name may be different in each store). The thickness of different parts of beef is different, just to highlight their own taste characteristics, so knife work is one of the important indicators to inspect beef hot pot restaurants. The meat cutters have all received standardized training, and their overall performance is acceptable. Each type of meat slice is basically the same, and there are few cases of large areas of adhesion, which is within the acceptable range. The beef is plated at a medium distance, and the logo on the plate indicates the type of beef and the duration of shabu-shabu, which is still more intimate for new diners. Usually, the waiter will explain to the new diners how to cook the best shabu-shabu, and even directly help the diners to cook the shabu-shabu, but if the restaurant is busy, these services cannot be counted on.
In addition to the traditional taste of beef bone soup pot, there are also secret beef offal pot, Bama spring water pot, beef bone tomato and mandarin duck pot, fresh beef offal mandarin duck pot, and special beef brisket and mandarin duck pot to choose from. One of the fresh beef and mandarin duck pots is developed by the head chef and is officially suitable for all people, but we recommend new diners to try the traditional taste, and drink a bowl of beef bone soup with a little celery before shabu-shabu, which is both appetizing and satisfies a kind of "Chaoshan ritual". The left and right courtyards may have a certain attachment to the amount of MSG (the amount of MSG has no health effects on the body within a certain range), and the soup base is full of umami, but it is also easy to make diners feel thirsty.
The location strategy of the left courtyard and the right courtyard is to be located in a shopping mall with a large flow of people, which is very different from other street-side "down-to-earth" Chaoshan beef hot pot restaurants. This ensures the flow of customers at meal time to a certain extent, and queues are not uncommon. The interior decoration of the left and right courtyards are all decorated with Chaoshan characteristics, which even Chaoshan people will find interesting when they see it for the first time. The waiter has a decent attitude, but sometimes he doesn't know how to be flexible. At meal time, due to the hot business in the store, the waiters often do not take care of the needs of diners.
