Chaoniu Diary is a subsidiary of Shanghai Baigu Catering Management Co., Ltd., which was established in 2011 and is well-known in the industry. In 2016, an organization called the "International Federation of Famous Chefs" held the first inaugural meeting of the "Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot Professional Committee" in Shanghai, which was attended by well-known brands in the industry, such as Chaoniu Haiji, Chen Ji Shunhe, Today's Bull Market, Zuoting and Right Courtyard, and finally Pan Qunan, executive director and president of the parent company of Chaoniu Diary, served as the president of the association. However, Chaoniu Diary does not have a store in Shanghai, but has successively settled in Shaoxing, Wenzhou, Chengdu, Tiantai, Nanping, Xiamen and other places, and most of them are franchised stores.
Chaoniu Diary settled in Chengdu in 2016, and business was booming in the early stage, but the market gradually became normal after it calmed down. Although the total sales volume ranks among the top in Chengdu, Chaoniu Diary has only one store in Oaks Plaza so far.
Chaoniu Diary does not have its own cattle farm, and chooses the farms provided by suppliers to raise cattle. Compared with the statement that many beef hot pot restaurants claim to "only select free-range cattle", Chaoniu Diary is a little more sincere. The official said that the cattle selected are from Sichuan Gui, aged 4~5 years old, and have about 1 year of farming experience, and the farm only uses natural pasture and deep mountain spring water to feed the cattle. In fact, obsessing with natural pasture can not improve the quality of beef, and reasonable arrangement of nutrient supply can get the best quality beef. The diary also emphasises the speed of beef delivery – the train is delivered to a local slaughterhouse and then arrives at the store within an hour. However, Chaoniu Diary only has a batch of beef that arrives at 10 a.m. every day, and for diners who dine in the evening, they have missed the best period of "original taste", and the official delivery speed is of little significance to diners.
Through the transparent "beef shop" window, diners can see the scene of the meat cutter unraveling the beef and plating, and the clean working environment is reassuring. However, there are slightly more adhesions in the meat slices, and the presentation is slightly rough, so there is more room for improvement.
Chao Niu Diary provides 7 kinds of pot bases to choose from: tomato beef brisket pot, sauerkraut rattan pepper pot, beef bone clear soup pot, Chao Niu signature pot, mushroom pot, mandarin duck pot, and spicy red oil pot, which can well meet the diverse needs of diners. The restaurant mainly promotes the Chaoniu signature pot, which has a little more beef brisket and beef balls than the beef bone clear soup pot, and the price is only 10 yuan more, which is more cost-effective. Among them, the soup is made of beef bones for 4 hours, and there are beef brisket, radish, corn and other condiments, which is mellow and sweet.
For some reason, toe meat, pork belly, spoon skin, and spoon handle are classified as limited quantities, and although the production of these meats is less than the most tender meat, the official classification is somewhat gimmicky.
The interior of the store is not large, and the lighting arrangement is a little too dim. During peak periods, diners can clearly feel that the number of waiters is insufficient, but fortunately, the efficiency of the service is high. However, the professionalism of individual staff needs to be improved, and there are also cases of smoking in the store when there are not many diners, which affects the dining experience of diners.
