Since I first visited Haidilao at the tail end of 2020 when it was just one location in Glen Waverley. Now there are two locations, one in Glen Waverley and the other is in Box Hill. I am told that the Glen Waverley one is bigger and better of the two and the menus are slightly different. While I trust my source, I feel that I need to one day make my trip to the Box Hill branch to see it for myself.
If you want to read about my first trip to Haidilao at the Glen Waverley branch when it first opened, check out my post on it.
Even now, Haidilao is still buzzing with eager diners and its queue system is still in use. When you get to around the 7 pm to 8 pm timeslot, it gets really busy and there are tons of people waiting outside for their chance to enjoy some hot pot.
True to form, if you are waiting for your turn you are able to snack on their crisps, popcorn, or even have a drink.
This time around I noticed this flyer with all the free services you get just by dining at the restaurant:
- Wi Fi (and also a phone Qi charger on the table)
- Play Area for the kids
- Snacks and drinks while you wait
- Manicure (or hand massage with lotion)
- Chance to earn complimentary dishes
The free manicure was completely new to me. To access it, you need to sign in as a member and once you have done that on the tablet at your desk, you need to click on your name in the top left corner to open up your profile and there is a button that lets you reserve a manicure session by entering the person’s name and their phone number. When it is their turn, they will get a phone call.
I booked a session for my wife who mentioned that they didn’t have the manicure service on the day, but she had a fantastic hand massage with a lovely hand lotion. I am sure this sort of thing is okay for men as well.
As soon as we sat down, we were already being treated to the famed Haidilao service with hairbands for the females, ziplock bags for our facemasks and water being poured into our cups. With our baby, we were handed probably one too many balloons and toys (to take home).
The menu had changed since we last visited. We noticed that the green pepper soup was removed and now there was a pumpkin soup. We ended up with the following (and they appear in my order of preference): pork stomach, pumpkin, tomato and laksa soups. The pork stomach was really done well and super tasty. The pumpkin soup was surprisingly savory, yet delicious. The least preferred but still very tasty was the laksa, which had the seafood taste, but it was a bit too overpowering for me.
Our table was typically small table. My gripe is that it is hard for people to move in and out of their chairs.
This time around we noticed some more roving robot helpers.
Throughout the evening, the service was magnificent. Our cups were always filled and we had plenty of help from our host whenever it looked like we needed an extra pair of hands. (Haidilao have so many staff on the floor. It is amazing.)
We even had free desserts and food brought over to our table, and they even made complimentary sauces for us.
When ordering stuff, just be mindful of the size of the table because there is only so much they can fit. But also, there are dishes that don’t need to be cooked in the soup like their fried bread or spicy cold noodles, which were both excellent dishes in their own right.
We easily spent over AUD$230 that night for four people. Eating here is just a lot of fun and it does feel easier when the hosts just make the whole experience pleasant and easy.
Throughout the night there were performances and heaps of people celebrating their birthday (almost every table), including someone at our table who had their birthday sang in Mandarin, were given a party hat, a free (decent) dessert and a decent souvenir shopping bag with Haidilao’s logo on it. (I don’t think they didn’t even ask for proof if you say its someone’s birthday.)
Haidilao Hot Pot is located at the Glen Shopping Centre, 235 Springvale Rd, Glen Waverley VIC 3150 (and the second floor of the outdoor food precinct; you can see the precinct if you are walking from Kingsway):
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