David's Master Pot 大味麻辣烫(Rundle Mall) - Malatang, hotpot — Restaurant in Adelaide

Location— It’s a bit tricky to find at first—we initially thought it was underground. To make it easier, look for Hijinx Hotel or Archer Brothers; the restaurant is directly aligned with them. If you’re coming from Rundle Mall, take the escalator up near L’Occitane or RM Williams.

Food— Great selection overall! The staff regularly check and refill the hotpot ingredients, which is a big plus. While they don’t have baby octopus, the variety of soup bases makes up for it. I went with the signature malatang at spice level 2—just the right amount of heat! Level 1 already gives a nice kick. If you want more spice, the condiment station has chili and other toppings. The side dishes are also tasty (bonus: they have ginger!), and there’s a good variety of drinks, including beer and some fun sparkling Japanese, Chinese, and Korean beverages.

Other Menu Options— If hotpot isn’t your thing, they offer other dishes as well. (See my photo attached or their menu online-if they do have hehe) Their rice is just $2.50 with unlimited refills—love that!

Ambience: The space is very clean and gives off a modern Asian vibe. It’s quite inviting and comfortable for both small and large groups.

Service: The front-of-house staff were attentive, but kitchen staffing should be looked into?. It’s around a 60-seater, and when we arrived, there was only one cook (eventually two). We waited 37 minutes for our food, and my friend’s took 43!! Haha We didn’t notice right away because we were chatting, but the wait was definitely long. It would be helpful for management to consider adding more kitchen staff during busy hours because yes it gets full and we went weekday!

Overall great...

This restaurant opens at 11:00 AM. However, by 10:50, the door was wide open, all the lights were on, and everything looked fully operational — giving the impression that it was already open for business. My family of four walked in at 10:55, assuming the restaurant had already opened. I had already chosen some ingredients and put them into my pot when a young staff member approached and told us the restaurant wasn’t open yet.

I was surprised and immediately asked what time they opened. Upon learning that it would open in just five minutes, I asked if I could at least finish selecting my food, and that they could start cooking or check us out after the official opening time. The staff member, though not rude, firmly insisted that we leave. What shocked me even more was that she asked me to return all the food I had picked back onto the shared food trays. After doing so, there were only two minutes left until 11:00, but she insisted that we wait outside.

Fine. We left. But I must say — this is not how a business should be run. If you insist on opening at 11:00, then don’t make the store look like it’s already open. Keep the door partially closed, don’t turn on all the lights, or at least place a clear sign outside to avoid confusion.

Secondly, asking me to put the food back was extremely unhygienic. Would your next customer be happy knowing they’re eating something someone else had already picked up and returned?

Finally, maybe consider showing a little flexibility — after all, if all four of us had finished selecting our food, it would’ve already been past 11:00. But now, I won’t be coming back to your...

I visited David’s Hot Pot on Monday for dinner, about 50 minutes before closing time. When we arrived, the waitress told us that we couldn’t dine in because the kitchen was already closed. I completely understand that restaurants stop taking new customers close to closing time, but it was still quite early (almost an hour before closing) which was surprising.

What disappointed me more was the way the waitress spoke to us. Her attitude felt unkind and dismissive. I don’t expect exceptional service from a casual hot pot restaurant, but I do think it’s important for staff to be respectful and polite to customers.

My friend and I decided to order takeaway instead. However, when we went to pay and asked for sauce containers, the staff seemed very unwilling to assist. It gave the impression that they no longer wanted to work, even though the restaurant was still open. The overall atmosphere among the staff felt unmotivated and uninterested.

It also took more than 20 minutes for our food to be ready, even though there were no other customers waiting. The food itself was fine. Delicious but a bit too oily for my taste.

Overall, while I liked the food, the poor service left me feeling unwelcome. I hope the management considers improving staff training and motivation, because the food deserves better service to match...