渝人码头 麻辣烫店 Chungking Malatang — Restaurant in Sydney

(3.5 stars) Chungking Malatang in Burwood has the biggest range of soup ingredients I’ve seen in Sydney. Stacked five rows high, the long, well-lit refrigerated cabinet of ingredients also has the best labelling I’ve encountered. This makes it very easy to go overboard—even if you take just a little bit of each item. My dining companion’s soup mix weighed in at 1.17kg which, at $34.80 per kilo, made it a forty buck soup. Luckily takeaway containers are available, and he enjoyed the second half for lunch the next day. My own malatang ($22.10/0.635kg) was (almost) manageable in one setting.

With all those soup ingredients there were plenty of options I’d never had in malatang before, from striped tubes of crab leg meat that looked like wafer biscuits, to speckled pink spam. In the cooked meats, new items included fried chicken wings, pork face (jowl) and pork elbow (hock). A number of former “mystery balls” were cleared up for me, helping me recognise pork balls with mushrooms, lobster balls and bulging white sea urchin buns. Beyond the usual fifty shades of tofu, Asian greens and mushrooms, my favourite items here were fried discs of scallop seafood tofu and fried pockets of chewy mochi that added a flash of sweetness to the chef’s chilli soup base. Despite the name, it’s not particularly hot, so do let the saucing lady add extra chilli. Other soup bases, from vegetarian to curry laksa are also available.

We enjoyed our soups in the attractively furnished and not over-lit two-level dining room, with cans of Calpis ($4) to put out the fire. After a while it became evident that the signature broth here lacks the deep pork bone complexity of some of the neighbouring malatang shops, like No. 1 Malatang. I also prefer venues that take the time to cut up larger ingredients—like whole cabbage leaves—for ease of...

Chungking at Dixon St, Haymarket is so new, Google Map and the internet doesn't have this branch listed anywhere! So I had to post to the Burwood location.

Visited the Haymarket one on Tuesday night, it was our first time to visit this type of restaurant.

I had to ask the manager how the system work and he very kindly showed my partner and I how it works.

We were there just before the kitchen closes at 23:00 (I had to apologise for coming in so late, as we did not know).

All the ingredients that I grew up with, finally all in one place for me to pick and choose. I got so excited I let my eyes ran away from my stomach!

Pig's blood and duck's blood jelly, tofu skin, quail eggs, Asian greens and western vegetables, different noodles; shaved meatsand marinated meats (beef, chicken, lamb and pork).

Basically a whole wall of uncooked ingredients for you to choose from which you select into your large bowl, then take it to the counter to be weighed, select the soup base: (I think they had about 10 bases, but these are the ones I remember):

Chef's Chilli Special Tom Yum Laksa Hot Pot Dry Hot Pot

My partner and I picked laksa and chefs chilli special respectively. I was blown away at how much I enjoyed my dish! Unfortunately, my partner found it complicated (he simply wanted a laksa without having to pick his own ingredients).

At under $27 per bowl, which was the size of my head, it was definitely value for money because my order lasted two huge meals.

Will I be returning to this restaurant? Absolutely! Keeping my eyes and stomach...

located in the bustling suburb of 📍 Burwood (and now in Chinatown!), lies an easily missed malatang joint called "ChungKing" with the widest selection of toppings and soup bases ive ever seen! 🥘

im talking: signature malatang (chefs chilli), laksa, bone soup, cabbage soup, pickled veg... and an even crazier selection of add ins like pork brain, cuttlefish, green mussel, duck feet, abalone, and even squid tentacles 😱

if you like your offal or unique selection of meats and cuts, I definitely recommend this place! 🥣 The chefs chilli is probably my fave soup base, and I typically add basa fillet, fried tofu, bok choy, sweet potato, baby corn, glass noodles, prawn dumpling, + cheese sausage 🤤

i love how they have a misting function to keep their ingredients cool, and there's a fridge located at the end for your rolled meats to keep them fresh! the chefs chilli isn't overly spicy too but has a great depth of flavour and is enjoyable throughout eating 😍

definitely recommend this place for the huge range, comfortable dining area, and they even serve bubble tea in house! my fave is the strawberry green tea with pearls but again they have a huge range and it's currently only $8 for 2!

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