夠嗆麻辣香鍋 Gouqiang Mala Hot Pot(西門店) — Restaurant in Taipei

It's a "pick your ingredients and they'll cook with soup/sauce of your choice" kind of place. They have some seats and drink is free (not sure if you can top up).

They have English instructions on the wall (basically pick up the basket and thong, pick ingredients, pass it to cashier and tell them whether you want to eat in or takeaway and if you want to have it as soup (if I'm not wrong, there are 2 choices - not spicy or spicy ("Mala". And you pick what level of spiciness)).

Normally, people will pick 1 type of noodle and 3-5 toppings, and your meal will be cheap. But we went a bit crazy and picked about 10pieces for each person/basket, so it's a bit...

I visited this restaurant three times between September 9th and September 16th with my wife. The food was decent, whether it was mala soup or mala dry dishes. However, an older lady, around her mid-60s with curly hair, was blatantly racist. It was clear that she had an issue with people who don't speak Chinese. My wife and I don’t speak the language, but we made an effort to politely request our food during all three visits. Unfortunately, we were treated poorly every time.

While my wife thought the food was okay, the service was terrible. It seems the lady not only lacks experience interacting with people from different cultures but is also unwilling to engage with non-locals. She is undeniably racist and could benefit from learning to be more understanding of others' situations.

I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant to anyone who values respectful service, especially if you don’t speak Chinese.

9월 9일부터 9월 16일까지 아내와 함께 이 식당을 세 번 방문했습니다. 음식은 마라탕이든 마라 샹궈이든 괜찮았습니다. 그러나 60대 중반의 곱슬머리를 한 나이 든 아주머니는 명백히 인종차별적이었습니다. 아주머니께서 중국어를 하지 않는 사람들을 명백히 싫어하는 것 같았습니다. 저와 아내는 중국어를 못 하지만, 세 번 모두 정중하게 음식을 요청했습니다. 그럼에도 불구하고, 매번 불쾌한 대우를 받았습니다.

아내는 음식은 괜찮다고 했지만, 서비스는 최악이었습니다. 아주머니는 다른 문화의 사람들과 소통하는 경험이 없을 뿐만 아니라 외국인들과 소통할 의지도 없어 보였습니다. 그녀는 분명히 인종차별적이며, 다른 사람들의 상황을 이해하는 법을 배워야 할 필요가 있습니다.

중국어를 못 하시는 분들에게는 이 인종차별적인 식당을 절대 추천하지...

I would recommend this build your own hotpot spot. Look for the cute fire breathing dinosaur logo. You pick your own vegetables, meats, broth, and noodles or rice.

For about 300NTD, you will get a full portion of food, customized to your taste. The broth is flavorful, the veggies and meats are fresh (try the intestine), and it can get quite spicy if you want.

I also tried the ma la dry pot, which was even better than the soupy version during the summer heat. Overall quite impressed and will be...