First Look: Get Hotpot for One (and Free Icy Poles) at Little Ladle

When you think of hotpot, you probably picture a DIY experience, with a pot of simmering broth placed at the centre of the table for you to cook the raw ingredients yourself. And yes, that’s hotpot – but it’s not quite what you’ll find at West Lakes’ new joint, Little Ladle.

“We did a survey and found a lot of people don’t like cooking their own food when they go out,” says co-owner Michael Du, whose solution is similar to the Sichuan street food style malatang. “We came up with a concept that is still customisable: people can choose exactly what they want, but we’ll cook it and bring it out to you.”

Walk inside and you’ll see a wall, like the produce aisle in a supermarket, stacked with fresh ingredients – veggies, thinly sliced meat, seafood, noodles, wontons and more – ready to be loaded into your bowl. Pile up as much as you fancy (you can’t go wrong when it comes to combinations, says Du, although staff will happily share their recommendations) then head to the counter. There, it’s decision time again: do you want a soup base, or a dry stir-fry? For soup, you have four choices – Sichuan malatang (a rich, milky broth made with slow-cooked beef or pork bones, spicy chilli bean paste and Sichuan peppercorns), tomato, mushroom or tom yum. Du’s picks are the signature malatang or the mushroom base, “which has a really good earthy flavour”.

Once you’ve chosen and paid (it’s $4.50 per 100 grams, regardless of ingredients), take a seat and they’ll bring it out, steaming hot, within minutes. There’s also a free condiments station, which you’re welcome to head to as often as you like for top-ups, plus a fridge of free icy poles for dessert.

“This is the food we grew up eating,” says Du’s cousin and co-owner Anthony Bui. “On a winter night, Mum would always cook us some hotpot. It really brings a family together.” Speaking of family, all the side dishes are made by Du and Bui’s aunty: fried dough sticks (youtiao) for dipping into soup, crisp sesame puff buns and spring rolls.

“Seeing our grandparents here was the most rewarding thing,” Du says. “Grandparents – well, grandmothers in particular – can be quite critical with food because they’re the best cooks. She didn’t say much, but gave a thumbs up – it was good to see.”

Little Ladle Hotpot
Shop 127, 111 West Lakes Boulevard, West Lakes
0406 867 442

Hours
Daily 10am–10pm 

littleladle.com.au
@littleladlehotpot