Hi guysssssss!!!
So, it feels like it’s been a minute, but I just checked and it really has only been 2 weeks and some which means I only didn’t post last week. Guess I’m getting used to posting consistently every week!
Anyway, how’s everyone doing? Today we’re doing a food review, and it’s an exciting one. Has anyone had a hotpot experience? Leave a comment below and tell me where, and if you enjoyed it! I’d love to know.
So my friend, Nabila promised to take me to a hotpot place for my birthday last year, and we’ve only just gotten around to actually doing it.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’d have seen snippets of the experience, but you definitely should still look out for the YouTube video that’ll be going up on my channel after the gardening vlog, so sometime in the next two weeks hopefully.
Okay, let’s get into this review. Tian Xiang Fu Small Hotpot is right in the center of Şişli, a very central neighborhood in Istanbul. In fact chances are if you’re visiting the city, your hotel could very well be around the Şişli/Mecidiyeköy area, and if you live here, then you know it’s smack dab in the middle of town. It’s very easily accessible especially from the Mecidieköy metro, and is only a couple hundred meters away from hotels like the Radisson Blu, Holiday Inn, and Hilton.
Tian Xiang Fu Small Hotpot has a very authentic Asian feel to it, not just because it’s completely decorated in Chinese style decor, but because of how the entire time we were there, it had several Asian customers and if there’s anything I learned from dedicatedly reading food blogs like eatdrinklagos for years, it’s that when a place is frequented by nationals of the country the food originates from then the food is authentic.
Tian Xiang Fu Small Hotpot has 2 floors. It’s ground floor where the entrance is located has only 2 tables for 4, a counter, a sauce table - where you go to serve yourself whatever sauces you’d like to go with your food - and a glass sectioned off corner with a small cellar in front of it that I presume to be the kitchen.
There were 2 lovely ladies at the counter who immediately ushered me upstairs when I arrived, leaving me with the impression that the tables downstairs aren’t used often. Upstairs there was an outdoor section and an indoor section with several tables for 4, 6 and more.
I opted to seat outside, because I wanted to see the view of the road. My waiter was very attentive and immediately sprung into action, offering me his phone to peruse the menu, as it’s an online menu only accessible by scanning the QR code stuck to the tables.
I ordered Boba Tea, and chose to take photos while I waited for my friend, Nabila to come, and place the order since she’s the hotpot expert, and it was my very first hotpot experience. The Boba Tea was quite nice. It tasted like black tea with a sufficient amount of milk and sugar to make it rich, but not overly creamy. The tapioca balls at the bottom were chewy and tasteless on their own, but had hints of the tea they were submerged in.
Nabila ordered the Mongolian spicy hot pot for our hotpot, dumplings, crab sticks, octopus, organic tofu, wood ear mushrooms and lamb leg slices.
The general idea of the hotpot experience is that you’re given a pot with whatever broth you choose, it’s lit with fire underneath the pot, and you cook the food yourself in the broth. It’s fun to do, and you’re generally responsible for how cooked your food is. That way there are absolutely no complaints whatsoever about undercooked or overcooked food. It’s all in your hands.
I found the Mongolian spicy hotpot broth we chose a little bland, but it was understandable as Nabila and I are Nigerian, and are definitely used to much more spicy food. I’m also fairly certain that it was the tastiest option on the menu for our African tastebuds. You also determine what the food tastes like when you eat it, by what sauces you choose from the sauce table to pair your food with. We got several sauces from the sauce table downstairs - oyster, seafood, beef paste, chili sauce, and soy sauce.
At first I tried to pair the octopus with the seafood sauce, but I quickly found that the seafood sauce tasted a lot like those omega3 fish oil supplements that you only take because of the health benefits and definitely not for the smell or taste. Pairing the lamb with the beef paste sauce was also not the best idea as it just didn’t have the sufficient amount of flavor and spice for an African woman like me.
I eventually struck gold when I tried the lamb with the oyster sauce, as that was way more flavorful than the others, but it wasn’t until I took Nabila’s advice and mixed all of the sauces together on my plate that I started to really really enjoy my food. That’s the secret trick to enjoying your hotpot experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed the wood ear mushrooms. I’d never had those before, and they were delightful. It wasn’t so much the taste, as it really didn’t taste like much on its own, but it was the texture. It had a velvety feel in your mouth, but it also had a crunch similar to that of lettuce.
I also quite liked the dumplings. They were full of meat, and very flavorful.
I hated the tofu. I’d never had tofu prior to this, and it was just an utter fail in my opinion. Nabila said these ones must have gone off, but I had nothing to compare it with, and everything about it was just off. The texture was weird, and it tasted like soaked cardboard or what I imagine that’ll taste like. Actually it tasted like white garri. That sour tart taste of white garri with a soaked cardboard texture.
Nabila wanted some dessert, and I wanted to do some work in a cafe, so we decided to head to a proper Boba Tea shop, and Nabila chose the Monster Tea shop in Beşiktaş. We stopped for photos on the way, and it was fun trying to get Nabila to take photos of me crossing the road. I had a good laugh about that. We did eventually get a few good shots.
Monster Tea was open for sit-ins until 9pm, and you could order for delivery until 10pm. It’s a cute very modern cafe with WiFi where you can go to do some work during the day, or simply enjoy tea with a friend. Simple and functional wooden tables and chairs are it’s main decor. A counter with friendly attendants and a countertop menu where you can choose your tea along with sugar and ice levels are what you get in terms of service.
I went with the Blue Aegean Sea tea, with 50% ice and 30% sugar. It was made with butterfly pea tea, milk, Han Tien herbal gel and honey. It didn’t quite taste like the milky tea I had at Tian Xiang Fu earlier. I found it a little too sweet, but I try to avoid eating sugar generally, so I’m a bit conscious of that. It was a very visually pleasing drink, and I enjoyed it.
All in all I had an amazing food adventure, and I am so excited for my next hotpot experience. I definitely would love to go again, and try out more items on the menu. Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if this is something you’ll be willing to try.
Love, Yoma.
Details:
Tian Xiang Fu Small Hotpot
Mongolian Spicy Hotpot - 25TL
Lamb leg slices - 68TL
Octopus - 58TL
Crab Sticks - 32TL
Organic Tofu - 29TL
Wood Ear Mushrooms - 34TL Sauces - 18TL
2 Dumplings - 52TL
Tapioca Milk Tea - 23TL Water 70cl - 21TL
Water 33cl - 12TL
Service Charge - 10%
Monster Tea
Blue Aegean Sea Tea - 20TL
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