If I told you to go to New Ho King on Spadina, you'd probably slap me and/or consider me a degenerate. But alas, New Ho King is not the latest brothel in town, but rather a go-to for many Chinese food lovers on the Spadina stretch. A short stroll down Spadina tends to leave me confused and hungry, as every second business offers some form of delectable treat; I often find it extremely difficult to make a choice. Tonight the choice was made for me as I walked into New Ho King thinking it was another restaurant I often go to. Chinese restaurants all look the same anyways, they're so hard to tell apart.
Anyways, I was craving some serious hot pot action. The weather in Toronto is slowly climbing downwards and I was in need of something soupy and warm. Inherent in its name, hot pot is exactly that. Hot pot, also known as shabu-shabu (sounds funny I know), can be experienced in two main ways. There is the DIY (do-it-yourself) where you get a plate of raw meats/seafood and a hot pot of broth. You can figure out the rest with this one. The other is ordering it straight of the menu and having it prepared for you. To be honest, as much fun as it is to pay for food that you have to cook yourself, the novelty soon wears off. Furthermore, having a veteran cook prepare it for you back in the trenches of the restaurant obviously yields a much tastier final product. And I'm all about taste, so tonight I opted for the latter.
I ordered #702; the number will linger in my memory for ages. It was the assorted meats and seafood hot pot for $9.95. I went with a friend, and we assumed (considering the modest price) that one order was for one person, so we went for two orders. Little did we know what was to come our way.
When the waitress came to our table it was love at first sight; the eclectic mix of squid, bbq pork, shrimp, scallops, tofu, bok choy, and shitake mushrooms made my heart palpitate with longing. I wanted it in my life. It was beautiful. The serving was ginormous and could have made 2 meals, but I persevered and crushed it in one go. The medley of meat etc. was settled in the midst of a savoury broth. All in all, this was indeed a soup that ate like a 2 meals.
If you're ever in the need of something warm and comforting and your mom's not around to give you a hug check out New Ho King.
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