Good value hotpot with a difference in Burwood - Fresh Beef Hotpot

We, bunch of uni friends, went to Fresh Beef Hotpot (鲜潮汕牛肉火锅)on Saturday.

In our younger days, we would pick buffet every time. These days, the guys are more interested to look for something nicer and different. Time is mellowing us all. Guess good news for the buffet restaurants haha.

Going back to the food. Typical hotpot set up. Mix your own sauce. Fresh beef hotpot sauce line up is the standard. It was $3/head.

The soup base cost between $20-30. We had the non spicy 2 flavors - tomato + clear broth (番茄牛尾锅底 + 牛大骨锅底).Again, typical hotpot base.

Where it is different is it offers many cuts of beef, rather than the usual sliced beef/lamb/pork etc etc. We had the big beef platter ($90).... Quite an impressive bit of presentation (pic 3). It came with different cuts of beef (see pic 3). We also ordered different cuts of meat separately. Actually, these other cuts were the highlights for me (different texture and not often one can find elsewhere). We had the brisket oil (胸口油), suji (牛板筋), beef bezoar throat (牛黃喉). Personally, would recommend trying the brisket oil. Yummo. It also has other interesting cuts like bull whip, ox tail etc etc... We did not venture that far though.

We also ordered the vegetable plate ($19), some vegetables, meat balls, and deep fried bean curd sheet (豆皮), and noodles. Which brings me to the next point. You know me... Value for money trumps quality and dining ambience. Prices for these non-meat items were in line with other hotpot places. But quantity was good. The 豆皮 plate was stacked high. The noodles were sizeable. Actually, at one time, I thought maybe we couldn't finish, which if you know us, that meant something.

All up, the bill came to $60 per head. Frankly, for $60 per head, I would be only half full if it was a hotpot restaurant in Chatswood or in the City. At Fresh Beef Hotpot, I was almost stuffed. But the best part was trying all these different cuts of beef and learnt how different cuts require different cooking time.

Ambience was OK. Not as well/nice decorated as some of the other hotpot restaurants. Customers were all Chinese. The place was full from 7 onwards. Actually, we got kicked out as people were waiting outside.

Service level was good. The dishes arrived quickly. Took away empty plates quickly. Topped up soup frequently.

Access is easy. 5 mins walk from the station. A bit past Burwood China Town.

All in all, it was a fun night and a good feed. Worth checking out.

One tip.... Bring cash. Think 5% discount if pay in cash.

One more side note... You never know what a spicy hotpot can do to churn your stomach inside out :) If nature calls, the toilet was clean enough.

Also looks like it has two locations in Sydney. Burwood only offers a la carte. It has another location in Cabramatta (all you can eat... $48 per head).