Who doesn’t like hot pot in this chilly weather, but would you pay RMB 5,000 for it? I did and I am going to tell you all about it. Faigo Seafood Hot Pot is situated at a heritage building in the Rock Bund, the moment I stepped into the building I felt like I travelled back in time and I almost regretted not wearing a qipao.

The service was beyond excellent. We had our own private room and a personal butler. This was the most sweat-less hot pot experience I have ever had because the butler was cooking for us the entire night. For once, the steam from the hot pot was not ruining my makeup and my hair and clothes did not smell like grease and spice after. When we didn’t need the butler, he did not run away and serve other people. He stayed right at the door so we did not need to scream and wave like a maniac for his service. Aside from the butler, I had another waitress greeting me right when I stepped off my car and running for anything that I needed, ranging from charging batteries, iPhone cables to cushions. There was even a bathroom attendant turning on the water faucet and pouring soap on your hands. If you want to feel like a king, this is the place that you should go to.

The soup base is extravagant. Faigo is known for its golden chicken and fish maw soup, which is an absolute collagen boost. There were a lot of molten fish maws in the soup and a plate of 10 big fish maws on the side. My skin felt softer than a tofu after this meal. The chicken flavor was bold but far from overpowering. Besides, we also got a spicy soup base. Note that this is not the kind of place for ultra-spicy and tongue numbing experience simply because the meat and the seafood is just too fresh to be covered by too much spice.

We mainly came for the geoduck, marbled beef and hand beaten beef balls. Fresh geoduck is quite uncommon in Shanghai and a lot of people don’t know how to cook and appreciate it. As a matter of fact, a lot of people don’t even know what it is. Thin geoduck slices like this should only be cooked for 2-3 seconds and cooked geoduck should not swim in bowls of condiments because geoduck has a very slight hint of umami that it is like a subtle breeze of sweet air coming out of a candy shop. If you prefer an explosion of umami or if you are a heavy sauce dipper, I think other shells or fish is more suitable for you.

The marbled beef was not wagyu grade but it tasted just like it. It had the perfect balance of fat and meat. It was very tender but I did not find it greasy at all. One thing I did not like was that the beef curled up too much when it was cooked so it secretly caught a chili in it that set my taste buds on fire. Besides, the curled up beef just looked very over-cooked although it was not.

A lot of self-proclaimed hand beaten beef balls in the market are actually machine beaten and there is only one test to it. If you bite the beef ball and the beef ball bites back at you, it is hand beaten. The beef balls were very bouncy and juicy and I believed they were genuinely hand beaten.

On the side, we also got iberico pork slices, shrimp paste balls, goose intestines, fried tofu skin rolls, bamboo mushrooms, tofu and winter melon. I found the iberico pork slices a bit over-marinated and too thick for hot pot. I don’t eat organs so I couldn’t give a personal remark on the goose intestines but my friend said it was one of the best that she has had. Other side dishes were pretty standard.

For drinks, the selection was pretty narrow and extremely overpriced. We ordered the cheapest red wine which was RMB 888 and I did not think it was worth it at all. We also ordered a jug of papaya juice which was not sweet enough and was too thick. It was almost a puree than a juice.

All in all, is it worth it? If you like fish maw and seafood like I do, absolutely yes. If you are a red meat lover, maybe you would like to go to other places at a fraction of the price. After all, you can bring down the price by at least a thousand by not ordering the red wine and too many side dishes like I did.

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