Liuyishou Hot Pot (Burnaby)

Haven't been out to the Burnaby location of Liuyishou in a few years I believe.  But really, I should be coming here more often because it is not only not too far from where I live, it is also one of my go-to spots for hot pot in the city.  I classify Liuyishou as one of the more premium hot pot establishments, yet at the same time, they are reasonably-priced given the quality of their food as well as the presentation.  Their sauce bar is also quite good with many options and little bites.

This time around, I was invited to try some new items as well as the classics.  Of course I have to talk about the Sauce Bar first because that is a big part of the hot pot experience.  There are all the essentials there including garlic, cilantro, green onion, chilis, soy, vinegar, sesame oil and the sort.  Other than that, the snacks and fruit were quite good too.  We found spicy daikon, pickled veggies, honeydew, oranges, seaweed and braised duck necks.

Onto some cooked appies, we had the Deep Fried Chicken Wings as well as the Grilled Lamb Skewers.  Gotta say those mid-wings were gigantic and also succulent inside.  They were juicy and well-marinated while the skin was completely rendered and crispy.  As for the lamb, the cubes of meat were also tender and moist with hints of cumin and spice.  Talking about spice, there was some of that on the side that added some heat to both proteins.

So we had a few more things that were cooked including the Deep Fried Dragon Beard (Pork), which was majestically presented on a hook.  This was super crispy while not greasy.  The meat was fairly moist with enough seasoning.  However, the spice rub at the bottom of the plate added that extra bit of impact.  Served in its own golden egg, the Deep Fried Eggs were delicious on its own being crispy and fluffy.  However, it was also great being dunked into the hot broth as it took on some awesome flavours.

On the topic of broth, we had their signature Liu's House Special Soup Base (aka Spicy Fatty Cow Tallow Broth) as well as their new Golden Chicken Soup that came with a plate of bone-in chicken.  As expected, the spicy broth had some serious heat and real depth while the chicken broth was mild and sweet.  As you can see, we were also served the Liu's Beef & Lamb Platter (that neatly fit around the hot pot) along with Shrimp, Snakehead Fish Fillet, Fresh Meatballs, Tofu Skin Rolls and Fresh Noodles.

So we can't forget about the Deluxe Aged Beef Platter (aka Wheel of Meat) that just looked plain cool at the table.  Yes, the meat was sliced thin and was buttery soft when dunked into the hot broth for only a few seconds.  For dessert (other than the fruit at the sauce bar), we were served some Golden Durian and Custard Balls. My favourite was the durian as it was pungent enough without being overly so.  They were also not too sweet.  Nice and crispy outside!  Overall, this was predictably a solid visit to Liuyishou.  The classics were the same while the new things we tried, such as the chicken broth, dragon beard and fried eggs were delicious.  They even not have an AYCE option.  Need to come back soon!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Consistent food quality

- If you like aesthetics, they got that down pat

- Reasonably-priced IMO

The Bad:

- The platter around the hot pot is cool and practical in terms of meat to hot pot vicinity, but the heat actually cooks the meat while it sits there