3 Awesome Hot Pot Restaurants in Brisbane For Family Night Out

Sometimes you just don’t feel like cooking at home, and you just want something quick, easy and affordable to take your family to. If you are craving good hot pot in these chilly nights, I have 3 best kid-friendly restaurants for the best hot pot in Brisbane just for you. This blog review isn’t just your average review – I love hot pot, and get this – not all hotpots are made equal. I am going to be very specific about each and every restaurant I name here so hopefully you don’t waste money on those that are not worth your money.

Haidilao Sunnybank

My all time favourite. When Haidilao Brisbane first opened in 2022, I was skeptical. I still remember frowning at the photo of that 4 grid pot and the fact that they charge $14 for soup base, and just walking away saying to myself I’d never come here to eat. It wasn’t until my friend wanted to have a casual birthday celebration there did I realise what the hype was all about. Here are the reasons why I love Haidilao:

It’s more affordable than you think

I would say you can get a decent meal out of it with just $40-50pp. You don’t have to order 4 soup bases. Their best soup base, in my opinion, is ‘pork stomach chicken soup’. It is a perfectly light yet flavoursome soup. If you love spicy food, their signature spicy soup base is hot – the kind of spicy that will make your lips and tongue go numb – which makes duck blood uber delicious. Their mushroom, tomato and tom yum bases are not that great, in my opinion.

Sauce bar, traditional Sichuan ‘face-changing’ show… and more thoughtful, entertaining small touches everywhere

One of my favourite things about this restaurant is how human and thoughtful their services are. Their staff are all super friendly and they treat you like a queen. They have a sauce bar of over 20 different kinds of sauces and seasoning for you to create your own perfect dipping sauce. You MUST order their handmade noodles for them to put on a noodle show for you. This is going to be kids (and adults) favourite as well as the ‘Bian-lian’ opera performance they put on at 12/6pm every day.

Sparkling clean toilets. They even provide sanitary needs.

Birthday celebrations

If you book in advance and let them know it’s for a birthday occasion, they will have 2 staff that come out in the middle of your meal to celebrate your birthday for you by singing the birthday song and dancing with you. I personally find it so fun! But whether you like drawing attention to yourself I will leave that up for you to decide. I am sure kids would love this, though!

There is always parking

With the new redevelopement in Market Square, there is always going to be parking. Just drive straight to the rooftop and you’ll find a park within 5 minutes even during the busiest hours.

Seafood Buffet Sunnybank

This Brisbane hot pot restaurant is totally kids friendly. For around $45 per head, this place is not bad at all. I believe kids are half price too.

It’s not really seafood… It’s frozen seafood.

If you are dreaming up oyster bars and fresh fish for your hot pot — forget it. This restaurant serves frozen seafood and frozen sashimi. I’ve read on google reviews that their oysters are not fresh, and some gotten food poisoning here too.

Vegetarian station and more!

I do enjoy their vegetarian station as well as hot food that’s not all hot pot. They have some Taiwanese briased pork and egg, crispy deep fried buns and slushies to cater kids.

The service here is definitely nowhere as good as Haidilao. So in all honesty, I would pick Haidilao across the road over this restaurant because it’s similar pricing and you get a much better dining experience with your family.

Shabu House

If you want more than Hot Pot Brisbane Shabu House is another great place to go for a family night out. Shabu House is clean and they have an incredible range of hot pot things and sushis all you can eat. For only $35pp at lunch or $46pp at dinner it really is a great place for growing teenagers and families. My honest opinion though, it can be a hit and miss. I’ve had cold sushi there before that just didn’t taste right. The cocktails are not impressive at all – hit other bars in town before you head to Shabu House.

David’s Hot Pot Calamvale

I’ll be quick on this one because I have only ever been there twice and I’ll never go again. The first time I went there the food was absolutely amazing. The soup base was full of umami and unique flavours, and the spicy soup was perfect. The second time we went was after a changeover in management in 2021. They didn’t have the soup base we liked, and they spicy soup was nothing but chilli oil. The service was appalling, and the food was expensive. I don’t recommend going there at all.

If you are a hot pot lover like me, hit me up! I’d love to know your favourite hot pot places in Brisbane!