More Scrumptious Goodies (MSG) Food Blog

The event took place in the basement of Je'Bon, which had an interesting skylight ceiling that made for cool views of the dining scene upstairs. The basement had a bar, and a DJ was playing cool remixes throughout the night. Along the back of the room, Sean and Mike were busy tending two flaming 55 gallon drums with giant woks of fiery broth balanced on top. Meat and vegetarian skewers stood alongside, waiting to be cooked. Sean and Mike took turns dropping skewers into individual tin cans within the bubbling broth, and when finished put them in paper cups for attendees to take as they wanted. 

The setup of the event was interesting. The sight of the huge woks balanced on top of empty drums was quite fun to watch, and the music and bar provided a great accompaniment to classic hot pot fare. The skewers offered included meat options such as Fujianese fish balls with pork center & Chinese sausage; whole shrimp; and beef eye round strips and vegetarian options: bok choi & pea shoots; spiced tofu & beancurd skin; and wood ear mushrooms & king ear mushrooms.  There were also accompanied with additional chili and mala sauces. Waiters popped in and out throughout the night delivering rounds of mixed sake drinks to each table. A delicious passionfruit & almond mousse with black sesame tuili and orange confit was also passed out, crafted by Dessert Truck. 

Overall, it was a fun event. My favorite hot pot skewer was the shrimp and the wood ear mushroom. I also really enjoyed the mala sauce mixed with cilantro and ground peanuts that went with each skewer. The ma (numbing) flavor of the broth and especially the mala sauce was quite intense, and really brought back a lot of memories of eating hotpot with friends in China for me. 

On the other hand, I didn't think that most of the hot pot skewers soaked up enough flavor while cooking in the woks. Perhaps it was just the nature of the event - as I have eaten it, hot pot in China is generally an informal meal eaten together in cold weather with friends all crowded on stools around a single pot. The food usually ends up getting quite soggy, and soaks up a whole lot of flavor from the broth. Thursday's Hot Pot Party was fun, but not a completely authentic hot pot dining experience. Some of the skewers didn't soak up much flavor from the broth. I understand that this is probably due to the location and setup. I just hope that in the future restaurant, the same communal, one pot, shared meal atmosphere is adhered to. Crowding around a steamy, spicy bubbling pot of delicious food with all your friends is probably the best thing about eating hot pot.

For more information about Ghost Street and their next event, feel free to check out their website at www.ghost-street.com.

Click on the thumbnails below to see the pictures from the event!