The Best Hot Pot in Melbourne for the Ultimate Winter Warmer

While summer weather trumps the dismal rain and bleak skies that come along with the cooler seasons, there’s one thing that autumn and winter do better: soulful comfort food. One of our favourite winter warmers to venture out and get is a steaming bowl of hot pot.

Whether it’s the classic Sichuan style, Thai, Japanese, Mongolian, or Cambodian variations, these beloved big bowls of soup heat us from the inside out.

Catch up with friends and family for a dinner you’ll all love, or simply indulge in a comforting lunch break, at these venues serving the best hot pot in Melbourne.

David’s Hot Pot

If you want authentic, Chinese Sichuan style hot pot David’s Hot Pot is the place to go. With multiple locations across Melbourne, David’s focusses on a traditional hot pot experience, combining Sichuan ingredients with premium Australian beef tallow in order to create various soup bases.

Choose from the classic or signature spicy beef tallow soup, mushroom base, seafood soup base, tomato and ox tail soup base, and more – just remember to take their spice-level warnings seriously!

If you’re unsure what produce to pick to dip in your soup, the helpful staff will happily recommend what meat, vegetables and condiments go best in each soup base.

Sitchu Tip: Don’t get David’s Hot Pot confused for David’s Master Pot, the brother restaurant serving up Sichuan Malatang. They’re equally as delicious, but two different things!

Multiple locations across Melbourne, see website for details

Dragon Hot Pot

Dragon Hot Pot is different to your traditional Chinese Sichuan hot pot restaurant, but it’s equally delicious. Instead of cooking your own meat and vegetables in your chosen broth, the talented chefs do it for you, so the hard work is taken out of it. This is known as Malatang, a Chinese street food.

When you enter a Dragon Hot Pot, you feel as though you’re entering a grocery store and restaurant hybrid. One wall is covered floor-to-ceiling with meat, vegetables, seafood, noodles and fungi, and once grabbing a pot and tongs, you can fill it to your heart’s content with the flavours you want included in your soup. You then pick your desired broth at the counter, and pay based on weight.

Sitchu Tip: The pots you’re given are huge, so don’t focus on filling up the pot, otherwise you’ll have a very expensive soup! Focus on what you know you can eat, instead.

Multiple locations across Melbourne, see website for details

Haidilao

It's autumn and getting colder - which is the perfect time for a steamy Haidilao hotpot. Head to Box Hill for a fix of some of the best hot pot in Melbourne - the reviews don't lie! Not only that, but the service is exceptionally friendly, there are wait staff who perform a noodle dance show and even a sauce and dessert bar that you can go up to as many times as you like. Everything is fresh and delicious and utterly comforting - and great for kids too. One for the whole family. 

Sky One Plaza, L2-01 Level 2/545-563 Station Street, Box Hill

Damiao Hotpot Melbourne

All you can eat hot pot for $39.90? Say less. Damiao Hotpot is offering a lunch buffet for an affordable price, serving up two hours of all-you-can eat hot pot – which is a LOT. Pick the meat, produce and noodles you want before taking it back to your table and cooking it in the bubbling broth of your choice – Sichuan style. If you’d rather come for dinner, the all-you-can-eat still stands, for $49.90. Either way, that’s one affordable buffet!

Level 1/388/396 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

Tan Hot Pot 

For those seeking the best (and hottest) hot pot in Melbourne, Tan Hot Pot undoubtedly deserves a spot on the list. With its innovative concept, mouthwatering dishes, and vibrant atmosphere, it's no wonder it's become a favoured destination for food enthusiasts across the city.

It's the only restaurant in Melbourne that offers duck blood hot pot, but if you're not so adventurous with your palate, fear not, for this Sichuan spot can do it all when it comes to ingredients you can cast into their flame-hued broth. From truffle beef, pork belly and prawns to Sichuan green pepper beef tripe, M9 wagyu and lotus roots, flavour is key here.

The only question you have to ask yourself is...can you handle the heat? 

Sitchu Tip: Get the brown sugar rice cakes on the side. 

130 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Cambodia’s Kitchen

Cambodia’s Kitchen is one of the first Cambodian restaurants to step foot into the CBD. They specialise in Cambodian noodle soup and have a hot pot deal that’s $45 for two people that’s quite distinctive in flavour and impossible to confuse with other types of hot pot, such as Sichuan and Thai. You also need to try the Cambodian fried chicken on rice – it’s delicious!

175 Russell Street, Melbourne

Nana Thai Hot Pot & BBQ

Where hot pot meets barbecue. Nana Thai Hot Pot & BBQ. Here, you’ll find all sorts of authentic Thai dishes, including their delicious range of mookata and moojum – Thai style hotpot. Here, you’ll simultaneously boil soup and barbecue meats using a portable stove at your table, experiencing herb-heavy, rich flavours. Expect to be waiting a little while to get in, though. This joint is so popular, there’s often lines out the door.

169 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Panda Hot Pot

When you think of the best hot pot in Melbourne, you think of Panda Hot Pot. This traditional Chinese hot pot spot is a showstopper, and a go-to for many families who want to celebrate a special occasion. Here, you’ll not only find authentic, packed-with-a-punch flavours, but salso a 1.5 tonne floating dragon suspended above your head as you eat. There’s also live entertainment, with performances on nightly, so you’re coming here for a full-blown show!

100 Victoria Street, Carlton

1060 Dandenong Road, Carnegie

Welive 

Tucked away in the heart of the CBD above Dragon Hotpot (there's a discreet entrance next to the Feng Shui store), ascend the stairs to find WeLive, a refined hot pot experience. An exquisite fusion of haute cuisine and elegant design, this intimate venue is led by seasoned chefs, and offers up a meticulously crafted menu that celebrates authentic flavours. 

The hot pot at Welive is a culinary journey, anchored in traditional Japanese sukiyaki, a delightful pot cuisine that combines pan-frying and boiling ingredients in a flavoursome broth. The experience has been transformed into an array of diverse set menus that cater to individual preferences, including a meat lover's set and a veg sukiyaki set. It all starts with an appetiser that leads into a richly satisfying hot pot and ends with a delectable dessert. 

Building on this foundation, they've shifted beyond tradition to include lighter, derivative soup bases, like a refreshing tomato soup pot, designed to enhance the natural flavours of  premium Wagyu beef, and complemented by a selection of seasonal vegetables. It's an all together harmonious blend of tastes and textures.

1/217 Russell Street, Melbourne 

QQ Chicky Pot 

A claypot with double the happiness - QQ Chicky Pot is a one-of-a-kind, lively restaurant putting mouthwatering flavours to the forefront. While they specialise in a dry pot of delicious chicken straight from the bustling streets of Hong Kong, the reason why QQ Chicky Pot is on our list of best hot pot in Melbourne is this: once you've relished every last bite of the savoury chicken, QQ Chicky Pot will effortlessly transform your claypot into a sizzling hotpot. With the addition of a slow-cooked, umami-rich soup base and an assortment of the freshest ingredients cooked to perfection, you can be sure to enjoy a soulful and nourishing hot pot, best paired with a beer or soju. 

11 Heffernan Lane, Melbourne

The Glen, shop 006/235 Springvale Road, Glen Waverley

Fishpot

In Chinatown's vibrant hotpot scene, Fishpot is the new late-night addition offering a clever solution to prevent ingredients from getting lost in the pot.

Each table in the restaurant features a button that activates a hotpot lift, effortlessly straining and lifting up your prawns, wagyu, fish balls and veggies, revealing everything once hidden beneath the bubbling surface.

Uniquely known for their hotpots with fish-based soup, with signature options including coral trout, grouper and parrot fish, this is one of the best spots for hot pot in Melbourne if you're a massive seafood lover. There are almost 100 ingredients to choose from, with various platters of fresh seafood, premium wagyu, vegetable and tofu being sent out to your table. 

9/206 Bourke Street, Melbourne 

914B Doncaster Road, Doncaster East

Wong’s Late Night Hot Pot

Want a late-night meal that’s not a Macca’s run? Wong’s Late Night Hot Pot is serving up premium quality hot pot all night, right into the early hours of the morning. Their Chongqing hot pot is bursting with flavour, with the goal of transforming patrons to the streets of Chongqing in China. Come for the hotpot but stay for the Sichuan and Chongqing desserts. It’s the perfect midnight feed post-date or night out.

208/210 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

Soi 38

Soi 38 is another Thai hot pot and barbecue spot in Melbourne, and it’s incredibly delicious. Here, your chocices are Moo Kra Tha, which is a set of mixed meat, seafood, noodles and vegetables served with a barbecue hot plate, or Thai hot pot, which is served with a bubbling pot of stock instead of the barbecue plate. Food that’s as colourful as the interiors of its vibrant restaurant? We love to see it.

38 Mcilwraith Place, Melbourne

Happy Lamb Hot Pot

For Halal and vegetarian-friendly hot pot, head to Happy Lamb. This Mongolian style hot pot restaurant in Melbourne is all about good food and great vibes – plus a whole lot of dining deals! You’ll regularly find all sorts of specials here, such as all-you-can-eat starting from $31.90 (the price shifts depending on what time you go). Not feeling like a buffet? Happy Lamb also has an a la cart menu for you to choose from. Bring the whole gang here, because if you buy five bowls of hot pot, you get the sixth free!

173/175 Exhibition Street, Melbourne

Spice World Hot Pot

Don’t like sharing? Spice World has got your back. Instead of one big, communal broth that you and your friends cook your food in, you can choose your own individual mini pot of broth. So, you all also stay happy if you’re after different flavours! Spice World went viral on social media a couple of years ago for serving up Barbie Dolls covered in thinly sliced Wagyu beef, but their food is so much more than something to gawk at. Think melt-in-your-mouth meats and perfectly flavoured broth. You need to try it for yourself.

172-176 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

Ten BBQ & Hotpot

$54 for unlimited wagyu, KBBQ, hot pot and bingsu? Ten BBQ & Hot Pot has it all! Tucked away in Southbank, select from an array of over 25 BBQ staples, including marinated beef brisket, belly pork, chicken, prawns, and more. With nine diverse soup bases to choose from, alongside a variety of toppings, sides, and sauces, you're in for a culinary adventure. Cook up a storm right at your table on the hot pot and grill - it's the perfect group dinner you won't want to miss. 

Sitchu Tip: Don't skimp out on the unlimited bingsu—a delightful milk-based shaved ice dessert adorned with sweet toppings.

143 City Road, Southbank 

If you've loved our guide to the best hot pot in Melbourne, you'll be sure to enjoy more winter warmer favourites, including nourishing bowls of ramen and steaming glasses of mulled wine.