It’s the brrrrr months again, so it’s great weather for some hotpot!
I was recently invited to try Champion Hotpot (first visit) but I wasn’t able to try the Mongolian station, so I went back with my sis (second visit) so we could enjoy a more leisurely lunch.
It helps that Champion Hotpot is located at the ground floor of Santolan Town Plaza – just a short car ride from home. I have like a yes and no feeling about Santolan Town Plaza – on one hand, it’s very convenient, parking is easy, the place is clean, it is not crowded. On the other hand, there is literally nothing else to do there, LOL. There are restaurants, a Rustan’s Marketplace with limited groceries available, some salons, a small True Value, and a movie theater that closes early.
So we only go there for a specific reason – like, if we want to eat at one of the restaurants there, or watch a movie (it’s a nice movie theater that’s clean and there are less people) – and then we leave because there is really nothing else to do.
But, if you only want to go out for a couple of hours and not waste time cruising the mall and literally compete with other people at the mall for seats, tables, products, or stand in line, and you live nearby, Santolan Town Plaza is the place to go.
Champion Hotpot
I enjoyed my meals at Champion Hotpot.
It is an unlimited hotpot set up where you only pay P788+ (weekday lunch) or P988+ (weekday dinner, weekends, holidays).
First, choose your soup base. You can choose 2 soup bases, but the ones that are highly recommended are the Laksa and the Chicken Coconut.
You can change the soup bases but there is an additional charge of P200+ (price depends on the soup).
We went with Laksa and Chicken Coconut both visits. I wanted to try the Tom Yum but it was not available.
The Chicken Coconut reminds me of Binakol, similar to good tinola, but using coconut water for the soup and includes coconut strips.
The Laksa was flavorful, creamy and slightly spicy.
Meats & Seafood
You can ask the waiter for beef, pork, chicken, squid, shrimp, etc… and they will bring it out to you, just like the samgyupsal places do.
On my return visit, we mostly just ordered beef and shrimp 🙂 For the shrimp, take care not to overcook them. Cooked just right, the shrimp were fresh, sweet and succulent!
Here’s a quick video of our lunch:
Balls!
They have the nice ones – lobster balls, cheese balls filled with mozzarella, taro balls, sea urchin balls, even that one that looks like a gift pouch!
These are not the cheap balls like squid balls and fish balls. These are the good ones.
You just get your fill and cook them in the hotpot soup.
Make Your Own Sauce
Another thing I enjoyed at Champion Hotpot was being able to make my own sauce.
They have all the ingredients laid out. They also have sauce recipes that you can follow.
During my visits, I made mouthwatering herbs sauce, creamy garlic sesame, fragrant sate sauce – out of all of them, I much preferred the herb sauce but I only put half the the amount of vinegar, put way less chilis, and added a bit more sugar. Remember, you can make it to suit your preferences 🙂
This (herbs sauce) is the best dip that goes well with everything! It highlights the flavor of the fresh, succulent, perfectly cooked shrimp without masking its sweetness. It also doesn’t overpower the beef and other things I dip in it.
Mongolian Station
I wasn’t able to get to the Mongolian station the first time, so on my second visit, I specifically made it a point to try the Mongolian. But I put a bit too much sauce, it ended up salty, so I kept adding more rice to balance the saltiness — I ended up way too full from my Mongolian bowl, LOL.
So here’s my tip – don’t put too much sauce when making your Mongolian bowl, hahaha. Just make enough so you won’t get too full and still have room for other food.
To make your Mongolian bowl:
Get a bowl, add some rice and noodles, scoop up your choice of meats, aromatics & vegetables (garlic, onions, leeks, green onions, carrots, etc…), mushrooms, and sauces. There are quite a few sauces available – Mongolian, Gochujang, Peanut Sauce, etc… just make your own mix. Sugar is also available if you want to add a bit of sweetness to your bowl.
Then hand your bowl over to the Mongolian station staff to cook. He will give you a buzzer thing which will “alarm” when your rice bowl is ready.
Others
They also have fried rice, Taiwanese braised pork, sweet and sour meatballs, noodles, tempura, some sushi, siopao, etc…
Drinks
They have water and various juices on dispensers. They also have softdrinks. Beer is also available. They also have coffee (automatic machine) and Milo. All of these are UNLIMITED and included in the hotpot price!
Only the wine and canned beverages are not included.
Dessert
There were some cakes if you want dessert, but it’s not a big spread. The cakes are from Scout’s Honor next door 🙂
Hours
Apparently, they have a last call at 1:30pm and they stop refilling. I didn’t know that and we arrived around 1pm because I thought they were open the whole day. Good thing they didn’t rush us and we were still able to enjoy our hotpot.
They are only open from 11:30am – 2:00pm and 5:30pm to 10:00pm.
Summary
Would I go back again? Yes 🙂
Since the pandemic, I’ve gotten so used to ordering stuff online AND I have been decluttering, that malling does not have the same draw as it did before. So when craving for some hotpot, Champion Hotpot is very convenient for me and I can just go home right after and not waste time window shopping at the mall but almost never buying anything (LOL, when you have to ask yourself if you really need it, will you actually use it, and if it sparks joy, and will it just end up as clutter next month, 90% of the time I end up not buying it haha). So yeah, when I just want to leave the house but not necessarily go malling… this is a good option.
It depends on your situation, but going to the restaurant is more convenient than setting up the whole hotpot thing at home with all the broth preparing, chopping, and cleaning up, and I won’t even get that many sauce choices at home. So for me, going to Champion is better than DIY-ing it at home.
Tables at Champion Hotpot are also more spacious than compared to restaurant tables at the mall, so I can totally see my friends and I having a get together here.
The unlimited hotpot price also makes it easier when splitting the bill with friends. Even if you’re not splitting the bill, one is spared from having to mentally add up the prices every time one asks for another plate of something 🙂
While the restaurant has a 90-minute stay policy, from what I observed, they don’t really enforce it if it isn’t too busy. That was one of my worries since I like to take my time eating and chatting, and time limits at restaurants are usually a turn-off.
They also have a NO LEFTOVERS policy, so just get what you can eat. Don’t fill up too much on the Mongolian, haha!
Champion Hotpot
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