Thomas Li, owner of Li Hot Pot & BBQ, said he believes hot pot restaurants are an emerging food trend popping up in America’s big cities, including Austin. But the Chinese immigrant recalls that the specific style of cuisine was nowhere to be found when he came to the U.S. a handful of years ago.

“At the beginning, only Chinese people knew what hot pot was. Slowly, other people came in,” Li said.

Li states his restaurant is the only one in Austin serving authentic Chinese hot pot, or a style of cooking food in a pot of boiling broth at one’s table. Other restaurants in the area serve shabu shabu—a style of Korean hot pot—Li said.

For diners who have never tried hot pot before, Li said he and his staff can assist in learning which menu items to order and how to eat them.

First, a diner chooses from a broth choice to cook food items in. Li Hot Pot & BBQ serves four types of broth, including a spicy broth and a mushroom-based vegetarian option. Tables can also order a separate pot with two types of broth.

The ingredient menu at Li Hot Pot & BBQ includes a list of items that are most commonly ordered by diners in China, Li said, including marbled pork, enoki mushroom and baby bok choy. Li recommends that first-time hot pot diners try one ingredient each from the meat, seafood, meatball and vegetable options.

The restaurant also boasts ingredients that Li believes cannot be found anywhere else in Austin. More adventurous customers can order authentic Chinese items, such as pig brain, beef aorta or tong hao—a leafy vegetable—to cook in the broth.

“If [you] want authentic Chinese hot pot, this is the only place in Austin,” Li said.

A hot pot meal includes a dipping sauce handmade by the customer mixed to their preference. After cooking an ingredient in the hot pot, a diner dips the food into a sauce made from sesame sauce, hot chili oil, hoisin sauce or a handful of other options.

Li Hot Pot & BBQ additionally offers two karaoke rooms in the back for customers. The karaoke rooms are open all day and feature a roster of songs in both English and Chinese.

Diners can eat, drink and sing in the karaoke rooms, enjoying the full slate of offerings at the restaurant, Li said.

Li Hot Pot & BBQ

825 E. Rundberg Lane, Ste. E6, Austin

512-299-6798 | www.lihotpotbbq.com

Hours: Mon., Wed.-Thu. 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun. noon-9 p.m.; closed Tue.