David’s Master Pot review: April Ooi visits East Victoria Park restaurant for hotpot, wanton soup

My friends and I often joke that there’s no need for make-up when we get hotpot together. The lip-plumping Sichuan broth and blush-inducing hot soup is enough to bring a rosy glow to our faces, while the collagen boost from the bone broth is just what we need to tackle the winter uglies. Our collective favourite spot is David’s Master Pot in East Vic Park. Not only is the soup delicious, the variety of ingredients (some even said to have beauty-enhancing benefits) is unmatched. We always get the signature malatang soup — it’s authentic and flavourful with more than 20 different Chinese herbs and spices. You can pick whichever ingredients you like for your bowl, but a few of our favourites are Chinese doughnut, sweet potato noodles, bean curd and tofu. And because you pay by weight, it’s easy to go overboard. The minimum weight for a soup bowl is 400g but a big bowl for two cost us $23.65. We also tried the stir-fry bowl for the first time, which has all the same Sichuan flavour, minus the broth. For the stir-fry the minimum weight is 1kg, and we just made it over the line. The bowl set us back $45.33 but it could definitely be shared between three to four people. Ingredients wise, we chose beef of every variety including thinly sliced beef rolls, beef balls, coriander marinated beef and spicy marinated beef. It’s a bit frustrating that the minimum weight is so high, but at least there was plenty of leftovers. While hotpot is the main event, the sleeper hit of the menu is the deep-fried pork belly ($12.80). It is fried golden, unapologetically fatty, and dangerously addictive. The little fried pumpkin pies ($7.80) were four pieces of mochi-textured, deep-fried balls filled with sweet pumpkin puree inside. They are a personal favourite and great to break up all the spice. David’s has an underrated a la carte menu as well. We ordered their spicy prawn and pork wanton soup ($15.80), which came with 12 pieces of tender wantons in a chilli oil-heavy broth. We had this with the complimentary bowl of rice we got with the hotpot, which evened out the strong salty flavour. In terms of value and taste, David’s Master Pot has all other places beat. From the complimentary rice to the generous sauce station and high quality ingredients, everything is just perfect. David’s Master Pot 786 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park OPEN Monday-Sunday 11.30am-9.30pm CONTACT 0433 221 012, davidsmasterpot.com.au BOOKINGS No THE VERDICT Enormous and customisable noodle bowls perfect for these chilly months. 19/20