Fancy Chinese Hot Pot Specialist Shancheng Lameizi Finally Opens in San Diego | Eater San Diego

"The latest addition to San Diego's hot pot scene feels like the fanciest one yet: Shancheng Lameizi, first announced in 2019, has finally landed on Convoy Street in time for Chinese New Year. The well-established chain has a nearly 30-year history in China—its first of more than 20 locations opened in Beijing in 1993—and since expanding to the U.S. in 2016 it has opened three branches in California. Best known for its spicy Sichuan hot pot that hails from Chongqing, the Convoy Center restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner and features three dining rooms decorated with Chinese artwork and furnishings, with each table set with a central cauldron. Soups range from the signature spicy-and-numbing broth flavored with hot chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, bean sauce, and spices (offered in three heat levels) to milder pork bone, mushroom, or tomato broths, and the ingredient selection includes wagyu and Kobe beef, lamb shoulder, pork intestine, cuttlefish dumplings, lotus room, tofu skin, and Chongqing tapioca noodles. As an upscale hot pot spot, it also provides amenities such as hair bands and eyeglass cleaning cloths to protect diners from splashing broth, bathrooms stocked with new toothbrushes and other toiletries, and a condiment counter plus a variety of free snacks and desserts, from sweet purple rice porridge to fried sesame balls." - Candice Woo