Happy Lamb

"At polished spot Happy Lamb Hot Pot in Holborn, there are comfortable booths and big round tables for groups, all of which belie the potential mess you might make fishing out a bouquet of enoki mushrooms last seen in your spicy broth 10 minutes ago. You need a couple of broths—one fizzing with chilli and Sichuan pepper is a must—and from there it’s a case of how many things you want to dip, dunk, and slurp up over a bowl of rice. Finely sliced rib-eye and lamb shoulder go down a treat, as do chunks of tofu, cabbage leaves, and hand-cut noodles. " - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna

"At polished spot Happy Lamb Hot Pot in Holborn, there are comfortable booths and big round tables for groups, all of which belie the potential mess you might make fishing out a bouquet of enoki mushrooms last seen in your spicy broth 10 minutes ago. You need a couple of broths—one fizzing with chilli and Sichuan pepper is a must—and from there it’s a case of how many things you want to dip, dunk, and slurp up over a bowl of rice. Finely sliced rib-eye and lamb shoulder go down a treat, as do chunks of tofu, cabbage leaves, and hand-cut noodles. " - Heidi Lauth Beasley, Jake Oliver, Rianne Shlebak, Sinead Cranna

"The Mongolian-style hotpot is one of the finest (and most fun) examples of self-cooked meals done right. At polished spot Happy Lamb Hot Pot in Holborn, there are comfortable booths and big round tables, all of which belie the potential mess you might make fishing out a bouquet of enoki mushrooms last seen in your spicy broth 10 minutes ago. Broth, meat, and vegetables are the name of the game here. You need a couple of broths—one fizzing with chilli and Sichuan pepper is a must—and from there it’s a case of how many things you want to dip, dunk, and slurp up over a bowl of rice. Finely sliced rib-eye and lamb shoulder go down a treat, as do chunks of tofu, cabbage leaves, and hand-cut noodles. Your table and sidecar will quickly fill up with ingredients but, trust us, you work up an appetite cooking it yourself. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch" - Jake Missing

"Mongolia-based chain Little Sheep Hot Pot arrives in London with four soup bases: “milky” bone marrow broth; spicy bone marrow broth; pickled cabbage broth; and tomato broth. Opt for either half and half or split three-ways. The usual hot pot suspects make an appearance like a wide selection of choi, noodles and thinly slices of beef, pork and tripe, but the fresh lamb loin is cooked on a hot slab of slate that’s tilted at an angle, so all the meaty cooking juices flow right into the stock getting more delicious as time goes on. Plenty of options for the non-meat eaters, too. Fish tofu, fish with tobiko, an impressive seafood platter served on a bed of ice, homemade potato noodles and taro vermicelli noodle bundles." - Angela Hui