Old Sichuan

Great food and broth. Especially like their duck blood and tofu. The meat is melt in your mouth. Server is attentive and the self serve station is generous with edamame, ice cream and soft serve.

Old Sichuan’s spicy hot pot is an all-time favorite. The tofu and duck blood are flavorful and silky, especially with garlic and sesame oil. Braised beef tendon, tripe, and intestines get more tender as they cook, and crispy fried dough sticks are a must. The broth is fragrant and numbing but gentle on the stomach the next day. The complimentary cold noodles are tangy and refreshing. However, the decor feels a bit dated and culturally specific—hard to judge, but it looks slightly unclean (maybe just a false impression). Still, it’s a solid go-to for hot pot lovers!

I recently had a wonderful dining experience at Old Sichuan in Taipei, which I have visited many times with friends and sisters. Every time I visit, I feel the warmth and unique flavor of Sichuan cuisine. The restaurant is famous for its mandarin duck hotpot, and indeed, this is the dish I always look forward to. The hotpot broth is very rich, with many traditional spices, making the flavor really rich and attractive. The seafood here is always fresh, and the beef is sweet and tender, making every bite very delicious. I often spend 2-3 hours here, enjoying the food while chatting with friends, creating memorable memories. One of the highlights of the restaurant is the sour plum juice, the perfect drink to balance the spicy taste of the hotpot. This sour and sweet flavor is easy to drink and is an ideal thirst quencher for the cold winter. The restaurant is often very crowded, so if you intend to visit, remember to book a table in advance. The cozy and friendly atmosphere of Old Sichuan is truly an ideal place to enjoy delicious food and spend time with loved ones.

There's something about a steaming pot of spiciness and a selection of fresh protein that makes my belly smile ... the assortment of seafood - all the condiments and sauces you could want - leveled up the experience of my first night in Taipei and set the bar fairly high for future foodie stops. The buffet of rice, veggies, pickles, and desserts catered for even the pickiest of eaters. Thankfully, I had promised myself that, on this trip, any pickiness I may have will be put aside to make room for everything Taiwan had to offer. This was the closest to fine dining I would get on this trip. The rest of my time was spent visiting indigenous villages and eating traditional foods. So, DO try this but make time to meet and talk with the indigenous people because that kind of food and hospitality cannot be bought.

The food served is fresh, and the service crew is customer-focused. The restaurant is suitable for family and friends gatherings. Booking is required.

Overall food quality was good. Taste was not as special as I thought it would be given the difficulty booking the reservation. We were given 1.5hrs but had a hard time finding our server after the initial order. The ordering process was a bit odd as he recommended something that was out of order, and suggested us to bite way more than we could chew. The portion size was out of portion. None of the food were the right size for a table less than 4, no wonder the price list seems a bit high. We ended up eating only about 2/3 of what we ordered after we turned down the server’s suggestion to order 2 more dishes. The service attitude is very nice though. The environment and ambience was very loud and noisy, not great for chattering.

On the first day we came, table wasn’t available until late of night. We decided to call for reservation on the next day. It was such a good choice for hotpot. Seafood was super fresh. Soup was hot and spicy, so good. We can ask for duck blood jelly as much as we want.

Great food, atmosphere and service! One of the best in Taipei. It would have been a 4 star had we been able to spend more than 90 mins. It is a little too rush for a hearty meal like this (they do tell you that at reservation)

Cons: Meat scraps come to your table when I ordered the wet aged beef. I thought I was in a established hot pot... not bargain hot pot. You've got no sauce buffet table. And you can only get one type of sauce ?? Wtf Annoyed af rn.

The spicy hotpot here is very good and comes with free duck blood tofu. You can ask them to refill it for free, as well. The savory broth is made with goji berries and is also delicious in its own right, but if you like Sichuan-style hotpot, you are probably here for the spicy pot. The ingredient quality is very good, and I have yet to be disappointed trying various things on the menu the several times I have come. The menu has English and Japanese, so it is tourist friendly if you don't mind a lot of pointing.

This place is SO good. It was recommended to us by our tour guide. We had a party of 5 and ordered the half and half - one side contained clear broth and the other side contained the spicy broth. Both were delicious but my favorite thing had to be the duck blood. It was my first time having it but I've had my fair share of pork blood to know that this was good. It was very flavorful and practically melts in your mouth. The broth does get a bit spicy after awhile and the spicy soup is very greasy so if you have a weak stomach, this might not be the best thing for you. Another thing to note is that that they have many different grades of beef. We got the basic one, and it tasted just fine. They served a few appetizers before the start of the meal and the spicy cold noodles they gave us was extremely tasty. The meal concluded with free ice cream cones, which was the perfect end to a hot and spicy meal.

I'm a fan of Sichuan hotpot （麻辣火鍋）, and this is one of the best ones I've been to so far. Quality meats and seafood. Lovely side dishes (we had an amazing spicy glass noodles). And absolutely fantastic broths. It's probably outside most people's everyday budget, but it a lovely meal for those who like spicy food. (Of course, my option may change after my daily trip to the thunder bucket tomorrow. Fingers crossed.)

Great experience, delicious hot pot. Not really too spicy but with special flavor behind the spicy. Service is also great, desert to come here again!

Unlimited refills of silken soft duck blood in a delicious schezuan spicy broth. Yerm

It's best to make a reservation here - we tried to come here once around dinnertime and left because the next available table was at 9:30. I called a few days in advance and made a reservation for 5 people at 5:30 (the closest time they had to what we wanted). The food and the broth were fantastic - the only reason why I'm not giving 5 stars is because they enforce a time limit on your meal (which makes more sense to me at an all-you-can-eat place). We wouldn't have stayed much longer than our time since we were pretty full, but I didn't like the feeling of being rushed during our last 15 minutes (and they will enforce it! But I guess the good news is that they must be very good at keeping reservation times, and I guess it's a necessity due to the popularity of this place!) I would highly recommend that you know what you are going to order before you sit down - we probably wasted too much time debating that before we actually started eating. Another thing, and I don't know if this is temporary or not, but it was CASH ONLY when I went. We had to run to the ATM before our meal. So double check before you plan on using a credit card.