Eat Spicy Taiwanese Hot Pot From Beautiful Cloisonne Bronze Pots at Black Knight in CBD
As true Beijingers, we spend our entire winter scoping out delicious hot pot. Before the heat swoops in to ruin our hunt, we were able to find a Taiwanese hot pot restaurant tucked away in Dawanglu's Winterless Center, next to Kro’s Nest. The 300-square-meter Black Knight can fit over 100 people spread out among tables for two, four, and small groups on the first floor, as well as private rooms for larger groups on the second floor.
From the outside, it’s hard to tell if the venue is a bar or a restaurant, with large, glossy floor-to-ceiling windows. The confusion continues inside with Black Knight's Japanese gangster branding (its Chinese name, 黑武士 hēi wǔshì, means black Samurai or warrior) and Hennessy Cognac XO wall displays laid out side-by-side with leather sofas. Look closer though and you'll see that in fact the tables are kitted out for hot pot, the Black Knight name now over 35 years old having been launched in 1981 in Taipei by Shi Dade.
We opted for the signature combo of half spicy, half original broth (RMB 198) served from a pretty cloisonne bronze pot, which came pre-packed with pork ribs and yam. Black Knight counts itself among the hot pot restaurants whereby you can drink the broth before and after preparing the meats, and when compared to the recently reviewed Little Faigo, this rendition is more flavorful and better seasoned.
Even after we cooked the meat, the broth remained delicious, a change from somewhere like Xiabu Xiabu where the broth is undrinkable at the end of the meal. The secret behind this broth? Manager Jason Woo tells us that they "boil three big pots of broth for hours every day using pork bones, and that all of the broth is sold out come nighttime." The waiters also add additional broth to the hot pot, instead of copping out and adding boiled water.
I preferred the original broth, finding that the spicy broth was too spicy for my tastes, containing more kick than at Topwin Center's Coucou,also hailing from Taiwan. The pork ribs in both broths were tasty, benefiting from 24 hours of seasoning before being rubbed with flour and fried. We also enjoyed the tofu, which is homemade daily, and according to Woo, still a work in progress: “We are trying to make it as good as the tofu we have in Taiwan." Also, don’t forget to order Black Knight's special white sesame sauce made from sesame oil, chopped celery, shallot, garlic, and chili oil.
Meat ranges from RMB 58-680 a plate, shrimp or beef balls are RMB 18-38, and vegetables RMB 12-28. If you're not in the mood for hot pot, they also offer hearty bowls of Taiwanese noodles (RMB 18-58). To pair with your drinks, order some pot-stewed dishes, of which we recommend the beef tendon, which was particularly soft, and much like the broth, tongue-tinglingly spicy.
Hoegaarden, Heineken, and some Taiwanese beers (RMB 15-22) pepper the drinks menu, along several flavored beers such as pineapple, grapefruit, lychee, and mango. For something stronger there's Taiwanese baijiu made of sorghum (RMB 158-300). For non-alcoholic beverages you'll find cider and hey song (a Taiwanese root beer, RMB 15), as well as a sweetened white gourd tea (RMB 48 per kettle).
Black Knight may be a little on the pricier side, but the high quality of the food and drinks justify the added cost. As with all hot pots adventures, it would be best to visit with a larger group so as to keep the total down and so that you are able try more of the dishes on offer.
Black Knight
Daily 11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30-12pm. 103, Unit A, Winterless Center, 1 Xidawang Lu, Chaoyang District (6538 8789)
黑武士：朝阳区西大望路1号温特莱中心A座底商103
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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos courtesy of Black Knight, Tracy Wang
