Sorry, Little Fella: Boiling a Bear for Lunch at Giguo Japanese Hot Pot

Giguo opened a few months ago in our Carrefour/Prosperity Plaza mall. Their shtick is a cute bear in their advertising and drawn around the restaurant, although the wood tones and grey colours evoke a more high-end feel. They offer Japanese-style hot pot; it's Japanese-style because a Taiwanese company owns and runs it. Many of the soup bases are Japanese-style.

This was my first time at Giguo. The server spoke a little English and brought me an English menu. However, this is the type of restaurant where you order on your phone via a QR code, so translating the menu there is easy.

They have a large variety of soup bases. The $0 option is a Japanese kombu broth. From there, you can choose an NT$29 tomato soup, or NT$49 for sukiyaki (a sweeter soy sauce, sugar, and mirin-based broth) or beef bone broth. NT$79 gets interesting: spicy Sichuan (with a gelatinized flavour bear), angelica root and red date broth, or genki mushroom broth. These options also come with a small side. Finally, for NT$99, you can get seared pepper chicken soup served with chicken drumsticks, or spicy miso oyster soup with oysters and clams. These prices are in addition to the requirement of purchasing a meat or seafood option. When I went, it seemed like only the Sichuan soup included the bear. The restaurant's ads include a milk or cheese broth with a white bear. This has become a seasonal or promotional broth, so it may or may not be available when you visit.

If you only want vegetables from the all-you-can-eat section, the minimum spend is NT$348, so it is a bit higher-end than some other chains like Laozi hot pot.

I went for the NT$79 spicy Sichuan broth. Two reasons: 1) I always want to try the spicy option, especially if it's Sichuan-flavoured, and 2) I had to check out the bear. It seems so cute, but it's also a little deranged to get a frozen bear you toss into your soup to melt. I tasted the soup before and after; I can't say it adds much different flavour, so I'd say it's mostly for show.

As I ordered on my phone, I chose the pork and beef combo for NT$458. At checkout, I was offered a decent amount of seafood: two varieties of shrimp, a couple of clams, two scallops, and a few slices of fish, all for NT$199. Usually I don't need the extra, but today it looked like a good amount of extra food for the price, so I added it. I'm happy I did; the seafood pairs really well with the Sichuan broth.

Plenty of extras are included. Sodas, coffee, tea, and three options of ice cream. The dessert section is one of the bigger ones I've seen, with lychee boba, brown sugar tapioca pearls, marshmallows, chocolate pieces, and chocolate sauce, just to name a few. They also have a few rice options: plain white rice, mushroom butter rice, and sukiyaki beef (basically unlimited gyudon). The vegetable and noodle options are varied, too. This location has similar options to Laozi Hot Pot, right across the walkway.

One thing I really liked, which I haven't seen at many other hot pot places: a device with multiple buttons. You can call to clean your table, refill your broth, call for help, or order more. The general help and order options could be combined, but being able to press a button to get more broth is a really helpful addition.

Photo by Kalen Johnson

One thing to note: while this restaurant is perfectly fine for solo diners, they are well equipped to serve groups of four. They provide dual hot pot options, and also show in all their advertising the meat waterfall, where large amounts of meat are draped along poles to simulate a waterfall. You could order this for yourself, but it's a lot of meat. Generally, this is for a 2-4 person group. Also note: there is a 100-minute time limit. For me, by myself, that's plenty of time. However, if you're with a group, I can see how it can be a little limiting. This is a common complaint among local Taiwanese reviews.

So, after all the options, I finally settled in and started eating. The frozen bear came out much later than the hot pot; I actually wondered if it was included, so I ordered one. It was included, though, and the wait staff helpfully removed the extra one I ordered from my bill before I paid. I felt a little bad throwing the tiny fella into the boiling broth.

The broth was fantastic, very rich, with an impressive depth of flavour. It's full of spices and mildly numbing. Yet another broth where you probably don't need a sauce, but I can't help but put together a dipping sauce. The standards are available: soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, onions, etc. They also provided bird's-eye chilli, as well as a "hell sesame sauce." Of course I added a scoop of that. Even mixed with soy sauce and vinegar, it still packed some heat, but it was very delicious.

So the bill, after that pesky 10% service fee, came to NT$810. The priciest hot pot I've reviewed so far. Without the seafood add-on, it would have been under NT$600, so while it's not an everyday hot pot (at least for me), I would say it's a nice balance between a splurge meal and a special-occasion meal, especially if you bring friends or family. They do provide enough extras that make the price feel worth it, and all the food was very high quality.

Photo by Kalen Johnson