Best hotpot around.... just remember to make reservations

When I asked my Chinese coworkers for a hotpot recommendation back in the day, they all unanimously responded, "Haidilao."

The food is great, the selection of food is great, the sauce choices are great, and most refreshingly of all, the service is great!
It's not common in a crowded Beijing restaurant that I can grab someone's attention as soon as I want something, place an order, and then not have to worry whether I have to remind the waitress about it or not every 5 minutes or not. Somehow, Haidilao managed to pull it off. (I guess staff training helps. Someone also told me that the waitresses get a lot of great benefits not usually given to waitresses; including a special school/nursery for their kids to go to free. I don't know how much of this is true, but since the owner of the place seems to have some unusually advanced insights into the relationship between making money and treating people well, I wouldn't be too surprised if it were all true.)

The only problem is, apparently other people also caught on that Haidilao is a great choice for hotpot, because without reservations, you may have to wait upwards of two hours for a table. Showing another rare characteristic of forethought, Haidilao has anticipated this long wait and set up tiny tables with board games and fruits and nuts platters (though I'd rather just sit down and eat the meal I came for). And if you really want, you can even get your nails done. I kinda wish they'd get rid of this option, as the nauseating smell of chemicals waifing over is almost as overpowering as the hotpot itself.

With the pot split in half, one side for regular broth and one side for spicy broth, please note that they don't mess around with the hot peppers. I love spicy food, but if they add the entire bag of pepper sauce into the broth, it becomes a potent antiseptic that brings waves of tears to my eyes. I'd recommend asking for half the bag to be added - then you can add more to taste (especially since they fill it up with regular broth later, diluting the spiciness).

And at the end of the day, stomach full of meat, boiled veggies, some self-made peanut sauce concoction, and beer.... the bill comes out, and you can't help but smile.