Money saving tips for meals at Haidilao hotpot chain trend on Chinese social media, but not all are impressed
- Customers are spending as little as US$1 per person to have meals at hotpot restaurant chain Haidilao, and sharing their hacks online
- The restaurant has no minimum spending and says it will not discriminate between low- and high-spending customers
For just seven yuan (US$1), you can have a reasonably satisfying meal at a popular hotpot chain in China: just spread free ground beef over rice that costs five yuan, and add a two yuan egg and complimentary tomatoes to a plain water hotpot base – also free – for a simple tomato egg drop soup.
Haidilao’s restaurants are known not just for their signature Sichuan-style hotpot soup, but also for offering a comprehensive dining experience. They have free snacks, condiments and side dishes, as well as services such as manicures and shoe-polishing for waiting customers.
The restaurants do not have a minimum spend, making it possible for some customers to access the freebies at a very affordable rate by being conscientious about what they order.
According to a screenshot shared on microblogging site Weibo on Thursday, a woman with two children wrote that she “could not resist” bringing her children to Haidilao “for the experience” after seeing online tips to save money at the restaurants while making use of the free services.
The table of three went to a Haidilao branch in Xiamen, in eastern China’s Fujian province, and spent 27 yuan in total – ordering a free water soup base, a half portion of rice noodles, one raw egg and one bowl of rice.
A waitress came to the rescue, bringing over toys for her children, as well as some free food, including tomatoes, steamed eggs and fruits. The waitress also helped to prepare a tomato and egg soup base with the ingredients for the children to have with rice, and made a sour and spicy sauce to mix with the rice noodles.
But this did not stop the customer from complaining about the service.
“I had a full meal but felt very awkward … The waitresses looked a bit unhappy about the low spending,” she wrote.
“Yes some food was served for free but the service attitude made me feel embarrassed – they didn’t serve me water when I was waiting to have my nails done.”
As of Friday afternoon, the original post on Xiaohongshu appeared to have been taken down. A Weibo post by another user sharing the screenshot and photos on Thursday attracted more than 570,000 reactions and 22,600 comments.
Many were critical of the original poster, who was not identified in the screenshots, accusing her of “acting like a beggar”.
“Why don’t you buy some food and cook at home rather than humiliate yourself at Haidilao?” one internet user wrote. “And what were you thinking to bring your children along, what kind of example were you setting? Restaurants need to make a profit and service staff need to get paid.”
“People go to hotpot for good food, what were you after? Just to eat tomatoes, eggs, rice or noodles? Why?” another asked.
The Post contacted the Haidilao restaurant based on a photo of the family’s receipt shared on Weibo. A manager who identified herself only by her family name, Yang, said she could not confirm whether the woman and her children ate at the restaurant as she was not on duty on that day, but that customers would not be treated differently based on how much they spent.
She added that the restaurant did not have a minimum spending threshold and that it was not for staff to consider whether the amount that customers spent would cover the cost of free services at the restaurant.
