Mongolian Hot Pot - Mon Land Hot Pot City

Not too long ago I had a chance to meet Jonathan Gold, the Pulitzer award winning food writer for the LA Weekly. I know what you're thinking, did I ask him for a recommendation? Of course I did! This is one of two places he recommended to me personally, and I'm so excited to finally come visit this place.

Mon Land is a Mongolian hotpot place with some Northern Chinese cuisine tossed in for good measure. I really can't vouch for whether real Mongolians eat this, as far as I know they have a lot of Yak and not a lot of squid or tofu, but it's marketed as such and I hear it's quite popular in China. Hot pot is almost the Chinese equivalent to a roasted turkey, as it's often served for large family parties for holidays and festivals.

When you sit down you are asked which broth you'd like. There's a spicy and a non-spicy version and you can get the best of broth worlds (wink) by asking for both. How do you get two broths when there's only one stove at your table? Presenting the greatest Chinese invention since paper: The Yuan Yang pot.

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