The Penghu County branch of Maru-Maru (媽嚕媽嚕旋轉刷刷鍋) was established in 2003, shortly after the chain became a hit in Taipei’s Zhonghe District (中和) offering hot pot ingredients on a conveyor belt. Since then, conveyor-belt hot pots have fallen out of favor and it has become the only Maru-Maru left anywhere in Taiwan. At its waterfront location in Magong City, it’s known for its reasonable prices.
Everything in it is all-you-can-eat — from the shrimp to sliced-to-order meats to trays of Penghu chrysanthemum greens — for NT$250 at lunch on weekdays and NT$295 at dinner and weekends. It is not the fanciest dining around, but one order of live clams here looks strikingly similar to what people are eating across the street for NT$250 in one of the main seafood houses.
The restaurant is a single upstairs room with diner-style bar seating and a few long tables for large parties, families or soldiers. Folksy touches are everywhere. There is fruit, eggs, popcorn and an old-school cooler with Coca Cola in glass bottles. On a neighboring counter sits a jumbo household cooker with rice, a crock of minced pork and some delicately spiced duck blood soup.
Photo: Enru Lin, Taipei Times
The most notable feature of the dining area is a conveyor belt that sends plates streaming past diners at a leisurely rate. Each dish holds an individual ingredient for the pot, such as dumplings, miniature hot dogs, fish cakes and wedges of tofu. The conveyer belt also delivers drinking water and soup stock (tuna and bonito fish simmered with chicken bone over slow heat).
The more substantial add-ons are arranged along a wall. Maru-Maru has an expansive vegetable aisle featuring most of the common vegetables (cabbage, spinach, bamboo, corn, baby corn, taro, peppers, oyster mushrooms, wood ear) and uncommon ones like Chinese sauerkraut and chrysanthemum greens. Mum leaves have a unique nutty flavor that gets richer and sweeter when they are boiled. Sourced locally, the ones here are tender and mild enough to be eaten raw with some sesame oil and rice vinegar.
A special touch at the bar is the raw home-style noodles, which only need three minutes in boiling soup. You can then assemble them with a soft-boiled egg, a sprig of spring onion and a bit of hot beef for a satisfying bowl of beef noodles.
Photo: Enru Lin, Taipei Times
In Maru-Maru’s early days, meats and seafood circulated on the conveyer belt, but now they are ordered through waitstaff and sliced to order. There is no menu slip here and the staff simply list the options: Pork, lamb, beef, chicken, shrimp, clams, short-necked clams, oysters. It’s a selection without premium cuts, but the meats are flavorful and beautifully marbled and the restaurant is known mainly for its seafood.
Service is very brisk and orders are filled completely every time in less than a minute.
Photo: Enru Lin, Taipei Times
Photo: Enru Lin, Taipei Times
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