New Eats is a semi-regular column from Shanghai's eternal buffet of the brand-new. This city doesn't just open restaurants, it speed-runs them: concepts launched with champagne toasts and hashtags, then quietly retired to the big KTV in the sky. In between? Absolute gems. We're here to catch the sparkle before it fades – the bowls of noodles worth worship, the bars mixing more than just overpriced gimmicks, the spots that might actually survive past their first rent cycle. Strap in. Shanghai's appetite doesn't nap, and neither should you.

The Place:

Haute hotpot with seasonal ingredients from the team behind RAC, Blaz and Babar. Keep that French pedigree in mind as you say the name out loud, and suddenly it makes perfect sense: "Fangdu" is a Chinese phonetic approximation of "fondue." Except for the twee lounge-style renditions of once edgy rock songs like "The Guns of Brixton" by The Clash that ooze from the sound system, that is about as French as this place gets.

The Space:

Fangdu takes the space formerly occupied by Japanese restaurants Hundo and Ochobo – and before that, Sushi Oyama (if you've lived here long enough to remember that place). They've stripped it all down to the studs and replaced it all with something simple, understated, almost bucolic – but somehow still sleek and modern. Think: hardwood floors, exposed wooden rafters, and that kind of grey brick you see in rural villages and lane house communities around here. Each table is topped with faux slate with an integrated induction range in the center, so it looks like you're cooking your dinner on a hot stone slab.

The Food:

Soup is the starting point of any quality hotpot meal, and this is where Fangdu shines. You get a choice of six. There is, of course, the ubiquitous oily and spicy Sichuan broth, as well as mushroom and chicken soup, and even a Guizhou sour soup. They even offer a Boston lobster hotpot. We especially like their Cantonese-style golden chicken and fish maw soup. It's cooked down like a concentrate and just full of flavor. Fish maw gives it an irresistible, unctuous quality, too. Get past your aversion to fish guts and try it. It's delicious. Be sure to try their Singaporean laksa soup too. It's a signature item. But you don't have to take our word for it. They bring you a taste of each one in a shot glass, so you know exactly what you're committing to. Nice touch!

Here is another nice touch: You don't need to leave your table to go to some sneeze-guarded condiment bar to mix up your dips. They bring the selection to you.

But before you even get to the dipping, they offer a selection of starters that are worth a look, like crisp, fresh romaine lettuce wrapped in cucumber ribbons and topped with sesame dressing. Their crispy fried, nori-dusted salmon skin chips and their assortment of homemade Chinese sausages prove highly snackable as well.

By the time you've whet your appetite on these, your soups come out. Here are some things you should put in them.

Beef. They offer a whole selection of cuts, many of which skew fancy, like wagyu chuck eye, short ribs and flat iron steak. They have plenty of offal options like tendon and tripe too.

Their handmade fish and beef balls should be on your table too. Some of them have little surprises inside, like their "shrimp ball with cheese core," which sounds like some new genre of music.

If you are really keen to drop some coin, look no further than the seafood section, where you'll find a curated selection of edible luxuries like abalone, geoduck, king mantis shrimps, and a few varieties of grouper and lobster. These items aren't meant to be submerged in your soup, mind you. Some are served as sashimi. Others are steamed with garlic or black bean sauce.

And if none of that manages to fill you up, you can finish dinner off with a helping of crispy claypot rice topped with an assortment of braised and cured meat.

The Damage:

Soup bases are priced by size, as low as 48 yuan (US$6.74) for a small portion and as high as 458 yuan for a large portion (that's the lobster – surprise, surprise). Appetizers start at 38 yuan for those romaine rolls with sesame dressing and top out around 158 yuan for a mixed Chaoshan-style seafood platter. Anything you dip in soup ranges from 38 yuan for something like potatoes to 1,188 yuan for a platter of assorted beef (serves four). Many seafood selections are priced by weight (588 yuan for 500g of king crab, 328 yuan for 500g of Boston lobster). Some are priced per piece (48 yuan per Dalian abalone, 58 yuan per razor clam). That clay pot rice is 168 yuan (98 yuan for a small portion).

Good For:

A steamy, soupy splurge as the weather begins to cool this coming fall.

If you go...

Opening hours: 5:30pm-12am

Address: 2/F, 20 Donghu Rd

东湖路20号2楼