You’ll find this charmingly named eatery nestled inside a complex of health food stores, hairdressers, grocers, dessert shops and restaurants in north Auckland suburb Rosedale. Inside, the first thing that’ll catch your eye is the cornucopia-like wall of ingredients: verdant piles of leafy bok choy and napa cabbage; an assortment of squiggly noodles; various species of mushrooms and seaweed; an assemblage of tofu; dumplings, wontons, beef, lamb, pork, chicken, shrimp, scallops, and so on.

To those familiar with this type of malatang shop, the method of dining here will require no further explanation. Those unaccustomed should be assured that it’s a simple process. First, collect one of the big empty bowls and a set of tongs. Then, mix and match from the selection of ingredients on display. When you’re ready, head up to the till where the price will be calculated based on the weight of whatever ingredients you picked. At the counter you’ll be asked to select how you’d like your bowl cooked from a selection of six flavours, along with your preferred spice level (if you like heat, we suggest starting with medium and moving your way up), before finding yourself a spot in the airy, light-filled room. On a recent lunch visit we tried their most popular flavours, the dry pot which was dancing with spices and chilli and the citrusy numb of sichuan peppercorns and the beef bone broth which was as tasty as it was warming. We’ve been daydreaming about those bowls ever since.