Liuyishou Hotpot

Liuyishou Hotpot at 702 Washington Street serves Chongqing-style hot pot, with a spicy beef-oil broth among its choices. Tomato, coconut chicken and pork-rib broths offer other starting points, and a divided pot lets you choose two flavors. Then comes the part that makes this a meal to linger over: cooking the ingredients you’ve ordered in the simmering broth.

Beef and lamb platters, shrimp, fish, tofu and mushrooms are all on the menu, along with lotus root, leafy greens and several kinds of noodles. Add a dipping sauce and something ready to eat, such as scallion pancakes or brown-sugar rice cakes, while the pot does its work.