Douglas Williams/Shanghai Daily news

The accolade of second biggest restaurant chain in all of China goes to Little Sheep, with more than 700 restaurants and sales last year of 4.3 billion yuan (US$530.86 million).

Little Sheep hot pot restaurants offer an interactive dining experience.

Ironically, mystifyingly and perhaps worryingly the owners of both KFC and Pizzahut, Yum! Brands Inc, takes the top place.
As the temperature drops the appeal of the hot pot dining experience rises. It’s not hard to understand the success of Little Sheep restaurants: they are usually huge affairs, three and four floors, and they’re often packed. There are 21 Little Sheep restaurants in Shanghai alone. Little Sheep is opening restaurants in the United States, there are two so far.
The concept of cooking thinly sliced lamb in a hot pot was originated by Ghengis Khan’s troops. All of the lamb at Little Sheep comes from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region.
Little Sheep restaurants are noisy, bright and hot. The customers create something of a din while an army of happy, shining staff zip about with overflowing trays yelling instructions to each other.
The bubbling woks of soup on each table issue clouds of steam and laden trolleys clatter by.
It’s a unique kind of eating experience and a heap of fun especially with a group. Some might say it’s actually quite hard work with diners literally cooking their own dinner; it sure tests chopstick skills to the max. Some also talk about etiquette but it’s really just a case of there’s the food, there’s the bubbling soup. Put the food — lamb, chicken, prawns, cauliflower, coriander, spinach, bamboo shoots, lotus roots, potato, mushrooms etc — in the soup and leave it for a bit. Next trawl about in the soup and retrieve the by now hopefully cooked food.
Nothing to do with etiquette but everything to do with self preservation: ingredients should not be put in the soup until the soup is properly boiling. Ingredients should not be removed for at least five minutes.
Most have an English menu though often due to the size of the places it may take the eager staff some time to track it down.
The pot is usually divided in two, spicy and plain, though for some the spicy side is just too spicy.
I’d heartily recommend the onion bread and hot pot is a great way of cooking prawns but don’t order them if there’s anyone in the party faint of heart. They arrive skewered and squirming. The dipping bowls are vital: garlic, sesame, chili and peanut oil. Harking back to a bygone era blokes get a free bottle of beer with their meal, women get a soft drink, 7-Up or coke.
Four can eat well with beer for under 200 yuan.