High on spice

Hi-Spicy Hot Pot Restaurant attracts adventurous spicy eaters. Feng Yongbin / China Daily

For some diners, challenging their tolerance for super hot food is a kind of masochistic delight.

A popular hotpot eatery offers the perfect antidote for a cold winter evening, if your tastebuds are ready for a wild ride.

The instant we step into the restaurant, we can sense the fiery aroma in the air.

The three-story building with a stone facade, tucked off a small hutong, was packed with mostly young people, pampering their appetites with spicy hot pot.

The aptly named Hi-Spicy Hot Pot Restaurant features numbing Sichuan-style spicy hot pot that keeps attracting adventurous spicy eaters.

Ma Jianliang, top chef of Hi-Spicy Hot Pot, tells us the highest level of spiciness offered at the restaurant is achieved with the Northeast India chili variety bhut jolokia, meaning "ghost chili", which was certified in the Guinness World Records in 2006 as the hottest commercial pepper on the planet.