Happy Lamb

Most hot pot experiences revolve around the dipping sauce station, but Happy Lamb stakes its reputation on a broth rich enough to make that step unnecessary. This is Inner Mongolian cooking brought to London by Zhang Gang – the restaurateur who founded the original Little Sheep chain before selling it and returning to the market with this specific concept. The kitchen focuses on a bone marrow base simmered for six hours, arriving at your table milky, dense, and bubbling on the induction hob. While you can still mix sesame paste and chili oil if you prefer, the intended method is to eat straight from the pot. As the name implies, lamb is the primary protein. Platters arrive sliced paper-thin – sourced from the UK, New Zealand, and Australia – designed to cook in seconds rather than minutes. The menu is entirely halal and includes the usual support acts of seafood, leafy vegetables, and noodles to soak up the remaining liquid. The dining room is built for volume and groups. It gets loud and steamy, with servers navigating narrow gaps between tables to drop off tiered stands of raw ingredients. Service is notably fast; food tends to land within minutes of ordering. If you choose the all-you-can-eat option, the meal settles into a steady rhythm of dropping meat into the soup, fishing it out, and flagging down staff for the next round.