Steamboats

Super pleased about our timely late lunch decision at HDL today especially with that crazy pour! Haven’t been back for quite a bit and though a little disappointed with the lacking service today, the steamboat was still shiok. Forgot to take a picture of it, but I was obsessed with the spicy mushrooms that’s available at the condiments table. They had just the right amount of heat, so addictive!

I’m not a mutton fan but this was not bad without any stench.

Thank you @damiaohotpot for having us and @brandcellar for the kind invite! ✨

These skewers of spicy chicken kidney dusted with chilli flakes came paired with king oyster mushroom chunks. We might have cooked it too long as it was slightly chewy. Good to check-in with the waiters for the best cooking time too!

Thank you @damiaohotpot for having us and @brandcellar for the kind invite! ✨

Though I still prefer the usual kelp slices and ribbons, this was a nice change. We were recommended to eat it after a minute of cooking to retain the slight crunchy texture.

Thank you @damiaohotpot for having us and @brandcellar for the kind invite! ✨

Shrimp paste has always been a must order for me during steamboats, so this was something I was excited to try! While pricey, I really liked it with the shrimp paste inside wrapped with the crunchy and soft bamboo fungus. It was good in both broths that we had, with the bamboo fungus soaking the flavours up.

Thank you @damiaohotpot for having us and @brandcellar for the kind invite! ✨

Enjoyed this especially with the Beauty Collagen Soup ($42 for Whole Pot, $32 for Yuan Yang Pot). Pork was tender and there was this touch of numbness and spice that was very addictive.

Thank you @damiaohotpot for having us and @brandcellar for the kind invite! ✨

First tried Da Miao a long while back and it didn’t leave that big an impression. Their ma la, Da Miao Special Spicy Soup ($22 for Whole Pot, $20 for Yuan Yang), tasted much better than I remembered! If you want to keep the ma la drinkable, remember to request for less oil and spice, as their default is kept more authentic to what they serve in Chengdu - where the fiery broth is more for dipping than drinking.

The new Beauty Collagen Soup is made through hours of simmering with pig skin, chicken feet, pumpkin, pork bone, fish maw, etc. It was creamy and extra comforting to have. I especially liked the touch of sweetness lent from the pumpkins. It’s pricey but also came ready with a good number of fish maw.

Thank you @damiaohotpot for having us and @brandcellar for the kind invite! ✨

Nong Su is newly opened by the same people behind Mi Casa, just a few doors down the same road! While Mi Casa is focused on Spanish cuisine, here they serve ala carte steamboat with Hainanese influence. The menu is simple with 2 bases you can choose from or opt for a dual pot ($6) - 100% Natural Chicken Stock and Home-made Spicy Broth. Nong Su prides themselves for using simple and natural ingredients with no MSG, and that shows through the light broths that feels very homey. While you shouldn’t come expecting the usual strong and heavy flavours, you can get their complimentary condiments to match. They even put up special recipes on how to mix certain sauces.

We went for their Pork & Chicken Set ($34) that came along with prawns, fishballs, cabbage, tofu, tomatoes, yam, golden mushrooms and sliced fish. It was pretty worth it for its portion! Although I wasn’t a fan of the fishballs, the meats were particularly fresh. The Nongsu Prawn Paste ($10) was good as well. It’s not the kind with a bouncy texture like those you get in HDL, theirs was more meaty and the prawns used had a light sweetness.

We also ordered a Har Cheong Gai ($12) which was marinated and fried well. Space was small but clean, service was warm and friendly!

📍Nong Su Steamboat 我家火锅
100 Jalan Jurong Kechil
🕔 5pm to 9.30pm Tuesdays to Sundays

Back again at the steamboat lane in Bugis 😂 We were here on an early weekend afternoon and Xiao Jun Gan Chuan Chuan Xiang is one of the few that opens earlier. The $ per pax doesn’t include drinks (there’s lots of watermelon to help quench your thirst), but is inclusive of the soup base which many of the other places down the lane charge separately for. We had the Yuan Yang option of ma la and herbal soup. Both were flavourful and not too salty that makes you thirsty.

Was looking forward to the skewers, but unfortunately, the majority of them were beef which we don’t take. Those we could have, the chicken wings and chicken, were marinated pretty well with a good rub of spices. Thankfully, they had quite a big range of fresh ingredients including crabs and a variety of clams, so it wasn’t too big of a problem! Make sure to also give their appetisers of liang pi and century egg tofu a try too as they were done very nicely. Liked that the space was airy and cooling with a strong enough air conditioning!

Walked up and down Liang Seah street, aka steamboat street now 😂, before finally settling with this place! They have an ala carte option as well but we went for the standard 90 minutes buffet (they’re quite strict during peak hours). If I didn’t remember wrongly, the premium buffet is around $32++, but it looks more worth if you take beef - we saw many tables ordering plates and plates of them! The trio soup base is an additional $8 top up per table with their mushroom base as a default. We went for tomato and ma la for the other two.

They have a good range of veg, seafood, etc. that is available for you to take, while their fish and meats are prepared on order. Ingredients were all pretty fresh I must say! Ma la broth was drinkable and the mushroom base was comforting.

Overall it’s affordable for its variety plus free flow drinks and ice cream, but it got really stuffy after awhile. Ventilation inside is not the best, it might be cooler sitting outside if you’re coming for dinner! Weekdays’ pricing per pax is $25.80++.

Glad that the parents are equally as big fans of steamboats like me, so family lunches are quite often about looking for new spots to go! This time we’re here at Mr. Pot, newly opened in Suntec City. They do set meals and ala carte, and we went for their $35.90 2 Pax Set Meal: Fresh Chicken, Pork Belly, Seafood with Vegetable Platter and Vegetable Twin Set, alongside Handmade Mashed Shrimp ($10), Luncheon Meat ($5) and a Vegetable Twin Plate ($4) of Kelp and Potato Wide Vermicelli.

The 1 Pax Set Meals ($15.90 up) come with a choice of a broth while the 2 Pax Sets come with an option of 2: Pig Bone Soup, Beauty Tomato Soup, Mushroom Chicken Soup, Pickled Cabbage Soup, Healthy Mushroom Soup and Mala Spicy Soup (+$1). Seems quite good to get the sets for variety, since the broths are $6/$7 each ala carte.

It’s an additional $3 per pax for free flow of sauces, appetisers and drinks. I liked that they had a few types of drinks (water, tea, lemon juice, red tea, plum juice) unlike most with just two or three choices. On the other hand, appetisers and sauce choices were much more limited.

Ingredients were fresh, but overall taste wise, we found it pretty average. Thought the mala was a little disappointing - it could be a lot more flavourful and fragrant!

📍小炉鲜生 Mr. Pot
Suntec City Mall, North Wing, #B1-146
3 Temasek Boulevard, Singapore 038983
📞 9337 6185

More and more steamboat places popping up and at Suntec, Eat at 7 has their new steamboat concept, Ding Xian Hotpot! 5 broth options and we went with the spicy Blazing Magma Soup (Japanese miso) and non-spicy Herbal Bak Kut Teh. We liked the BKT as it was more drinkable, with sweetness from a bunch of Chinese herbs like dried sugarcane, xue li, dang gui, etc. Prices for the fresh ingredients are relatively affordable - go for their tender Iberico Pork Collar ($5 for 6 pieces)! As an opening promotion, they have a 1 for 1 lunch set going at $12.90 from this Monday till Friday.

Thank you @dingxianhotpot for having us and @brandcellar for the kind invite! 🙆🏻‍♀️