Hotpot isn't just for LNY!

One of the OG claypot prawn stores, tucked away in a quiet industrial estate near Republic Poly. Dropped by on a Tue night and there were just a few tables filled, mostly having the prawn claypot. The base claypot costs $32.80 and comes with 12 big prawns. Though the broth wasn't as rich as Hae!'s, I think it is the more balanced out of the two and would not result in the 'jelak' feeling even towards the end of the meal. We also opted for a few other side dishes to add to the claypot - wouldn't say that the price is cheap, but overall the meal was still affordable considering you get free flow of various dipping sauces, unlimited refills of the soup, and even plastic gloves. Also, the toilet was surprisingly decent. Parking is also free!

Came by to celebrate a birthday as I bought a Chope voucher on a really good deal. For three of us, we decided to start with the $88 Chef Set Menu which came with a half-and-half soup pot, 2 starches, half portions of pork belly and beef slices, seafood platter (comprising prawns, squids, and garoupa fillets), vege & mushroom platter, and desserts. Added on $3.80 per pax for the condiment bar which included watermelon. This alone could be a satisfying meal for the three of us as the soups themselves (we had Dried Scallop & Winter Melon and Sichuan Spicy) were already chockful of ingredients. However, they were running a promotion at the time which was $3.80 for almost every ala carte order of hotpot ingredients...wow! The portions were also pretty decent for the price, like 3 dumplings or wantons for the price.

Service was also attentive and so friendly; they offered to deshell our prawns, cook our noodles, and proactively suggested to takeaway our leftover soup! Drop by soon before their $3.80 promo ends because it is really such a good deal!

Wanted to try a hotpot joint other than HDL and BITP for a change and saw that Xiao Long Kan was on Burpple so why not! Booking a spot for 5 pax was a breeze with Quandoo, and we were immediately shown our way in on a Friday evening.

The Burpple deal entitled us to 1-for-1 for a selection of either the American Prime Beef Slice, Kurobuta Pork Belly, Supreme Beef Tripe, or the File Fish (all full portions). We went with the pork belly and the beef slices, and if you can't tell from my picture the portion was HUGE, and they were fresh too! And with Burrple the two plates each of pork belly ($22) and beef ($28) only came up to $50 wow??

For the soup base we went with the recommended Triple Flavour Pot ($23) which we chose Tomato, Pork Bone, and Sour & Spicy. They were all pretty light tasting, but the Sour & Spicy packed quite a bit of punch. To accompany the meats, we also ordered the Vegetables Platter ($19 for full), Mushroom Platter ($9.50 for half), Dried Noodles ($3.50 for a sizeable portion enough for 2), and some other items. A carafe of iced/warm water costs $0.80 but was enough to fill three glasses, and the sauce bar was $4 each which had two sichuan appetisers and rockmelon. Kinda lacking if compared to HDL's sauce bar for the same price but a wider variety of condiments, sides, and even desserts.

Ambience was dark and moody with decent ventilation, though the seats for our large table was just hard benches and no backrest. A wet tissue packet and apron is provided for each guest. Service was also pretty good and the staff were attentive and helpful. Overall, the total came up to S170 for 5 pax which I would say is not bad.

Amazing value for money opening promo. They have an individual set menu for $9.90 which gets you a soup base of your choice (from Tomato, Mala, Mushroom, and Golden Chicken), a protein of your choice (from fish, chicken, and pork), rice, and a vege platter. The set also entitles you to the free flow sauce bar, appetisers, drinks, and ice cream! Legit damn value for money. There's even a grill at every table for you to grill the skewers and such, and we decided to just grill our proteins and some of the veges since the sauce bar had that really nice chinese skewer seasoning that I don't know exactly what is inside but I love. Overall, a really fun and satisfying meal that only cost two of us $26.80. Head down before this fantastic promo ends!

Standard prawn claypot ($28.80) comes with 8 large pieces of tiger prawns with unlimited refills of prawn and collagen broth. Prawns were mostly fresh with a bouncy texture, only 1 or 2 which were slightly mushy. The prawn stock was so rich and flavourful, perfect to pair with the variety of ingredients you can opt to add to your meal. But do remember to refill with the light and slightly sweet collagen broth too, lest your prawn broth will become more and more 'gao' and almost heart-attack-inducing. Special shoutout to the wide range of condiments available, from the standard DIY options to the pre-made chilli dips - we especially loved the Hae chilli, the fragrant chilli, and especially the bainian chilli!

The only downsides would be the ulu-ness of the place, and that the ingredients weren't actually value for money. But, for the free flow broth and condiments, I say just go for it!

Decided to forgo the usual HDL/BITP and go with a classier Hotpot place recommended by friends. Ambience was brighty-lit, quiet, and very 'polished'. Service was also friendly and attentive. Went with the Pickled Chinese Cabbage with Pork Rib Soup ($38) - huge portion with lots of pickled cabbage and more than 10 pieces of pork ribs. The sour soup is an acquired taste though. Added on the Beef Platter ($28), Chinese Cabbage ($6), and the waitress said the Japanese Black Pork ($18) was 50% off for the day so of course we had to get that too. Saw reviews saying the Spicy Stewed Rabbit ($18) was good so we tried it as well, but it was nothing to write home about; tasted like tougher pieces of chicken. Overall, definitely fresh and quality ingredients but perhaps we should have gone with a different soup base because I found the meal to be pretty normal. Get the Tong Xin Special Drink ($3) though, it was sweet and tart and refreshing and perfect to wash everything down. Sauce bar was $4 per pax and I found it to be slightly lacking compared to HDL/BITP was they do provide some sort of fried kway tiao which was good. Total damage was ~$131 for 3 pax which was reasonable and we were bursting at the end.

So affordable and at an amazing quality, extremely value for money if you are okay with eating at the timeslots indicated. Free flow condiments bar, free flow mushroom rice or white rice, free flow shaved ice dessert station, and even a large cup of oolong tea is included on top of the food. All this for $10.80, y'all better grab the opportunity while it lasts. And don't forget to download the app and make a reservation!

Seriously one of the best seafood soups I've ever tasted. Rich, flavourful, full of umami, and sweet from the seafood, this was everything I ever wanted in a hotpot soup. Even better, it's filled with big prawns (4 of them!), 2 half-shell scallops, lala, baby squid, and more chunks of scallop, alongside handfuls of napa cabbage. Seriously, the claypot came filled to the brim. You can also pick more ingredients to add so we got additional veges and beancurd skin. Don't forget the homemade chilli too - it seriously packs a punch!

The stall also offers lok lok ($1/stick) and how could I resist grilled meat and mushrooms? You get the experience of having the charcoal grill at your table to grill it yourself with the provided butter and yakiniku sauce. Do note that the minimum order for loklok is $10 though!

Right now they're having a promotion - the seafood hotpot I mentioned above is only going for $19.90 which is an absolute steal! Also, the pork skewers are going at only 50cents/stick! Head over now before the promo ends!!

In total, we spent $37.90 for all the food items which I thought was such a value-for-money price considering the quality of the soup. Plus, it's refillable too! The only downside is that the charcoal stink will get on your entire self so remember not to plan any activities after!

What we ordered:
- Live Seabass ($42.80)
- Collagen Fish Soup ($18)
- Assorted Meat Platter ($28.80)
- Assorted Vege Platter Small ($13.80)
- Scallion Rice ($3)
- Condiment ($3/pax)

Seabass was pretty big and probably a decent portion for 2~3 pax. Fresh and meaty. Collagen soup was delicious, but we thought that it would be thicker (our basis was BITP's collagen soup). Meat platter was pretty generous in their portions, and we added the condiment bar specifically for the meats. Otherwise, wouldn't have done so; besides the condiments there are fruits and tauhuey too (not as wide ranging as HDL's condiment bar). Vege platter was really a small portion, for 3 people I would choose the large size. Lastly, scallion rice was pretty good but skippable.

Overall, we spend $137 for a filling meal for 3 pax, but this was also because we had a bowl of noodles on the house after I told them that this was a birthday celebration. The space was very well-lit and had a pretty modern design, though it was pretty squeezy in some areas. The stonepot was the main highlight and worth experiencing at least one time.

Wanted to use the Burpple 1-for-1s here but saw that they had a 20% off promotion for the month of June in celebration of their 16th anniversary.

Their laksa broth is certainly not the rich and lemak kind you would expect from a true blue laksa store, but it's certainly spicy and coconutty enough that you can drink it as a soup without feeling jelat or like you just wrecked your digestive system. Nothing to shout about for the meat and vegetables, but I would recommend the meatball platter as the balls were meaty and delicious. Definitely give this a try.

Came here for the Dining City Restaurant Week $28 lunch set, but turns out it was just the usual business lunch set for 2 at the same price. Disappointing 😞 Ambience was nice with dim lighting and elegant wooden furniture, but seats felt hard and uncomfortable. Helped ourselves to the tissue (both dry and wet) and toothpicks and there was even a power socket / USB port to charge our phones 👌🏻

On to the food. Had the Fresh Mushroom Soup and the Taiwanese Style Spicy Soup (just a spicy mushroom soup) and both were good and chockful of ingredients. There was even a small pig trotter in the Taiwan style soup! Chose the Sliced Pork Collar and Boneless Drumstick which were of good quality but ultimately the 90g portions were small. Even the vegetable platter was just one basket of veges to share between us. Even Shi Li Fang gives more food for a third of the price.

The set came with a mug of tea each but we could only choose from Da Hong Pao and Pu Er. Milk and toppings or other tea flavours chargeable 👎 Free flow lu Rou fan was great though, as is the sauce bar. Fruits and ice cream was also good. Ice cream was the usual Mingo cup (from HDL and SLF) but a more atas version. Palate cleanser was a nice pineapple slushie but only one per pax.

Was it quality? Yes. Was the service good? Yea. Did I feel satiated after? Definitely. Was it worth the price? Meh...wouldn't return. Would rather go to HDL for the price point or even just SLF if I wanted hotpot that was worth.

Always love SLF for their fuss-free and affordable hotpot sets (starting from $9.90). Don't care much for the toys but I know they're pretty popular too! Their tomyum and tomato soups are pretty legit, and their sets are also pretty filling for 1pax.
Their Harbourfront outlet seems to be running a promo where their freeflow drinks+condiments+ice cream is only an additional $1/pax. What a steal!