Dai Tao Signature Soup Those whom have been following us since the beginning of the year might have probably noticed a post from us about the Dai Tao Lala Pot 大头啦啦煲 outlet at Mount Austin in Johor Bahru, Malaysia which we visited from a trip that we had made back in March 2024. For those whom need a little background about Dai Tao Lala Pot, these folks had first established themselves in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before they had expanded operations to the Mount Austin location. Dai Tao Lala Pot had gotten quite the attention from Singaporeans since then; their Mount Austin location seeing quite a long queue especially before they commence dinner operations in the evening — most of which being Singaporeans whom are day tripping in Johor Bahru over the weekend and checking them out as part of their itinerary. Fast forward to June 2024 and there we have managed to find a JB Dai Tao Lala Pot operating in Singapore — located at The Punggol Settlement that is a bus ride away from Punggol MRT Station (and even closer to a MRT station when Punggol Coast MRT Station opens), JB Dai Tao Lala Pot shares a space with the House of Seafood outlet there. There has been claims on the social media pages of JB Dai Tao Lala Pot indicating that “the long-awaited JB Dai Tao Lala Pot has finally arrived in SG”, and enquiring with one of the employees did result in a response saying that “our boss said its from JB la” — whether it is true or not jf JB Dai Tao Lala Pot is related to the actual Dai Tao Lala Pot in Kuala Lumpur does seem remain disputed. All else being said, JB Dai Tao Lala Pot is only allocated a small space outside of House of Seafood for its operations — these seats are being entirely outdoors, and is a small area where compared against the dining areas that House of Seafood has. The menu at JB Dai Tao Lala Pot does remain fairly close to what Dai Tao Lala Pot offers; this would include three (3) choices of soup for their claypot — other items are split across sections dedicated to vegetables, meats, seafood, cooked dishes and drinks. It is of particular note that the cooked dishes and beverages served up at JB Dai Tao Lala Pot are entirely different from what is served up at Dai Tao Lala Pot, which also brings more questions on whether the two of the brands share any correlations.
Here’s probably the hard truth; there has been a uprising trend of dining establishments serving up Lala Pot ever since it is known that Singaporeans have been making their trip across the border to give Dai Tao Lala Pot a go. With that being said, many of such places inspired from Dai Tao Lala Pot has the entire Lala Pot being prepared in the kitchen before it is being served to the table — this differs from the actual experience that we have had when visiting Dai Tao Lala Pot at their Mount Austin location previously. Whatever that we have experienced at Dai Tao Lala Pot is executed at JB Dai Tao Lala Pot. Hot oil is drenched all over the hot claypot that sits atop a charcoal stove — this starts off the theatrics as the flame engulfs the insides of the claypot before the addition of the Lala (1kg’s worth — the standard portion that accompanies the single portion of Dai Tao Signature Soup; additional orders of 1kg of Lala is priced at $12) and the few condiments to fry them within the claypot; this would include elements like chili and chopped garlic, just to name a few. The Dai Tao Signature Soup is then poured into the claypot after all that, with the claypot lid closing the claypot to allow the broth to simmer. Once the broth starts to bubble, patrons can start putting in the separate ingredients that they have ordered to have them cooked in the broth and to be had much like a steamboat. The broth is initially pretty clean-tasting with a slight hint of brininess from the Lala when we had first started out — as it simmered further, the broth does get better with the essence of the other condiments all at play. With the passing of time, our order of the vegetables ended up soaking up all of the goodness of the soup; the flavours of the soup also getting more complex with the garlicky and gingery notes with a fiery punch coming from the chilli padi — patrons do also get free top-up of soup which the staff gladly offered even without us requesting for so.
Each table is also left with a bottle of Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew (cooking wine) that can be poured into the claypot at their own discretion; this further antes up the flavour profile of the broth with an elevated note of brininess from the booze. The Dai Tao Signature Bursting Ball is particularly worth the mention here — these are essentially the same as what some would call Pissing Beef Balls 撒尿牛肉丸 that comes with an inner layer of meat that differs from the exterior; provides for an extra dimension of flavours and texture as well. Meanwhile, the Lala did come rather fresh; though there are still some sandy bits here and there, we did feel that there has been considerable effort to keep the Lala largely free from sediments here. House of Seafood is a brand that has been pretty controversial in their marketing tactics over the years — they aren’t strangers to being made headlines on the news for things that include publicity stunts over the years; whether or not JB Dai Tao Lala Pot is entirely a concept by House of Seafood inspired by Dai Tao Lala Pot or if it is a concept in conjunction with Dai Tao Lala Pot is still shrouded in mystery at this current juncture. Prices of the broth at JB Dai Tao Lala Pot starts at $28, while prices of the ingredients such as seafood, meats and vegetables range from $1.80 to $12. That being said, it is undeniable that JB Dai Tao Lala Pot does bring the experience of dining at Dai Tao Lala Pot into Singapore without having make the trip up to cross the customs — itself being a wait before making a beeline at Dai Tao Lala Pot itself.
