As Singapore’s weather looks like it is going to dip further due to the monsoon period, friends kept jio-ing me out for hotpot. Also because they know I am a ‘soup’ person.
To be honest, I already had 5 hotpots this year, considering we are only (already) half a month through.
Interestingly, some Singaporeans also call hotpot the “battleship”.
This is because PM Lee Hsien Loong once shared a personal nugget of family life, in which Mr Lee Kuan Yew used the word “BATTLESHIP” to mean “steam boat” in a telegram to save the number of words and cost.
It was a lovely story that reminded us of the importance of thriftiness.
As we meet for hotpot / steamboat gatherings, let’s not just focus on the food, but the togetherness and fellowship as well.
Here are 10 Hotpot Restaurants in Singapore to have your ‘battleship’. This list will probably expand very soon.
Hai Di Lao Hot Pot
Plaza Singapura #04-01, 68 Orchard Road, Singapore 238839
Tel: +65 6250 0330
+65 6250 0990
Opening Hours 10:30am – 6am Daily
Vivocity #03-09 1 Harbourfront Walk, Singapore 098585
Tel: +65 6250 7557
+65 6250 7667
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 6am
Clarke Quay
3D River Valley Road #02-04, Singapore 179023
Tel: +65 6337 8626
+65 6337 8627
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 6am
313 Somerset
313 Orchard Road #04-23/24 Singapore 238895
Tel: +65 6835 7227
+65 6835 7337
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 6am
IMM
IMM #03-01, 2 Jurong East Street 21 Singapore 609601
Tel: +65 6896 4111
+65 6896 4222
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 4am
One pot, endless smiles. Hai Di Lao can be known more for their gimmicks more than their food itself – not that it is any bad.
“Have you heard about the hotpot place with FREE manicure service? Oh and FREE fruits and popcorn while you are waiting for a table?”
Super good service. Recommended food include Aorta (pork/beef), Fresh Tripe, handmade balls, and house made noodles – get the guy to do those acrobatic pulls in front of you.
The tomato and laksa soup bases are some of my favourites. Hai Di Lao is indeed all about the entire package and experience, and certain satisfying.
Price is on the high side, and some may not be happy with the extra $4 charge on sauces. I am quite willing to pay more for the attentive service, and its fresh ingredients and variety. Hai Di Lao (Plaza Singapura)
Captain K
112 Middle Road #01-00 Midland House Singapore 188970 (Bugis MRT)
Tel: +65 6255 5744
Opening Hours: Lunch 11:30am – 3:00pm (Tues – Sun), Closed Mon Lunch
Dinner: 5:30pm – 4:00am (Mon – Thurs), 5:00pm – 4:00am (Fri – Sun)
Captain K at Middle Road, known to be the first to introduce the Korean Seafood Tower in Singapore, has also started to offer hotpot.
Steamboat-lovers would be happy to know that there are a total of 6 variations of soup bases, in which you can select a dual “ying-yang” pot for a double soup option.
A Single Soupbase is affordably priced at $16.00, while a Double is $20.00.
The original 3 soup bases – Kombu Dashi, Korean Kimchi and Ginseng Chicken (extra $4), are Korean inspired. Newly introduced are the Szechuan Mala, Tomato and TomYum Mushroom Soups to cater to local regular diners who kept requesting for them.
The Mala broth at Captain K is actually very drinkable and appetising – I finished bowls on my own.
Added with Szechuan peppercorn, dried chillies and other spices, there was still that slight numbing effect which provided that kick without overpowering.
Captain K is also providing discounts at various timings, with up to 40% OFF after 10pm! Check out this link for more details. > Captain K (Middle Road)
Beauty In The Pot – The Centrepoint
The Centrepoint, 176 Orchard Road #05-15/16 Singapore 238843 (Somerset MRT)
Tel: +65 62353557
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 6:00am Daily
Beauty In The Pot – OneKM
OneKM, 11 Tanjong Katong Road #02-21 Singapore 437157 (Paya Lebar MRT)
Tel: +65 6702 2542
Opening Hours: 11am – 3pm, 5:30pm – 1am (Mon-Thurs), 11am – 3am (Fri-Sat, Eve of PH), 11am – 1am (Sun, PH)
Beauty In The Pot at OneKM is another concept from Paradise Group.
Their signature broth is the Beauty Collagen Broth ($20 per pot, $25 for twin flavours), comprising of shark’s cartilage and boiled for more than eight hours every day. Sounds machiam like a Tsukada Nojo Bijin Nabe in Chinese pot.
This cloudy, rich, smooth, collagen-rich soup is flavoursome yet not overly intense, complementing most of the ingredients cooked in it. We found ourselves sipping the dense soup non-stop. So tasty and shiok!.
We paid about $70 – $80 per person, similar to what we would have paid at some of its higher-end competitors.
For those intending to make a reservation at The Centrepoint, I tried to and it was almost impossible to call through (I physically went down in the end). Beauty In The Point (Centrepoint)
Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant
Great World City, #01-37, 1 Kim Seng Promenade , Singapore 237994
Tel: +65 6235 6008
Opening Hours: Lunch 11.00am – 3.00pm, Dinner 6.00pm – 11.00pm Daily
ION Orchard, #04-09/10, 2 Orchard Turn, Singapore 238801
Tel: +65 6636 9339
Opening Hours: Lunch 11.00am – 3.00pm, Dinner 6.00pm – 11.00pm Daily
Imperial Treasure’s soups are simmered for hours, their Ginseng chicken soup tasting rich and nourishing is my favourite. If not, there are always the Traditional Pork’s Bone, Seal & Kelp, Parsley & Century Egg, Sichuan Spicy and the intriguing Satay Flavoured Soups for choices.
We loved the fresh and bouncy handmade prawn and pork balls, and tender pieces of sliced marble beef and kurobuta pork belly. Set course of 2 at $98++ onwards.
The highlight of the entire meat has to be its condiments and sauces, ranging from peanut sauce, green and red chills, spring onions, plum sauce, chopped garlic, sambal chili and chicken rice chilli … All 12 of them. Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant (Great World City))
Crystal Jade Steamboat Kitchen
#02-32, Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238839
Tel: +65 6336 2833
Opening Hours: 11 – 3pm, 5.30pm – 10pm (Mon – Fri), 11am – 10pm (Sat, Sun and PH)
If I talk about Imperial, I cannot not talk about Crystal Jade right? Crystal Jade Steamboat Kitchen steamboat buffet at affordable prices in a restaurant setting along with the traditional Cantonese favourites.
The 90-minute buffet includes more than 35 ingredients such as fresh chicken, pork and beef slices, mussels, mushrooms and vegetables. I wished duration was more than 90 minutes though.
The 6 different soup bases include Pork’s Bone, Tomato, Curry, Miso, Superior, and Spicy Mala Soup (I hear superior I also feel like choosing already.)
Weekday dinner buffet is at $21.90++ for adults and $17.90++ for children aged 12 years and below. On weekends and public holidays, dinner buffet is $27.90++ for adults and $23.90++ for children aged 12 years and below.
If not, go for the Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao branch at Holland Village which offers free flow Xiao Long Bao with steamboat.
Da Miao Hotpot 大妙火锅
Clarke Quay Block C #01-11
Tel: +65 6250 9969
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 10:00pm Daily
Good news for those craving for authentic Sichuan style Mala hotpot, the popular Da Miao Hotpot from Chengdu China has opened at Clarke Quay.
The highlight is its Mala soup base, said to contain more than twenty spices, added with special plant oil and herbs. Therefore, it is not that greasy, yet still quintessentially Sichuan.
If you fear for your tickling tongue, you can always opt for a “modified to local taste” option, or have it the “original Chinese way” if you are up for the challenge. You decide.
Of course, there are also choices of Pig Bones, Tomato and Mushroom soup bases.
Ingredients-wise, get the Beef or Fresh Shrimp Paste ($18) – a flat block of freshly-minced meat paste, made without additional starch so that you can still savour the original favours after being cooked in the soup bases.
Come at night, and you will be entertained by traditional Sichuan performances of “Bian Lian” (literally meaning mask changing), and Chinese long-sprout tea pouring ceremony by professional “Stage Artists”.
Long Qing Specialty Hotpot
18 Hong Kong Street Singapore 059661 (Clarke Quay MRT)
Tel: +65 6533 1618
Opening Hours: 5:30pm – 11:00pm (Tues – Sun), Closed Mon
Long Qing is one of those not-so-commercial brands that I would have liked to give my support to.
Located at Hong Kong Street opposite Clarke Quay MRT, the interior of concrete wall and wooden furnishing makes it kind of ‘hipster’ as a hotpot specialty restaurant.
Its soup bases is kept fairly straightforward with 4 to choose from – Signature Clear Broth, Ma La, Tomato and Wildroom ($14.00 for one soup base, $18.00 for dual).
The Clear Broth soup is recommended, MSG free, cooked for more than 10 hours, with a light herbal taste due to dang gui added. Suitable for those who would like soup bases that are not too heavy.
I wondered if it was due to the CNY period, but the meat slices weren’t as impressive as I imagined – had that ‘frozen’ bite in them, and could have been fresh.
Upin Hot Pot
Clarke Quay Central, 6 Eu Tong Sen St, 03-87, Singapore 059817 (Clarke Quay MRT)
Tel: +6221 5550
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 3:00am Daily
I read somewhere that the owner of this restaurant used to be a chef of Hai Di Lao, thus there are some similarities.
Perhaps some components such as the soup bases and sauces but the service *cough cough*. Not that it is any bad, it is just not THAT over-the-top.
There is a variety of soup bases such as Herbal, Seafood, Chicken, Pork Bone, and Mushroom. There is an interesting Upin Three Soup Hot Pot ($14) with inclusion of Three Delicacy Soup, Spicy Soup and Tomato in the middle.
The Tomato was my favourite, sweetish in a way that reminded me of minestrone.
Get the Meat Balls Combo ($18.00), a platter of fresh, bouncy and tasty assortment of balls.
Paradise Hotpot
CompassOne Mall #03-05, 1 Sengkang Square, Singapore 545078
Tel: +65 6386 4838
Opening Hours: 11:15am – 10:00pm (Mon – Fri), 10:30am – 10:00pm (Sat – Sun
Fan of Beauty In The Pot?
You should like Paradise Hotpot as well, which is a Hong Kong style steamboat concept that offers each diner an individual hotpot with choice of a desired broth.
There are 14 different soup bases to choose from, such as Authentic Pork Bone, Century Egg with Coriander, Tomato with Sweet Corn, Teochew Style, Spicy Szechuan, Chicken with Wild Mushrooms, Thick Beef Bone, Tom Yum, Kelp and Bonito to Korean Kimchi Soup.
Prices are considered wallet-friendly, starting from $3.50 for a Teochew Style Soup Base, $4.00 for Authentic Pork Bone Soup Base ($4.00) to $9.80 for Chicken with Wild Mushroom Soup Base. Paradise Hotpot (Compass Point)
JPOT Vivocity
1 Harbourfront Walk #01-53 VivoCity Singapore 098585
Tel: +65 6273 3536
Opening Hours: Lunch 12:00pm – 3:00pm Last Order 2:15pm, Dinner: 5:30pm – 11:00pm Last Order 10:15pm (Mon – Fri)
11:30am – 11:00pm Last Order 10:15pm (Sat, Sun, PH)
JPOT Tampines 1
10 Tampines Central 1 #03-16 Tampines 1 Singapore 529536
Tel: +65 6532 3536
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 11:00pm Last Order 9:30pm
JPOT suits those who prefer their individual pots. It serves up soup bases inspired by local favourites, with Laksa, Herbal, Bak Kut Teh and Vegetarian broths.
I had a Set Menu for 2 ($68.80), which worked out to be $80 plus after taxes.
Between the JPOT Superior Broth and Laksa, I enjoyed the latter much better which was mildly spicy and went well with tofu and meatballs. My friend comment that the other broth was ”not that superior”.
For the set, you can choose 2 seafood items, 2 meats, 1 rice or noodles, 2 vegetables, and 2 Yong Tau Fu or Specialty items. This also comes with free flow drinks or Chinese tea.
My favourite item was the recommended Homemade Spinach Beancurd. The Sotong You Tiao was out – I am sure that must be popular.
Other Related Entries
Hai Di Lao (Plaza Singapura)
Captain K (Middle Road)
Beauty In The Pot (The Centrepoint)
Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant (Great World City)
Paradise Hotpot (Compass Point)
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