It's been 2 months since my last post, but today, I'm bringing something other than my usual event-related entry.
I'm gonna talk about food!
There is a new (considered new because it's less than 2 or 3 months old if I'm not wrong) hotpot buffet in town!
Okay maybe not town town but it's located in central, so it's considered a convenient location I suppose.
*Disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post*
As you can see from the top left side of the banner, it states 'Grand Opening Special', & nothing is over $20 per person (before GST)!
They don't have service charge people!
Actually this banner is the 2nd banner, the first one was even cheaper; I can't remember how much but I saw them changing banner & the price was different than the initial promotional banner.
Probably because they had to charge GST now, because when they started operating, I saw many people queuing up!
Well they state 'Grand Opening Special', my guess is that they will likely to change their pricing after their promotion period, which we don't know when so it's best not to drag your plan!!
The Chinese words at the left side of the banner says:
老板讲了，我们不赚钱，我们真诚的邀请你来试试
如不满意，原银奉还
Which translate to:
Boss said, we don't earn, we sincerely invite you to come try
If not satisfied, money will be returned with thanks.
Which I feel it's a wacky way of marketing but I think nobody had been unsatisfied considering there's queue during dinner period.
There are 7 types of soup base to choose from, which is considered a fair amount of choice, with more than 70 kinds of ingredients - spoilt for choices!
This is how the restaurant looks like on the inside.
They served 2 types of pots - for 1 to 2 diners, it's strictly personal pot, as you can see from the picture above.
For 3 or more diners, you can choose between personal pots, or shared pot - & you can choose 3 soup bases.
Now, the ingredient island!
- Seafood isle
The missing ingredient on the bottom left is actually prawns.
Guess many diners attack the prawns first hahah.
Pardon for the unclear photo because of the cold mist is very strong, to keep the ingredients chilled.
• Clams
• Various type of meatballs/seafood balls
• Mussels
• Sotongs
• Cheese Tofu
• Fish Roe Balls,
• Beancurds,
• Hotdogs,
• Luncheon Meat
- Meat isle
• Shangrila (I dunno, it's the name written there) Tender Beef
• Sliced Fish
• Sliced Tender Chicken
• Special Pickled Lamb
• Sliced Beef Belly
• Sliced Pork Shoulder
• Sliced Pork Belly
• Sliced Lamb
- Dipping Sauce Station
There are just too many types & I can't capture all the names so I just let the picture speak itself hahaha.
20 types for you to be your own chef bruh.
- Vegetable isle
Sorry I didn't notice the basket of dry food above this section, so the picture didn't show it.
• 4 types of green veggies
• Corn
• Vermicelli
• Noodles (looks like Ban Mian kind)
• 5 types of mushrooms
• Fried Beancurds
• Uncooked Noodles
• Wood Fungus
• Carrots
• Tofu
• I dunno what that seaweed look-alike is
• Radish
• Lotus Roots
• Fish Maw
• Crab Meats
• Eggs
• .... & more I dunno how to identify them
- Miscellaneous
Appetisers
• Rice
• Fried Mantou with condensed milk
• Watermelons
• Oranges
- Drinks
• Calamansi Juice
• Iced Water
• Iced Lemon Tea
• Hot Water
& their 2nd selling point.... (to me lah hehe)
XIAO LONG BAO!!!!!!!
Oh my gosh, when I see this, I was so fucking thrilled!!!!
But don't get your expectations so high though, this ain't Din Tai Fung or Paradise Dynasty, but the quality ain't that bad either.
I would say Grade B XLB.
But they run out fast though, so better get your hands on them piping hot soup dumplings when they serve it out!!
This is actually my 2nd time here.
The first time I went there, I took a few Insta-stories & some of you ask me where is this place.
So because it's worth going there the 2nd time, I make sure to show you guys what it's like, & also my final thoughts.
The pot looks empty because I forgot to take a picture when we start.
Aiyah you only need to know how the pot looks like right?
We got Herbal soup, Mala soup & Tomato soup.
Only Jake wants the Mala soup so he got the smaller size in the middle.
Jake made the same combination of dipping sauce he was here the first time, so if you wanna try his combi, it's chilli, garlic and spring onion, loads of chilli, like LOAADDSSS, & soya sauce.
There were 4 of us, still less than $20!
My final thoughts:
I prefer the tomato soup to the herbal soup, because it is richer in my opinion.
The meat were generally tasty, choices say not less, not much.
Dunno why so many people take the prawns because twice my visits, the prawns hasn't been very fresh. I'm just glad there are mussels & clams.
Man Le Hotpot serve better fried Mantou with condensed milk - their buns remain warm, crispy on the outside & soft on the inside. The condensed milk is also pre-drizzled on top, so I guess it has that crème brûlée kinda taste (due to heat from the top, does it make sense?)
I recommend eating the Xiao Long Baos immediately after you picked them up.
Once you leave it on your plate for too long, it get's to room temperature so it doesn't taste as nice.
The vegetables are quite reasonable, I always attack the 油麦菜 in any hotpot buffet place that serve it because it's my favourite ingredient.
I wish there were more choices of drinks, perhaps add in the generic Coke or green tea?
My younger brother says the watermelon isn't fresh, the texture is kinda 'mushy'.
They lack dessert area - would be wonderful to serve ice cream or pudding or some sort!
But of course, 一分钱 一分货, you get what you pay for.
For less than $20 ($18 to be exact), I feel that I'm getting a lot more.
Food's not that bad too, that's why I went back again.
I suggest going during lunch period because it is cheaper than dinner rate + fewer diners.
Their service is acceptable too.
But be warned, they charge $5 for every 100g of food you waste, including food in the pot. They will donated the 'fines' to the Singapore Lions Club to help the elderly.
Turns your bad habit to a good cause 👍
Overall: 7.6/10
- Xiao Cao Xiang 小草香 -
Block 470 Toa Payoh Lor 6 #01-72 S(310470)
Tel: 62737488
Only 5 minutes walk from Toa Payoh MRT Station, it is just beside HDB Building.
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