Friday, October 10, 2008
Food Blog: The Magic of Chongqing Hotpot
It was yet another perfect day for food and because the friend was craving for some spicy-kick food, we decided on steamboat. We concluded to try The Magic of Chongqing Steamboat that another friend of mine had been raving bout.
We almost missed the buffet as we headed to the wrong venue. Located on the fourth floor of the musty Tanglin Shopping Centre, the restaurant adopts a Chinese concept which somewhat looks like a Chinese inn. Nevermind the outlook, it's still as attractive.
The manager was very amiable and friendly; briefly explained their history while serving us. Apparently, these guys were the first to bring in Szechuan mala hotpot to Singapore bout 10+ years ago. They claimed they were the authentic ones.
Nonetheless, what sets them apart from the rest of the mala competitiors was their most special and unique emphasis on the three holistic-sounding steps to enjoying spicy hotpot.
Firstly, the manager helped us to prepare a four-flavoured sauce which includes chili sauce, ground sesame sauce, chili and garlic in oil and sesame oil. This combination of chilli-sesame dip is to enchance the flavour of food cooked in the hotpot which I think was quite tasty and exceptional. It's best if the cooked beef was dipped into the sauce. Sugoooi!
Secondly, both sweet and savoury tibits (dim sum and desserts) were served in-between to refresh and cleanse your palate. These are complimentary and included in the buffet but only one serving is available per pax. The first course was the savoury dim sums which included dumplings (xiao long bao) and the pan-fried dumplings. The manager kept asking us to eat while it's hot. I tried the gyoza look alike which I think was quite nice, just that the skin was kinda thick for my liking.
The second course was the sweet desserts which was made up of a trio of water chestnut jelly, fried mantou and egg-coated glutinous square. I like the water chestnut jelly as it was yummy and cooling, great help in aleviating the effects caused by the mala soup. The glutinous square was too sticky though and I heart the fried mantou. It was crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and it goes reasonably delicious with the condensed milk! Sweet tooth!
Thirdly, they will recommend their Eight Treasures Tea to help restore the yin yang balance in your body after consuming the spicy broth. It's served either hot or cold. It is highly recommended and I think it's worth the $4, refillable. The friend even suggested that making a trip down only to drink the tea instead of the hotpot. So the whole time while we were eating, we were thinking of ways to refilling the drinks into our bottles. lol. However, the more we drink, the more we were filled up!
Furthermore, they still use the antique and classy kettle with hyper long spouts. A pity that I din have a photo of it.
The steamboat has three choices of soup bases. Namely, the mala base, the chicken broth base, and a szechuan base. The chicken soup base is extremely delicious (thumbs up) and for those who are more adventurous, the mala soup base provides a very spicy challenge. However, I think the mala soup has been toned down to suit local tastebuds. It doesnt have the tongue-maiming and lip-numbing sensation and not oily.
The lunch buffet came with an appetiser of Edamame (S$2) too. The manager gave us a starter set which we could decline any ingredients we dun like to begin while we peruse the menu for further orders.
Serving us again
Starter set
The ingredients were all prepared meticulously such that each ingredient took the shortest time to be cooked, which means that the meat were served in thin slices. But as it's a buffet, it doesnt matter if you order for example, 50 plates of sliced beef.
I'm glad I've tried this on such a beautiful day. lol. Super-filling from the appetisers to the hotpot to the beverage to the desserts, so much so that I skipped dinner and ended up having prata for supper =/ I wouldnt mind going back again for the lunch buffet and the staffs were pretty polite and efficient in topping up the drinks and orders.
Labels: Food - Chinese, Orchard, Steamboat, Tanglin Shopping Centre
11:31 PM
