海底捞 Hai Di Lao Hot Pot

Welcome to the inaugural post of CHUBSGOTOLUNCH!

It’s been a tough 2 weeks at work for the Chubs and today we decided to reward ourselves with a hearty steamboat meal at the much-hyped about 海底捞 Hai Di Lao Hot Pot at Clarke Quay.

 

海底捞 is a hot pot restaurant chain that is famous in China for their exceptional service. Their service, indeed, did not disappoint.

 

Some unique features of the restaurant:

1)      Hot towels provided for each customer before the start if the meal for cleaning your hands (reminiscent of taking an SIA flight)

2)      Special eyeglass cleaning towels for each bespectacled customer to clean your glasses after a hot and steamy meal

3)      Ziploc bags for mobile phones visibly placed on the table (lest you splash them with hot soup in your enthusiasm to tuck in)

4)      Cots for babies who might decide to fall asleep during the meal

5)      Free manicure for ladies (we didn’t try it so we cannot comment on the quality of the manicure)

6)      Fruit and drinks corner for customers waiting for a seat

Before we started the meal, we were provided with a ziploc bag for the phone on the table, as well as a small towel each for cleaning our glasses during or after the meal.

 

The restaurant gives off a small casual vibe and is spacious. Acoustics was good, and you can hardly hear the conversations of other tables unless you strain your ears.

Additional Charges:

On top of the individual food orders, the prices of which would vary depending on what you order, expect to pay the following:

$3 for free flow of herbal tea and sour plum juice
$4 for free flow of fruits, desserts and DIY sauce corner

You can choose from a variety of soup bases, and most people would opt for the twin soup base in order to get the best of both worlds. The mushroom herbal soup which we ordered is good for drinking plain, cooking vegetables, or food for children. The Mala soup (in mild) is the red soup covered in chilli oil is good for cooking meat, prawn paste balls, and whatever else you care to put in. Both were delicious.

 

Also, you can tell from the clarity of the Mala soup that there is no recycling of leftover soups at this restaurant.

A look at some of the dishes we ordered:

Beancurd skin.

 

 

Broad noodles – chewy noodles made from sweet potato starch.

 

Frozen bean curd. As the name suggests, this crumbly eggy texture is obtained by freezing your bean curd.

 

Quail eggs. You can’t go wrong with quail eggs. Nutritious and yummy.

 

Prawn paste. This is presented in the form of a tube, and when you are ready to eat it, you wave a waiter over and have him squeeze it into the soup for you.

 

Free flow watermelons!

 

Fish, cuttlefish and spinach fish paste. Again, when you are are ready to get it cooked, wave a waiter or waitress over and they will help you scoop it into bite sized pieces into the soup.

 

This was absolutely the highlight of the meal. If you have ordered a serving of noodles, the noodle master will come over to your table and pull a ball of dough on the spot into the noodles, then slip them into your soup. Your noodles don’t get any fresher than this!

 

Check out his skill. He will swing the dough several rounds and even over and around your heads for a little thrill.

 

We also ordered plenty of other items which we had no time to take pictures of as we tucked in too eagerly.

They include sliced beef and kurobuta pork (which are excellent hot pot material) as well as bamboo shoots.

All in all, what impressed us most was the excellent service provided by the staff. Our cups were constantly being refilled and the staff were always readily available when we wanted them. They were also very quick to clear away used bowls and plates from the table. It’s highly recommended for hot pot lovers who want a good meal experience.