Entree Kibbles: Paradise Hotpot (品樂鍋) - Individual Hong Kong Style Steamboat @ Sengkang Compass One (the former Compass Point) [Singapore]

Friday, September 23, 2016

Paradise Hotpot (品樂鍋) - Individual Hong Kong Style Steamboat @ Sengkang Compass One (the former Compass Point) [Singapore]

Beauty in the Pot had gained a strong following since its inception and i am surprised to hear that the Paradise Group didn't bank on its popularity and instead launched another steamboat concept known as Paradise Hotpot at Singapore's newest shopping mall; Compass One!

Not knowing what to expect since this was suggested as a venue to celebrate my mom's birthday, i stepped into the restaurant in with an open mind.

The shimmering display of many golden metal pots on the table caught my attention; although opulent looking, i wasn't keen in having individual pots as our family's definition of steamboat was to eat "together".

14 different soup bases might be a draw for those who prefer variety but even then, i still prefer a big singular pot divided into sections to accommodate a few types of soup. Just the tagline of "hong kong style" will also evoke interest since most Chinese are aware that the Cantonese boils the best soup!

Ordering was done via the tablet and the interface was quite similar to Hai Di Lao; hence, i find it quite easy to use. The only problem was that we had the tendency to over-order!

Now on the 14 soup bases (appended above) - they are teochew style, spicy szechuan, chicken with wild mushrooms, authentic pork bone, century egg with coriander, potato curry, tomato with sweet corn, ginseng chicken, cordyceps flower with mushrooms, satay, thick beef bone, korean kimchi, tomyum and kelp and bonito flakes.

Once ordering was completed, it's time to check out the condiment corner! The usual from what i can see including sesame sauce, garlic oil, sesame oil, Thai chilli sauce, fried garlic, garlic, chilli padi, spring onion, coriander etc. Are Guilin chilli sauce, red fermented beancurd and sha cha sauce considered as special?

I wouldn't know since i will stick to my usual; sesame sauce with coriander and a teaspoon of sugar. It would be perfect however if peanut sauce were included.

Our orders, delivered in one trolley!

Before then, it's necessary to light up the metal pots which posed another challenge; you can't adjust the heat at all! Nevertheless, the above arrangement was required as our family didn't like the selfish concept (despite being more hygienic) of having our own hotpot.

Furthermore, it's not required to have one hotpot for each person (we had six adults and two kids) and honestly, you can save quite a bit instead of having individual pots. Anyway, the soup bases we had were tomato with sweet corn, ginseng chicken, teochew style and satay.

Freshly sliced meat for shabu shabu!

More ingredients as above; fish paste, meat and spinach, dumplings, beancurd and meat, fried fish skin and fried beancurd skin. The latter tasted extremely marvellous once you soaked it in the soup. Note that the one at Hai Di Lao was much though.

Balls platter and cuttlefish paste! Frankly, i can walllop a lot of cuttlefish balls, fish balls, dace fish balls and mushroom balls; the only criterion was that they cannot be frozen which wasn't the case at Paradise Hotpot. Yum yum!

A filled table with a few others still placed on the trolley!

Now on the soup bases; normal with the exception of the rich ginseng chicken! Do keep in mind that the complimentary refill wasn't the original soup base; you have only the option of either 清汤 (light broth) or 高汤 (thick stock). Of course, you can also top up for a new serving of soup base.

Meat and ingredient wise, i had no complaint and was totally enjoying the many fresh "liao" dipped in the simmering ginseng chicken soup! My family's major grouch was on the soup refill but i did explain that the pricing was between S$3.50 and S$6.80 per pot, which would be considered cheap for restaurant standard!