About a week ago, I finally got the opportunity to visit the much raved about Hot Pot restaurant–Hai Di Lao. Friends who frequented the joint warned me of long queues and crazy waiting times, but when we arrived slightly past 11 p.m. on a Friday night, we only waited about 10-15 minutes before we were shown to our table. Unlike traditional Hot Pot restaurants such as those at Bugis–packed to the brim– tables at Hai Di Lao were adequately spaced apart so you don’t have to listen to your neighbor’s conversation about her virgin bikini wax experience.
When it comes to food, two things are extremely important to me; service and quality of food. Hai Di Lao did not disappoint.
Service there was great! At all times we were greeted with a smile, requests were seen to immediately, drinks were topped up without prompting. Singapore isn’t known for having great customer service, so dining in a restaurant with great service was a breath of fresh air. A bag cover was provided for my bag, which I thought was fantastic because I much prefer my bag smelling of leather and not last night’s dinner. Microfiber cloth was provided for cleaning your eyeglasses, should condensation from the hot steam fog your vision. Our orders were placed remotely via an iPad, no more wrong orders from miscommunication!
We chose Black Chicken and ‘Ma La’ (spicy and numbing) for our soup base. Black Chicken is extremely tasty, it reminded me of my Grandma’s soups and I couldn’t get enough. The Ma La soup was a perfect mixture of spiciness without totally killing your tongue and lips. As pictured above, there was an extensive variety of condiments available, so feel free to mix and match as you please. Everything we ordered was super fresh, meat was thinly sliced and properly thawed (I hate being served still frozen meat!!), and vegetables were crisp. Don’t forget to leave some space for the complimentary homemade bean curd dessert, it melts in your mouth–I had two bowls!
I definitely recommend Hai Di Lao if you’re looking for a Hot Pot fix. It’s not buffet style, you only pay for what you order, so price-wise I personally think it’s reasonable–especially with the good service and quality food. You can order half portions of any item so you’ll have more room for variety.
P.S.: If you’re not as fortunate as me and end up having to wait a couple hours for an available table, kill time by getting your nails done for free. Alternatively you can sip on complimentary drinks (a choice of Herbal Tea or Sour Plum Tea), nibble on fruit, or even play a game of Chinese Chess.
Hai Di Lao is located at:
3D River Valley Road
Clarke Quay
Unit #D-02-04
Tel : (65) 6337 8626
Disclosure: Compensation was not provided by Hai Di Lao. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Hai Di Lao.
