Calling all steamboat lovers! Rejoice as I found another steamboat restaurant that opens till 5.00 am daily. Now you can settle your craving for hot soup even in the middle of the night. Located near Selegie area, this restaurant is just nice for many of the customers who finish their drinks or KTV sessions.
The restaurant is at the first floor of Wilkie Edge and there are both outside and indoor seating. There are 2 entrances to the restaurant, the main one facing the main road and the other is within Wilkie Edge mall. The signboard is quite huge and can be seen from afar and the restaurant is just next to Starbucks.
The buffet is only available from 12.00 pm to 10.00 pm . Thereafter, for the late night owls, you can still order their a la carte items.
There are enough seating to house approximately 35 – 40 pax and there are both square and round table seats. The restaurant is quite popular and crowded on weekends.
There are many photos on the wall of the restaurant but I only managed to recognise Jack Neo and 1 Hong Kong actor.
For the buffet, you can place your order in one of these paper slips. There is a total of 6 selection of soup base and you can order up to 3 types of soup. Instead of mala soup, they have the Sichuan spicy soup and they also have healthy collagen soup with an additional surcharge of SGD 3.00
We ordered our usual tomato soup and chicken soup. I found the tomato soup slightly too sweet but still very palatable as there is a strong tomato flavour. It is not as oily as the Hai Di Lao version which is good and I felt less thirsty after drinking the soup. The chicken soup was very light in flavour and really depended on the ingredients to power up the taste.
You can order everything on the list as many times as you wish and the ingredients are all very fresh and comes in rather small portion so do not hesitate to order 2 – 3 portions per order for those favourite items.
There are some items on the list which is limited to 1 plate per person only. One of this item is the fresh prawn. The prawns came in sticks and are quite big in size. I must say the prawns are very fresh and of good quality as the meat was very springy after cooking.
The other item which is limited to 1 per person is the seafood paste which comes in a squeeze bag. You can squeeze the paste in the soup and make your own seafood paste noodle. The seafood paste is quite similar to what many other restaurants have so it did not leave an impression. One thing to mention is the paste has the right consistency and spring when cooked.
Some of their homemade items like the wantons and dumplings are also quite nice.
In terms of meat, they have lamb, chicken, beef and 2 types of pork. The pork belly and pork shoulder. We ordered only the pork and I found both the belly and shoulder meat to be of good quality and nice cut.
There were also some cooked items on the list which you can order. Out of which the prawn paste chicken wing and the crispy pork is really good. The meat is very flavourful and the skin of both dishes were very well fried. Drinks are not included in the buffet and can be ordered in addition. The homemade drinks like barley, honey lemon are free flow at only SGD 3.80. There is also a small sauce and condiments counter for you to get your favourite dipping sauce. At the end of our meal, we were also served a plate of fruits.
Overall, the food at the Hai Xian Lao is good and the price is quite affordable for a buffet eat all you can steamboat. The only small complain I have was a slight difficulty getting the attention of the service staff to refill soup or drinks. Getting our orders taken was pretty prompt and adding additional orders were also fine. Somehow, it takes a few waves to get their attention to refill our soup or drinks. Usually they response within 2 -3 waves so I still find it acceptable. The only regrettable thing was our 2nd order of the crispy pork and wings never came even after our 2nd reminder. However, I would definitely return if I am looking to quench my craving for steamboat at an affordable buffet price.
Address: 8 Wilkie Rd, Singapore 228095
Operating hours: 11.00 am to 5.00 am
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