鲜洋捞 Xian Yang Lao Steamboat

When I was planning for the Penang trip, my friends insisted this was the only restaurant they wanted me to put in the itinerary while they left the rest of the plans to me. When I watched the influencer video for the restaurant, it seemed to be the first steamboat restaurant in Penang to offer clams-based soup

On the first day of arrival, I tried to make a reservation with them via FB message and there was no reply and subsequently switched to WhatsApp. They were fully packed at the time I wanted and I tried to make reservations for the next few dinners. Their response rate was prolonged and we almost gave up but luckily we managed to score a spot for dinner on our last night in Penang. Nestled along a cluster of shophouses converted restaurants and cafes, there was limited to no parking space as they converted the courtyard area to more tables for customers

The internal space is also limited to only 6 tables with each accommodating up to 6 persons for the smaller tables and 8 for the bigger tables. The front courtyard has long tables which can be arranged to sit both small and big groups

There is a small sauce and condiments table set up at the corner with a small variety of sauces like soy sauce, sesame sauce, chopped garlic, sambal sauce and other kinds of chilli paste

Other than clam soup-based hotpot, they do offer the normal seafood or fish-based hotpot and ingredients are charged at a la carte prices

A variety of condiments were served with the clams first to cook the soup base; ginger, chilli, garlic, spring onions, parsley, fried shallots, oil as well as rice and rice crispies

The ginger and chilli are fried in oil till fragrant before adding the clams to fry on low heat. Chinese cooking wine is added to increase the fragrance before adding their own soup broth. To finish off the broth, the staff added the rest of the ingredients like spring onions, parsley and fried shallots

We ordered quite a bit of fresh ingredients to add to the pot as there was nothing to eat in the pot except for the clams as it was meant as a base pot. Most of the ingredients were fresh, but some vegetables were not cleaned thoroughly as we found some dirt on them. The meat used was mostly frozen so the flavour and taste were general and nothing too fancy

In terms of flavour, the base clam soup was light and refreshing but not as sweet as other clam broth we have tasted elsewhere. After adding ingredients to cook in the pot, the soup tasted more in-depth with flavour but it is not as flavourful as other commercial hot pot places

Overall, the experience at Xian Yang Lao Steamboat was somewhat disappointing. From the reservation process which took a while to the restaurant’s actual atmosphere, which was more like an air-conditioned coffee shop. The vegetables were also not cleaned well and some were not as fresh as preferred. In terms of flavours, it tasted very much like a hot pot meal prepared at home during gatherings and there was nothing too fanciful

Address: 7, Jalan Rangoon, 10400 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Operating hours: 3 pm to 3 am