The Magic of Chongqing Hot Pot

I was honoured to be invited to this place on March 6^th, 2013. All over the table those different ingredients for the famous Yuan Yang Hot Pot. A very spicy (and even a more moderate) side of the pot offered an ever returning taste variation. Really an experience I can recommend a place to come back. Staff and service very kind and attentive. Attention should be paid to behave moderate and not to disturb the (mostly) chinese clientele, this is not a place for loud group parties!

Two out of three ain’t bad.
The room is relatively nice. The main room is definitely nicer than the back room that we were seated in. This room was a little cramped. There are some nice accents that provide an ornamental feel to the ambiance. This is a step up from the purely functional feel of my hot pot places.
The food was very good.
So, there are the two positives. Then there is the negative.
The service ranged from functional to downright rude. They pretty much do the steps they plan to and when they plan to do them. Outside of that, they seem pretty put out if you ask for anything. Plus, come on a buck for a glass of tap water. Now, that doesn’t make any sense.
However, whether you call it steamboat or whether you call it hot pot, the food was very good.
Our soup was half mild and half sort of spicy. My friend does not like really spicy food so we couldn’t go all out on the spicy side.
We pretty much went with the scattergun method. We ordered one of the sets. Plus, we picked a number of other things from the ala carte menu. We had a little bit of everything. My favorites were the mushrooms, the beef, and the prawns. But, everything that went into that soup pretty much came out good.
Well, the one exception for me was the frozen mussels. I am not a hot pot pro. I would not have thought of ordering mussels for hot pot. I certainly would not have expected them to be frozen and really had no idea what we should do with them. We overcooked them. I do not think I will be revisiting the idea of mussels in steamboat.
If you can overlook the service and focus on the fun of cooking your own food and it being very tasty, then give The Magic of Chongqing Hot Pot a chance. I enjoyed it. If there were not so many other steamboats to explore in Singapore, I would return.

This place is just awesome and I would definitely come back here again. The steamboat soup is just so flavourful, and that’s even before you start throwing in the ingredients, so you can imagine just how good it tastes after adding in prawns, fish and the like. Definitely have not tasted anything as good in other steamboat restaurants in Singapore.
The condiments and sauces which they serve go really well with the meat, fish and prawns.
As they are really good, come prepared to pay slightly more than you would expect to pay for a typical steamboat restaurant (like those in Bugis) but overall still very value-​for-​money because the quality truly trumps other places.
If you have a big group of around 10 people you can request the private dining area for a more cosy, intimate group gathering.

Tried and tested favourite hotpot destination
Having been put off by one too many seamy, questionably insalubrious, budget-​priced hotpot restaurants (inevitably recommended by an enthusiastic friend), it’s always a relief to come back to ChongQing where the quality is assured. All at the princely buffet price of ~$ 20 for lunch and ~$ 30 for dinner. I prefer the Tanglin outlet over the more modern and brisk one at Suntec, here the pace is comfortable and friendly, with servers comprising Chinese girls and local ‘aunties’.
Making at least 4 – 5 visits a year, dining at ChongQing has a happy familiar routine. First, mix the special sauces that will reduce the sting of the mala soup — it’s a mix of sesame paste, sesame oil, garlic+chilli, and sweet chilli. Then start cooking your favourite vegetables and dumplings in the soups — mine is usually the milk bone chicken and mala. While many at least 90 minutes in contentment as the food keeps flowing — prawns and pork belly are part of the buffet menu too, if I recall correctly. Enjoy cooked items in addition, and part of dessert is usually the eagerly awaited fried mantou bun dipped in condensed milk.

When I want to have a hot pot in some comfort with my mates, this is the place that comes to mind.
Chong Qing hot pot is great if you have a group of rowdy friends that wanna celebrate an event, maybe a birthday and feel like having some steamboat. This place is only fun if you have enough people to book a private room. Only then, is it worth while. Make sure you ring in advance for a room booking!
This place is kind of pricey for simple steam boat. The quality varies from time to time but it’s never bad. It ranges from good to pretty good. As with most hot pot places there’s a variety of soup bases to choose from (I like the herb and Ma La Chilli oil). The fun part is to have the comfort of air conditioning and a room where you can have your own private little hot pot party. You can make as much noise as you want!
Being a ala carte buffet all you can eat style restaurant, the usual is thrown in, some special dishes that’s one per person and a dessert (the man tou is good). Good company and the private room is key here!