Hai Di Lao

1/6/2014

Virgin experience at

Hai Di Lao Hotpot 海底捞火锅 

We decided to go to Clarke Quay for I don't know what reason to settle dinner. We were deciding between an atas Japanese restaurant and Hai Di Lao after covering the entire area and we chose JP decided to go for Hai Di Lao, maybe because I've been to the Jap restaurant with my family before, or maybe because the prices were too steep for a casual dinner. 

Because we didn't have reservations, we were given the choice to wait at the holding area, or walk around and wait for their call. Since we did quite a bit of walking already, decided to rest at the holding area, and boy I was really impressed. 

Shelves of board games, chess, rubiks cube and other games you can play with your family/friends while waiting. There are a lot of magazines too.

Manicure service even?!?1

JP refused to play chinese chess with me because he thinks he's no good, but he actually played pretty well. We had a table before the game was over though :( 

Towels to cover your bags to prevent them from getting the smoky smell. 

Patrons can also put on the aprons given, especially when you are wearing white, to prevent the soup from splashing onto your clothes. 

Warm towels. 

Chose chicken soup base and ma la soup base (which is really spicy)

Didn't order a lot because the dishes come in fixed portions so we were afraid it would be too much for us. It would be good if we had gone in a bigger group so we could try more dishes and still be able to finish them. 

The wild guy appears to perform with the la mian or something like that. Couldn't capture him properly because he was swinging the dough around very aggressively. 

Best part? I went to the ladies and got reminded of what we had in the hotel in Taiwan. But honestly, I'm a little paranoid when using this in a public place because….it's just weird. Like somehow because many others have access to it, it doesn't seem like such a good idea to wash my butt in the same toilet bowl anymore. Lol. 

Overall I think the food was pretty decent but nothing too fantastic that sets it apart from other steamboat places. However, I would most definitely be willing to pay that bit more for the quality in customer service and ambience. 

It was one of the nicest impromptu dinner so far. 

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