Hoho steamboat is probably one of the earliest “pulau ketam” type steamboat in town, it has been operating for so long that Kim said her parents actually dated there. It is then safe to say that this place has been in operation for well over two decades.

Hoho steamboat, established since forever

Housed at the same premise as the pretty well known Ipoh Road Yong Tau Foo at Segambut just a stone’s throw away from the intersection of Jalan Kuching and Jalan Duta, the restaurant is converted from a former Bungalow with ample parking space. There are tables inside the building, under the tin roof (with fans and ample lights), as well as under the moon light. The usual ingredients for pulau ketam style steamboat.

steamboat set, deep fried dumplings, bacon strips

Most of the porkgang and two extra guests braced the traffic last Friday evening for a good steamboat meal thanks to the suggestion by Cheesie.

For the eleven of us, we ordered steamboat set for nine pax that includes dumplings, pork balls, fish balls, fish noodle, tofu, prawns, vegetable, tofu skin, eggs, noodles (yee mee), mee hun, quail’s eggs, and fish cubes.

Kim and Cheesie doing the hardwork

We added a couple plates of deep fried dumplings to munch while waiting for the soup to boil, and they are actually rather delicious.

Other extra orders we had were clams (to make the soup sweeter), quail’s eggs (cos Eric has low cholesterol), and of course, extra pork balls and some raw bacon. Hoho is one of the very few steamboat places that offers bacon strips, the concept is a bit new to me as I usually like my bacon fried, but the boiled version is actually pretty nice too.

Haze is a very happy girl. Jac doing the “cooking”

Due to a bit of miscommunication, we ordered both tomyam and clear soup for our pot. While the tomyam soup turned out to be pretty tasty, I usually prefer to have only the clear soup. Having the pot split down the middle with two soup base that has very different tastes is usually not a great idea as they tend to mix up quite a bit when boiling.

The sambal supplied by Hoho steamboat is rather potent and fragrant too. To me a pulau ketam steamboat is never complete without good sambal, and this place does not disappoint when it comes to that.

Though not the absolute best out there, the combination of price (less than RM 25/pax with drinks), taste, and experience does make Hoho steamboat a place worth visiting. By the way, they have the best URL too: steamboat.com.my

Address:
Hoho Steamboat
67, Jalan Segambut,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.180645, 101.677523
Tel: +603-6252 6473

Tags:  cheesie,  dumpling,  eric,  gareth,  haze,  horng,  jaclyn,  kerol,  kimberly,  pork,  Steamboat,  suching,  taka

Posted by KY | 29 Comments »

About a gazillion years ago (which means slightly less than half a year in late January), a bunch of us decided to give Pinky a farewell dinner at Xiao Fei Yang steamboat restaurant prior to her departure to Melbourne for further study.

The restaurant is located just behind Berjaya Times Square on Lorong Thambi Dua, not far from the best roasted pork in town at Wong Mei Kee.

the condiments and two types of soup, spicy!

Though located in the older part of KL with horrible parking situation, Xiao Fei Yang benefits from having an empty lot just right next to the restaurant. If you’re willing to part with RM 1-2, there shouldn’t be a problem.

While not decorated with fancy furniture and design, the restaurant is clean, air conditioned, and pretty comfortable. But as with most Chinese buffet that is in air conditioned area, you risk smelling like what you just ate since Korean-style ventilation is non existent.

lamb, beef, fishballs, mushroom, noodle, fu chuk (tofu skin), etc

Steamboat at Xiao Feing Yang is closer to Sichuan (like the one at Jin Shan Cheng, Sunway) and Mongolian (check out Inner Mongolia steamboat at Pudu) style. The restaurant claims that the soup is boiled for 12 hours with some 30 different Chinese herb, it is supposed to have beautifying and healthy effect on you.. but I only worry if it’s tasty anyway.

Mell, KY, Pinky, Tim, Audrey

The ten of us ordered lamb, beef, and possibly pork. There were also fish ball, meat ball, two types of tofu skin, cuttle fish, mushroom, vegetable, seaweed, and noodle. There were other more exotic ingredients but I guess some of these guys aren’t exactly the most adventurous when it comes to food.

As for the soup, we had both the herbal and the spicy version. Basically the spicy version is just the herbal soup with chili oil added. They come with quite a lot of herbs I can’t name (I remember seeing green onion and red dates), and they add up to give the soup a very sweet and rather sumptuous taste.

Firdy, Robb, Zach, Vernice, Carol

The thing that I like most about the steamboat is the condiments. Chili paste and fermented tofu paste with freshly boiled lamb or beef can be very addictive. A word of advice though, always start with the clear soup and work your way to spicy but not the other way around.

It was a pretty satisfying dinner even though we didn’t order anything luxurious (ie: more meat, maybe seafood too?). The bill came to be around RM 20 per person if memory serves me correct. Xiao Fei Yang is not very different from the other two steamboat places mentioned, a place that is worth going if you’re into spicy steamboat with plenty of meat.

Address:
Xiao Fei Yang restaurant,
18, Lorong Thambi Dua,
Pudu, Kuala Lumpur 55100
GPS: 3.139616,101.713185
Tel: 03-2142-6789‎

Tags:  audrey,  firdy,  mellissa,  pinky,  robb,  sichuan,  Steamboat,  tim,  timothy,  vernice,  zach

Posted by KY | 25 Comments »

During a particular Saturday evening a few weeks ago, I was loitering online and saw Eiling came on. As both of us were feeling hungry and haven’t had a plan for dinner, she decided to introduce her favorite Steamboat restaurant to me, Wan Hou at SS14.

look at the lady enjoying

The air-conditioned and clean interior is a welcoming change from most other steamboat places. I’ve always found steamboat goes best with clear soup, and the soup here is rather flavorful, I suspect the involvement of pork bones in preparing them.

order set, or ala-carte. love the condiments

For two of us, we ordered a set for one, a big portion of their famous meatballs, half portion of fish ball, and another half portion of their fish wantan look-alike thingy.

When you are at Wan Hou, do remember to ask for their special sauce that is made with sesame oil, fried shallots, garlics, chili padi, and if I remember correctly, apple vinegar. This condiment goes really well with clear soup steamboat, you just have to try it.

oh, glorious pork meat balls!

The ingredients were fresh and the set actually pretty big. There were plenty of vegetable, tofu skin, assortments of fish balls and meatballs, prawn, egg, noodle, and even half a corn. A pretty nice combination.

However, the most important thing at this steamboat place has got to be the pork meatballs. Larger than usual and very firm and juicy. It tasted just like how pork meatballs should, succulent and flavorful, it was probably the best I’ve had. I will go there again just because of this!

Wan Hou Steamboat is opposite Metropolitan College

I believe we spent less than RM40 there and yet came out very satisfied. There are other items in the menu I haven’t tried, but I am sure that wasn’t the last time I go to Wan Hou.

Address:
14, Jalan SS14/2,
47500 Subang Jaya.
GPS: 3.072833, 101.591499

Other review: YiLing

Tags:  eiling,  fish,  meatball,  pork,  ss14,  Steamboat

Posted by KY | 39 Comments »

When it comes to steamboat in Malaysia, tomyam, clear soup, and porridge usually comes to mind. Most people aren’t aware that there is also the spicy Sichuan and Mongolian style steamboat in the valley. Last I had this type of steamboat was more than 1.5 years ago at Hong La Qiao and Inner Mongolian Restaurant at Pudu, so when the invitation to Jin Shan Cheng from foodstreet came in, I was rather delighted to revisit this version of steamboat.

steamboat is always best enjoyed in a group

Jin Shan Cheng is located at Sunway Mentari, across NPE from Sunway Pyramid. The restaurant itself is on first floor, but there’s actually elevator for those who are extremely lazy. Interior decoration is rather simple and without much fan fair, but this isn’t exactly a fancy restaurant, we’re here only for the food anyway.

the condiments and two types of soup

The steamboat comes with two types of soup, the traditional super spicy with lots of chili oil Sichuan style, and the other without. They are basically the same soup base though. Instead of your usual chicken rice style sambal or chili padi, there is a pretty special type of sauce accompanying the steamboat. I tasted a hint of cilantro, garlic, ginger, oil, and some type of pepper. Of course, there are also fuyu (fermented tofu), peanut sauce, and chili oil. Those usually go very well with meat items.

spicy frog legs, spicy fish pot, pepper beef

While waiting for the soup to boil, we were served three traditional Sichuan dishes. The spicy frog legs cos Eiling mentioned to the owner that she likes frog legs, the spicy fish pot, and the sizzling pepper beef.

The frog legs were actually very good, spicy yet full of flavor. The boss explained that they use a type of pepper imported from China to bring out the original taste. The fish, while very oily (wouldn’t be the correct recipe if it wasn’t), tasted pretty good too, I think it’ll go well with some rice but unfortunately we didn’t order any. Though cooked with tilapia instead of cod, it still did justice to the dish.

stop teasing with scallop already, Eiling!

For the steamboat, we had beef slice, scallop, vegetable, pork kidney, fish meat, and a few other items. My favorite had to be the kidney, closely followed by the beef. Both items tasted great with the strong flavoring from the soup and condiments. However, you need to make sure that they are not over cooked, a 5-10 second bath in the boiling soup is all you need.

Jin Shan Cheng is located at Sunway Mentari

The price at Jin Shan Cheng is pretty reasonable, the cooked dishes start from RM 15 for small portion. For example, the spicy fish pot costs RM 20 to RM 35. Not bad for something authentic an different. This place is best for those who love spicy food, you’re advised to stick with clear soup pulau ketam steamboat otherwise.

more pictures at my flickr set

Address:
No. 42A-2, Jalan PJS 8/2
Dataran Mentari, Bandar Sunway,
56301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.075284, 101.613053
Tel: 03-5631 8220
Web: www.jscmsb.com

Tags:  dinner,  fish,  hotpot,  review,  sichuan,  spicy,  Steamboat

Posted by KY | 17 Comments »

As my house mate the Sotong had to wait for over an hour before the movie Rough Assassin starts (a very forgettable movie, lucky we didn’t have to pay for it), we decided to have dinner around the area. Although there are a host of restaurants at the Curve, Cinneleisure, and Ikano, I always struggle to find something that is affordable and decent there. We finally decided to try the curious Ketam Village Steamboat restaurant at the basement of Ikano Power Centre.

the Sotong was enjoying her meal

The menu is packed with photos of every item, this make selection pretty easy as what you see is what you get. Unlike the more traditional steamboat places, this restaurant supplies every customer with their own pot, similar to Mizi Shabu Shabu in Puchong. Individual steamboat set priced from just less than RM 10 and above, pretty reasonable I think.

the combination set and the interesting chili padi, spring onion, and fried shallot condiment

My house mate ordered a combination set with a side order of cuttle fish, while I had a sliced lamb noodle set with extra crab stick. Both of us went for clear soup, like many steamboat places these days, tomyam soup is available too.

I usually don’t expect too much from restaurants like this, but the soup actually tasted pretty decent, and the ingredients quite fresh. Furthermore, the chili paste was really good, and to top it all, there is this chili padi + spring onion + fried shallots + sesame seeds condiment that proved to be rather addictive. It turned out to be a very decent meal.

I made quick work of whatever that was served

The bill came to RM 37+ for the two of us, combination set was RM 15.80 and the sliced lamb noodle was RM 9.80. There is a 5% tax.

GPS: 3.156478, 101.611927

p/s: I do not suggest that you should go to Cold Storage to buy some extra ingredients into that restaurant.

Tags:  damansara,  ikano,  ikea,  kerol,  Steamboat

Posted by KY | 14 Comments »