Beauty in the Pot at SkyAvenue, Genting Highlands.

I am a big huge fan of steamboat. I just love, really love drinking hot soup and no better way to drink hot soup (that will not turn cold fast) other than steamboat style.he - not so much.

We had a quick family trip to Genting Highlands few weeks back and we decided to go try Beauty in the Pot. We went to book in the morning but they were not taking any more bookings. Turns out, it's been fully booked for the entire month of December. They asked us to try walk-in during the evening and maybe got place to cater to us (5 adults and 2 kids).

True enough, we walked in and we got a table to ourselves.

We walked into the restaurant and there were so many empty tables, but there was a long line outside waiting for don't know what.

I have no idea if this is part of a marketing strategy of some sort, but the entire time we were there eating, the tables remained empty and the line kept getting longer. I don't get it. At least got an indoor playground to entertain the kids while waiting and complimentary juice and snacks for people outside. Not so bad la I guess.

Anyways, I was beyond excited that we finally got to try this. I have been seeing friends having this 'malat' steamboat (mainly in Singapore) called Hai Di Lao Hotpot and I've always wanted to try cos I love steamboat, remember?

So, here's a fun fact: Hai Di Lao and Beauty in the Pot are competitors. Like these two are the only ones people talk about most of the time. And although I've heard (and read) that these steamboats are overpriced, I've also seen many people going back to it.

So, when I finally got to try it for myself, I was super happy.

Although it was a bit tough to enjoy steamboat with a 7-months old (at that time) but we managed because he slept through most part of it. Heh.

Okay so here goes.

There are 6 types of soup base that you can choose from and there are 3 different kind of pots you can have.

They have a single pot (1-soup), twinspot (2-soups) and quart pots(4-soups). Initially, we understood (from our lack of Mandarin language please) that having 2 different soups is almost the same price as having 4 different ones. So, of course we chose to have quart pot so we can try more soups.

Turns out the price is not the same. Not even close okay.

It is about RM13-RM15 per broth, so if you chose 4 broths, then the total would be about RM60 (assuming all 4-broths are at RM15 each - and yes, broths are refillable). So if you choose 2-broths it will cost about RM30 only okay. Heh.

Lesson is we should learn more about Mandarin language, if not our understanding macam ini lo ya. Hah.

But no regrets please.

Here are the 6 types of soup:

• Beauty Collagen Broth
• Spicy Nourishing Malat Broth
• Herbal Drunken Chicken Broth
• Longevity Wild Mushroom Broth
• Cooling Coconut Broth
• Vitamin C Tomato Sweet Corn Broth

We took the first 4 broths and ordered the ingredients using a tablet (one for every table). The ingredients are more expensive compared to other normal steamboats, but this is not a normal steamboat, now is it. Hah. 

My favorite soup has to be the Spicy Nourishing Malat Broth because unlike the common Tomyam soup that can be found in most steamboat place, the malat taste is just so ngam with my tongue. The, the Beauty Collagen Broth comes second because I want to be more beautiful. Heh. The taste of the soup is very comforting and so yummy to the tongue. The broth is white in color and after reading about it, apparently it's cooked with shark cartilage as one of the main ingredient as the beauty booster. So hm. 

The mushroom and herbal soup also very yummy please - but more common. 

 He says: Surprisingly good! All 4 types of the soup has its own special taste! So would say, try all of them! Maybe the weather contributed to the overall experience. Who doesn't like having steamboat on a cold weather right?

She says: The next time I visit Beauty in the Pot, for sure I'm going to order the Spicy Nourishing Malat and Beauty Collagen Soup and drink to my hearts' content. I love it! I don't love the price and I feel like memang very expensive but what to do when you love it wor. Now, my steamboat experience macam different level d - how can I enjoy single pot steamboat from now onwards? Hah. 

Also, they have a bar of sauces and fruits that you can take (buffet style) if you pay additional of RM6.80 per person. And if your table has like 5 adults, they will charge you for all 5 adults regardless or not if the others want to take sauces and/or fruits. 

We told them we didn't want it. Who needs sauce when you have Malat soup already? Heh. Kiddinggg. But as I go through the receipts now, I realized they actually charged us RM6.80 per person! And we didn't even like go take the sauce or fruits also. APADEI. 

Anyways, here are the ingredients that we ordered that day. Oh, and also if you order Luo Han Guo (or another option cannot remember), it's refillable at RM8.90 per glass. We ordered 2 since can refill. Heh. #penanglang

Soups:

Beauty Collagen Broth = RM15

Spicy Nourishing Malat Broth = RM15
Herbal Drunken Chicken Broth = RM15
Longevity Wild Mushroom Broth = RM13

Drinks:

2- Lua Han Guo (refillable) = RM17.80

Ingredients:

2 - fried beancurd skin = RM44

1 - sliced chicken thigh = RM13.50

1 - pork and chives dumpling = RM10

1- soft bone pork meatballs = RM12

1 - enoki mushroom = RM8

2 - fried fish skin = RM22

1 - sliced pork belly = RM17.50

1 = nagano pork belly = RM24

1 - spicy sliced pork = RM15

2 - la mian = RM11.60

1 - golden taro = RM8

1 - chinese cabbage = RM7

2 - baby chinese spinach = RM14

Others:

Condiments (which we specifically said don't want - maybe our Mandarin language barrier again ha) = RM34

10% service charge = RM 31.64

6% service tax (okay their service is very good except for the misunderstanding I guess) = RM18.98

Dessert:

Yuze ice blended = Complimentary!

GRAND TOTAL OF RM367 (about RM73.40 per adult) - five of us. 

With this price, you can of course enjoy endless buffet spread at Tao but then, you won't have hot broths to enjoy it with. Heh. And to have it at Genting is even more perfect because hot steamboat with cold weather? Oh please - take my money. Hah. 

And if you go dine at after 10:30pm, you get 20% discounts with limited ingredients available to you of course. But come to think about it, it could be an even nicer experience since it will be way colder at night than when the sun is still up. Although most ingredients will probably be out of stock by then. Oh wells. 

No idea if Hai Di Lao is gonna be as nice or nicer. Or more competitive in terms of price. But I cannot wait to try when it opens in Gurney Paragon! Time to save some moolahs and stomach space for another malat steamboat session.

Beauty in the Pot at SkyAvenue, Genting Highlands

Opens daily from 12pm till 2am

Take the separate escalator up to the restaurant from Level 4 of SkyAvenue

Price: Very expensive. 

E.T. Steamboat Restaurant at Rangoon Road, Penang

Sunday nights like this, we just don't know what to eat. Seriously. 

So, we were resting from our usual Captain Ball games on some Sundays, and she felt like having steamboat for dinner. Just soupy steamboat that is cheap and nice, and not of those with bbq grills. Just soup steamboat. A friend of ours then suggested this restaurant, ET Steamboat.

You see, when our friend mentioned it, it kinda immediately triggers a part of our memory in the brain because we both have been there when we were young with our family. Separately of course. We didn't know each other that time yet. 

So yeah, there were like 12 of us and we took 2 tables. One with clear chicken soup, another with tomyam soup. It's NOT a eat-all-you-can steamboat. You gotta order from a list of items, whether small or big portion. 

Signature sambal.

He says: Very nice sambal! =D

She says: I love sambals, especially those that are made with belachan. This one no belachan taste but super yummy and spicy. LOVE IT!

Clear Soup Steamboat.

He says: Pretty good for a clear soup! You can feel the ohhhhm!

She says: Soup itself already has a bit of mild taste. So when we add all the ingredients, lagi powerrr! 

Tomyam Soup Steamboat.

He says: Been eating this for lunch quite often! Could say that this is one of the spiciest tomyam in town! Try it!

She says: The soup is alright. It felt almost quite powdery at the end of it. It's spicy for sure. I don't love this, but I also don't hate it. Neutral to this one.

E.T. Steamboat Restaurant at Rangoon Road, Penang

Price: Reasonable

Ratings:
His rating: 8/10
Her rating: 9/10

Oh Sushi Restaurant at Straits Quay, Penang

This post was actually ready to be posted a while ago already, but when she opened it to do some editing, she accidentally DELETED the entire post and blogger automatically saved it. So, now we had to do it all over again! So the very downs..

Anyways, here it goes again.

A relative of hers went to Oh Sushi Restaurant once to try this particular dish, and even commented that it's quite good. So, as the birthday of the boy arrives, we decided that we would go to this restaurant at Straits Quay for a nice dinner.

We actually already had planned what we ere gonna order. We sat down and looked through the menu to see if it might change our mind. But it didn't. Not because there were not much choices. In fact, they have TOO MANY items to choose! Haha. But we only wanted to order the Salmon Fosh Head Steamboat. And it wasn't in the menu. So we asked and this dish is actually a "special" one that is not written in the menu. you can see the standing banner on the outside of the restaurant. So yeah, we ordered that. It's around RM78 for two persons. 

We thought that the preparation of the meal would take some time so we ended up ordering our alltime favorite salad. Manatau, both came at the same time. Haha. 

Let's see what we think of  it.

You can sit outside too if you want but us, no thanks to feeding the blood-suckers :)

Nuts for appetizer - FREE OF CHARGE.

He says: Typical nuts.

She says: Just normal nuts. I thought the green ones are wasabi flavored since it's a Japanese Restaurant ma. But no. 

Soft Shell Crab and Salmon Skin Salad - RM17

He says: 2 thumbs up! I think this one is quite good! The sauce is the 'star' of the dish though. Salmon skin could have been more crispy though.. Try this!

She says: I feel the greenies given was a lil too small. Salmon skin was disappointing. Soft shell crab was yummy. The sauce is goood. I have tasted better ones at Edoichi Restaurant, with bigger portion somemore. 

Salmon Fish Head Steamboat

You get to choose a serving of either ramen or udon. In our case, definitely ramen!

He says: That small bit is super a lot after being cooked! Like it.

She says: THIS IS LIKE SO BEST. They take quite a long time to be cooked in our steamboat pot but it's so worth the wait. Love the noodles and textures. So smooth and yummy.

Fried Salmon Head (CAN REFILL AS MANY TIME AS YOU WANT!) Also, we tried the fresh ones but we forgot to take photos. Haha. 

He says: Salmon! hahaha. Like fried chicken, how bad could fried chicken be? =D 

She says: Naturally, salmon fish head already has a kind of smell/taste that not many people can stand. So by deep frying its head and put it in steamboat, it's actually very yummy. Some parts are crunchy and other parts have quite a lot of meat. We refilled this fried fish head for like 3-4 times. Good stuff :)

He says: This is the BOMB! I would come back here just for this pot of soup! 

She says: All the goodness in a pot. When it comes, it comes with all the vegetables and different kind of mushrooms in it. SO, if you're a vege lover like me, you'll love this one! The soup. THE SOUP IS FINGER/SPOON LICKING GOOOOD! Love how sweet and spicy it is at the same time. I have never tasted this kind of soup base before. It's just too yummy. I can just feast on the soup and vege and ramen and I'm a happy girl already! The soup is seriously all thumbs up! :)

Oh Sushi Restaurant at Straits Quay, Penang

Location: Straits Quay (Next to Berlin Bier Houz)

Price: Expensive

Ratings:

His rating: 7/10

Her rating: 8.8/10

Famous Fish Steamboat at Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat, Raja Uda

DadKhoo's early birthday dinner celebration. We had Thai cuisine last year at Khun Thai Teluk Kumbar, of which you can read it here! But this time, we thought we would travel across the sea for some famous fish steamboat. Fish steamboat means the soup is not made with chicken stock or chicken bones, but of fish.

All our first time there except the boy. He sort of took us there and recognised the shop from a distance.

Their shop used to be really small, now ample of space to dine here :)

Their "chilli sauce" dip.

He says: This sauce is great! In hokkien people call it 'lam chut' or something. Sweet, spicy and sour all in one.

She says: SPICY AND SOUR! BEST!

We took a package of RM228. If you don't want the package, you can order the fish soup with a minimal price, and then order all the other ingredients on ala carte basis. 

He says: Muahhh.. The soup is super good. Give it a try people, I bet you'll get hook to it!

She says: The fish soup is soooo good that I couldn't stop drinking it. I think we became full very fast because of the soup! And the ingredients are fresh! My favorite has to be the strips of abalone. Least favorite is bacon. Who boils bacon? Mad. MUST TRY THIS STEAMBOAT!

Fish Steamboat at Zi Wei Yuan Steamboat, Raja Uda

Location: 6525, Along Jalan Raja Uda Butterworth

Direction: If you coming from Bagan, it would be on your right whereas if you comes from Sg Dua exit, it would be on your left after the Chinese temple.

Price: Reasonable

Ratings:
His rating:9.2.10
Her rating: 9.5/10