The Magic of Chongqing

I was randomly commenting that I wanted to have steamboat for my birthday, and The Wife decided to surprise me by Googling for the best steamboat in Singapore. Was really touched by her effort, though she did bring me to the wrong place, on the pretext of trying out Brunetti.  See my review of that here. Hehe she's adorbs!

The Magic of Chongqing is based in Tanglin SHOPPING CENTER, not Tanglin MALL. Just in case any of you want to visit. It's the rundown cousin that is filled with Middle-Eastern shops selling carpets. And it's on the 4th floor, quite hard to find.

But trust me, it's worth the effort.
You are greeted by a banner that looks suspiciously like something Bruce Lee would break into 2 in his movies.

The place isn't very big, so you might want to make reservations before coming. I was too excited about the prospect of having steamboat so I didn't take any interior pictures. My bad!

What drew The Wife here was specifically the search for Mala steamboat. This place has got a perfect rendition of that. The soup is spicy, but it still retains flavour.

In some places, the spice level is so overwhelming that you cant taste anything else. At these places,  I will sometimes end up looking like Tony Leung from a very old period comedy. One that never fails to make me laugh. In case you still have no idea what I'm referring to, refer below.

Classic! Hahaha! But I digress.

As I was saying, the soup here is excellent. They also have some premium soup selections which you would have to pay extra for. Didn't try this time but maybe next time when I go back!

While the soup base is undoubtedly the star of any good steamboat, quality ingredients are what takes the broth to another level. Of these, The Magic of Chongqing has in abundance.

 Beef. My staple of choice no matter which steamboat place I go. The beef here is excellent. Some places slice it VERY thin, and you don't get much bite out of a single slice. Over here, the thickness is just right, and the meat has enough taste on it's own and does not get overshadowed when you cook it in the mala side. Still maintains the beefiness, and I think that is testament to the quality!

 Shiitake mushrooms stuffed with what I think is pork. Most of my friends would know I'm almost halal...but I like this thing! The pork isn't too porky (which I hate), and the mushroom and pork somehow blends well together. Try it!

 Shrimp wonton. The Wife likes it but I think it's too skinny. Skin-ny...hahahaha I kill myself! Yup, I feel that there's too much skin, and the pork in the dumpling overshadows the prawns inside. I could see why people would like this though.

 Quail eggs. No description needed!

 Lettuce. No description needed!

 Taupok. No description needed! At least I don't know what to say about it...I didn't eat it. Not much of a taupok fan.

Of course, we had much more than this.

MUCH MUCH more than this. Oh yeah, try cooking the tanghoon in the mala soup! Yummy!

When you are halfway through, they serve portions of cooked food.

Xiao long bao, guo tie (pan fried meat and chive dumpling) and spring roll. The picture above looks like my guo tie. I think so. It's cumbersome to whip out a DSLR when you are in the midst of eating.

The spring roll was decent, but I didn't like the other 2. Too porky. Like taking a bite out of Porky Pig himself.

And then there is a touch of sweetness when they see that you are almost done.

 Chestnut cake. Very refreshing after 1 hour of mala hotpot!

It's call egg coated glutinous square, but what it feels like is nian gao. But there is no sweetness or much taste to this. Just the gooey texture.

And then there was a deep-fried bun, which I wolfed down immediately paired with condensed milk. Possibly my favourite item at any restaurant that serves it!

To wash all these sins down, do try their homemade '8 Treasures Tea'. It comes either cold or hot, and I opted for the cold version. It tastes herbal, but still sweet, and I think I could drink it every day. It supposedly has some health properties as well, but I was too busy staring at my food to listen to what the waitress had to say.

No! This is not green tea! 8 treasures tea I said!

Do give this place a try if you are into hotpots. You won't regret it!

Price : About $35 per pax (buffet)
Address : #04-06/07, Tanglin Shopping Centre, 19 Tanglin Road
Tel :  67348135
 Website : http://www.chinesefeasts.com.sg/restaurants.html

Signing off,
The Lunatic