Xiao Cao Xiang Steamboat Buffet Review: New Hot Pot Buffet With Free-Flow Xiao Long Bao For $16.80+ At Toa Payoh

Long queues form at famous joints like Crystal Jade and Hai Di Lao every day, with locals willing to stand in line for hours on end. That explains why the steamboat and xiao long bao buffet at Crystal Jade’s Holland Village outlet is so popular, with patrons more than happy to shell out upwards of $30 to get their fix. Owned by the same folks who brought the adjacent Yunique Tea to Singapore, this spanking new restaurant offers a 90-minute all-you-can-eat buffet , complete with a personal steamboat pot, as well as free-flow xiao long bao and drinks at $16.80+ .

Food at Xiao Cao Xiang Steamboat Buffet For our personal pots, we tempted fate by going for their sinister ma la soup base, which boasted a devilish deep red hue and ominous layer of chilli oil. That crucial aspect was missing here, as the spicy soup base smacked us with straightforward spiciness from the get-go, without aromatic depth to back it up.

A good range of meats was on show, but out of the eight, the Special Pickled Lamb and oddly-named Shangri-La Beef grabbed our attention. Even so, if we’re taking lamb instead of beef or pork, it’s because we want a bit of that gamey character, which was likely robbed by whatever was used as the tenderiser.

While those meats are still perfectly tasty, we’d rather stick with the tried and true steamboat components— sliced pork belly and sukiyaki-style sliced beef belly . While sliced slightly thinner than we’d have liked, these belly cuts had that familiar balance of meat and fat, which makes them great for hot pots or ma la xiang guo . The squid and prawns are solid additions to your stable of hot pot of components; the latter particularly handy for adding some umami depth to your soup base.

These shells were full of juicy meat, bursting with subtly sweet seafood notes and absorbing accents of flavour from the soup base. That extends to the sauce table, with an intimidating lineup of sauces for you to mix and match. When we arrived at debut time, we were looking forward to chowing down on hot pot and mountains of xiao long bao .

The first batch of xiao long bao was only ready an entire hour after the buffet got under way, only to be swiftly wiped out by a swarm of expectant customers. For a place that trades the free-flow xiao long bao , not having one of their flagship items for such an extended period of time is unacceptable.

That’s likely since the porky dumplings weren’t as hot as they should have been, causing the broth within to dry up and making the skin a tad sticky. The verdict At $16.80+, we can’t argue with the wonderful value that Xiao Cao Xiang Steamboat Buffet represents.

Their considerable selection of components, particularly fresh seafood, is remarkable, making this a good budget option when you want to grab some hot pot with your pals. However, their broths could do with a little adjustment, and they need to do a better job in keeping up their xiao long bao side of the bargain. Take your hot pot game up a notch by checking out our list of Hai Di Lao hacks , or indulge your steamboat fantasies by looking at our reviews of Shan Pin Steamboat and Steamov .

Shan Pin Steamboat Review: $19.80 Hai Di Lao-Style Buffet With DIY Sauce Bar At Toa Payoh Let us know your favourite spots for steamboat in the comments below!