The rich, milky white—bright red if ordering Mala—soup base is very flavourful, even before adding the ingredients. The seafood one has a light taste of the goodness of the sea while the chicken soup has a strong flavour of, well, chicken. In fact, this is the only place, excluding Tsukada Nojo, where I do not need to order prawns to yield tasty soups. The Mala one is extremely potent in terms of spiciness, great for certain ingredients, like luncheon meat, sliced pork, tau pok (drain away the liquid first), baby corn and such. Avoid putting the vegetables into the Mala soup if one has low tolerance towards spicy food since it is easy to choke on the overwhelming hotness. Adding parsley and spring onion to the soup is recommended.
The ingredients are fresh, and most are reasonably priced, with exception to the pastes and seafood. Also helps that the variety is awesome, featuring many types of ingredients from all kinds of beancurd products, various meats and seafood, several kinds of noodles and vegetables. The best part about this place is that one can concoct customized dipping sauces from a huge array of condiments available. Sesame sauce, sesame oil, freshly minced garlic—so fresh that the typical strong pungent smell can blow one away, soy sauce, chives, parsley, spring onions, chillies, the list goes on. The staff is very regular in topping up the condiments, which is all good. Go easy on the chillies and even the garlic because the ones here pack lots of fiery power.
The service is unbelievably good, except for the reservation system where they lost track of a reservation that was two weeks old, and when they need to check their reservation list. They are very proactive, polite, patient and prompt in responding to requests. Even the kitchen staff is very polite.
The place is well-kept and clean. No complaints here. Though it may get cramped if an obnoxious patron sits behind you because the chairs take up quite a lot of space, and the person is inconsiderate, well, good luck.
Despite this minor issue, Hai Di Lao is still my favourite place to go for hotpot.
My Thoughts: Very Nice!
Nearest car park: 313@Somerset's car park
Nearest MRT: Somerset
Level 4, 313@Somerset
313 Orchard Road
Singapore
Contact No: 6835 7227
