Xiao Long Kan Hotpot (Orchard)

Enjoyed the mushroom soup which was very tasty and rich! Would recommend the mala soup base for cooking/dipping only as it is quite spicy and oily as a soup. Tomato is decent. Overall the food choices are great, everything tasted fresh and we really enjoyed the hotpot. But the ventilation can do better as the entire restaurant is engulfed in mala🤣

Decided to give this place a try upon looking at a number of reviews. Firstly, the food was decent. Everything we ordered were fresh but the beef is just average. The mala soup base was flavorful, but lack the spiciness and numbness despite choosing the most spicy option. But…if you are expecting similar level of service from the more well known hotpot chains, you will be very disappointed. From experiences patronizing the other chains, I was expecting similar level of service. We went for lunch, there wasn’t many tables occupied, probably less than 10. Despite that, the service was slow, staff were inattentive. One example, when we were about to finish, we ordered iced water which came in a jug. The staff just put the jug on the table without even looking at us, and without any glass. We asked another staff that happened to pass by for cups, there were 3 of us dining, only 2 cups were given. We were told that the spicy mala soup base was beef bone broth when ordering. Yet when they top up the soup, they used the same soup for both the spicy soup and pork bone soup. So we asked what soup was it, the staff just said it’s bones, all kinds of bones pork chicken etc. Unfortunately there isn’t anything exceptional compared to the competing chains.

We din in on a Saturday afternoon around 6 pm not so many people but one hour later there was people waiting outside. The special butter hotpot and born soup hotpot are really good 😊 and along with the Sichuan special ingredients in hotpot such as cow stomach and throat, pork brain is really made me feel like home. The spicy beef which recommend by the waitress is good too! There are kinds of dipping sauces on the display session which you can choose and change for 4 per person. Really good flavor and service!

First visit to this outlet @ Orchard and the food quality remains consistent. They were a bit shorthanded as the crowd started to stream in at 7+. Nevertheless Xiao Long Kan remains one of my fav place to have hotpot at - decent soup bases (especially mala!) and ingredients were fresh. Best to come early as it gets pretty crowded during peak hour!

Prawns were fresh and deveined! They help you peel if you ask. It was so good we had to repeat another order of it. I love the intestines, pork and vegetable choices. What made this different from other hotpot establishment is it's variety of offal/innard choice available here. Don't be deceived by the huge pot, it's actually quite shallow. Soup base was rich and flavourful by the end of the night. Definitely a great choice for supper since they are open all the way till 6am!