Dinner @ JPOT

November 13, 2014 in Chinese by thywhaleliciousfay

My brothers were craving for steamboat, so we decided to head to JPot. My last visit to JPot was almost 3 years ago, and I guess they must have done some minor revamp as the chairs were no longer the same. What I last remembered were the high-back sofa benches along the glass façade. However, these have since been replaced by orange cushioned seats.

And gone are the days when we placed our orders manually with the staff as all tables were equipped with iPads. Yah, I don’t remember seeing these iPads on my previous visit. Which we felt was actually a pain in the neck as it was difficult getting the staff’s attention when we wanted to make some clarification about the set menus.

And yes, the only menu which we received in hardcopy was for the various set menus (pages 1, 2, 3) where the breakdown of the dishes was shown. To place orders for these set menus, one will also need to use the iPad.

And from the menu, we ordered:-

1) Menu D, $108 for 4 pax comprised of:-

  
  

(A) Soup (choice of 4 items) (above) – We were each given our individual pots and we went with (clockwise, top left) fish head soup (additional $1), bak kut teh, JPOT superior broth and tom yum from the 9 flavours that were available. And all were pretty good although bak kut teh was not a very versatile soup base to be cooking ingredients like prawns as it altered its flavour.

(B) Spinach & mushroom (above)

(C) Seafood & noodle combination platter (above) – Live prawn, sliced toman fish, sliced squid, scallop, red chilli with fish paste, pork noodle, fish noodle..

(D) Fried wanton & home-made spinach skin beancurd (above) – The spinach skin beancurd was really good. Have this alone or with JPot’s Singapore Dip. A must try.

(E) Meat (choice of 2 items) (above) – With options of chicken, marinated chicken, marinated pork, sliced pork loin, marinated beef and sliced beef brisket to choose from, we went with marinated chicken and sliced pork loin.

(F) Rice / noodle (choice of 2 items) (above) – We decided to get vermicelli and pho over steamed rice, thick laksa noodle and instant noodle.

2) Fried beancurd skin (8 pcs), $5 (above) – This was so good. One can have it very soaked or dip it into the soup for 2 – 3 seconds such that it’s soaked yet still a little crunchy. I always have mine as the latter. A must try.

3) Hand-made jumbo pork ball, $5 (above) – I guess the presentation was probably more for its novelty. As it was big, we had to further divide it into smaller pieces to ensure the meat was cooked thoroughly. And because we had to divide the jumbo-sized ball, it caused the meat to sort of disintegrate. Stick to ordering the normal small-sized meat balls. At least one is assured of bouncy balls!

Other than being very full from ordering too many a-la carte items in addition to our set menu (haha), we enjoyed our lunch. The lack of human touch which we felt initially with the automatic ordering system proved not to be an issue as the staff consistently checked on us. They would regularly go on their rounds to top up our soup, or clear the empty dishes. Not topping up of drinks since these were free flow (after paying the respective prices) and self-service.

I liked that the recipes were pasted at the self-service counter for the dipping sauces. If not I normally have lots of problem trying to come up with a tasty concoction. Ha.

And cause I was wearing a white skirt, I requested for an apron. I got to learn that aprons were available when the staff offered my brother one as he was wearing a white top. The lady was worried he would stain his shirt. Thumbs up for good service!

JPOT HOTPOT
1 HarbourFront Walk, VivoCity (Lobby F), #01-53, Singapore
6273 3536, Website, Facebook
Overall: 7
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 7
Mon – Fri : 12:00 – 15:00 (Lunch)
Ambience: 7
Mon – Fri : 18:00 – 23:00 (Dinner)
Value: 7
Sat – Sun : 12:00 – 23:00
Service: 7