Another date night, another hot pot. It doesn't matter that the temperatures hit mid 30s, my love for hot pot will never cease. This time we decided to try out Spicy Master Mr Cool (long name, I know) which had opened at Pinelands Centro where Nandos used to be situated. Hailing from Chengdu, it's not your usual hot pot style with sliced meats and vegies, but rather skewers to cook in the pot. With its grand opening sale of 32% off, Adam and I went to try as a matter of priority. Being used to having to wait in line with a considerable crowd, we were surprised to get a table immediately after arriving.
Menus were provided, but they took our order immediately and I wasn't able to take photos. Pots were roughly about $20 and sauces were $4pp which was very expensive given that options weren't too diverse. Luckily, all elements to my signature sauce were still available.
As with most Chinese hot pots, packets of oil are available for those who are unafraid of a premature death like it oily.
Learning our lesson from David's, we went with the half half bone broth and spicy broth to make sure that we could definitely eat from at least one side of the pot (no there is no option where both soups are not spicy).
Skewers could be obtained on a DIY basis. At a flat rate of 60 cents a skewer, they appear to be fairly cheap. Except upon closer inspection we found that each skewer had meat the size of a thumbnail, half a fish ball, a tiny bundle of enoki or a third of a chicken wing (you get the picture).
Compared to other hot pots we've had of late, the spicy soup wasn't overly spicy for us. Some would say even edible. Surprisingly, the stock soup tasted quite artificial and salty. The meat itself wasn't overly fresh either with a near plastic-y texture.
In the end, we loaded up on their noodles. At $6.80 a plate, these weren't cheap for a mere handful, but compared to the skewers, this was more preferable.
Whilst the experience was quite disappointing, I'm still glad I went whilst it was on discount, if anything to satisfy my curiosity.
Taste: 2/10
Value: 4/10
Service: 6/10
Environment: 6/10
Cheers, was considering checking it out - looks like there's no real need. Will wait for the next store at this location then :p
ReplyDelete--Will Yam