City Hot Pot Nestled in Singapore's CBD

Tucked in a quaint corner offering a decent view of the CDB where you can enjoy your dinner while the sun sets in the background, City Hot Pot Shabu Shabu offers its guests an option to enjoy comfort hotpot sets at affordable prices. 

Upon entering the restaurant, we were recommended Set B as seen above. For $60.99 for 2 people, it is steal and provides sufficient food to leave you in a food coma. Personally, I choose the Si Chuan Spicy Soup and the Fish Soup with Milk flavours whilst my plus one choose to try their basic chicken and fish soup flavours. 

Personally, I have not visited many hot pot restaurants around Singapore i.e. Beauty in a Pot or Hai Di Lao so I had no expectations stepping into City Hot Pot.

Although the restaurant was half empty, the corner we were seated in left us jumping for the attention of the waiters. When our food finally arrived, we could not wait to dig in!

Beautifully laid on the table, I first tried the Wagyu Chuck Eye Roll. The beef cooked exceptionally fast, perhaps due to the fact that the size of the pot was rather small. I throughly enjoyed the beef and had the impression that plate of beef sitting in front of me was not enough as it melted in my mouth and went down so easily. 

Next, as a meatlover, I tried the pork collar. Unfortunately I had a mini struggle trying to pull the frozen pieces apart. I wondered if I was too hungry and impatient or the pork was just taken fresh out of the freezer. Overall, the pork was less “fatty” and was well-complimented with the self-DIY sauces that were available on the other side of the restaurant.

Tip: Do remember to help yourself to the sauces, I did not realise there were sauces available until halfway through my meal. 

I proceeded onto the seafood that was served as part of the set, my favourite was the prawn paste. It was tasty yet not too salty compared to the prawn pastes i have previously tasted at other hot pot restaurants. The prawns and fish slices were fresh, I loved how the prawns were already de shelled when they were served while there were no hidden small bones in the fish slices. My recommendation would be to put the prawns into the soup at the start to give your boiling soup that tinge if sweetness from the prawns. 

Although I have been making a conscious effort to avoid processed food, I could not resist the crab sticks and luncheon meat. After such a sinful act, I have no regrets as they went so well after a one-minute dip in my Si Chuan Spicy Soup. It was truly comfort food for me. My plus one however commented that she should not have left the luncheon meat boiling in her soup as it made the soup a bit too salty for her liking. 

As part of the set, City Hot Pot offers a generous serving of assorted vegetables and assorted mushrooms such as black fungus, enoki and shiitake mushrooms. These serve as good sides along with the meat and seafood provided during the meal. 

I wish to highlight that the set also gives noodle and rice lovers alike a variety of options for their staple. We choose the Tung Hoon and Mee Sua as our staples. The noodles cooked very fast as well probably due to the small size of the pot. We were filled by all the “liao” we barely finished our staples. 

Overall, I would not mind returning to City Hot Pot Shabu Shabu again. Although I definitely would not say that it is one of the top hot pot restaurants on my list, their sets are a bang for your buck as they substantially fill you up while their ambience is nice and cost enough after a hard days’ work. Their location smacked in the CBD makes it a convenient and ideal place for friends to catch up over a meal.