火爆锅 Hoobaa Hotpot Mount Austin — Restaurant in Johor

Hotpot meals are an anathema in our tropical climate. Other than the fun factor, my personal opinion is that there is no reason for Singaporeans or Malaysians to eat hotpot in the heat of day, it just doesnt make any sense!

Yet here we are, Haidilao has made SG its financial HQ and eating hotpot is a fave pasttime of Singaporeans and Malaysians alike.

Never enjoyed hotpots for the food factor. Until now.

Boy oh boy this Malaysian chain has won my heart, vote and tummy. Loved the wonderful soup bases, which are the best i have ever had at a hotpot place. The highly recommended soup is their signature chicken broth, which was like a clear asian version of Campbell's soup. The winner for me though, was the herbal soup, which seems to be boiled for a long time because you can taste the goodness of the danggui and gou qi zi with every spoonful of soup. And the tomato soup is so much better than the ones touted by certain chains as their special soups. There was even a laksa broth that i went for, which is good for noodles, but a tad heavy for me otherwise.

Was served by a super attentive and polite staff, Chin Long, who always made sure my soups are of the right temperature, and my Oolong tea cup is always filled to the brim.

Truly my heart and belly are very full.

Wishing this chain the very best and hope you cross the Causeway to set up...

Hoobaa Hotpot Mount Austin offers a wide variety of ingredients — everything you could want in a good steamboat — and their extended hours until 5am are definitely a plus.

However, before we even started, the staff repeatedly warned us about food wastage, which quickly put us off and affected our overall mood. In any buffet, diners typically seek variety, not large portions — yet they insisted on serving very large portions per order, which felt counterintuitive.

To be fair, the seafood was fresh and the meats were of good quality. That said, the squid paste was heavily salted and over-seasoned, while the prawn paste turned mushy when cooked. The fried chicken was served cold, and the soup base had far too much MSG (Ajinomoto).

We were also let down by the dessert selection — there was very little variety, and the ice cream was disappointing.

My honest takeaway: if you’re offering a buffet, let people enjoy their food without pressure. The focus should be on creating a pleasant dining experience, not managing portions through...

Went on a weekday for dinner and there were no queues. Not so sure about the waiting during the peak hours. Spent about 1hr 30 minutes dinning over there and the bill was about 200rm for 2pax. The food here is not exactly cheap but what they are offering is similar to what HaiDiLao would offer I guess. Ingredients used for the hotpot are fresh and the customer service is extraordinary.

Ingredients for the hotpot are fresh, most of the seafood are served live. Free flowed of iced tea and fresh foods are included in the hotpot too. You will see the waiters walking back and forth constantly and it is easy to approach them if you need anything. Most of the time if you need anything they will just bring it to you without you having to ask. Me and my friend had over ordered for pax as we left the place quite bloated. Overall a pleasant dinning experience and +1 for the customer service. If you find HaiLiDao too expensive, maybe you can consider trying out...