Coucou Hotpot‧Brew Tea @Suntec City — Restaurant in Singapore

One Star is a over-qualified. As been in Singapore for more than 10 years, I would say this is the worst restaurant I have ever been. I come to SUNTEC often but never dined in here as there are usually not many people dining during rush hours. Lately a friend recommended this restaurant so we decided to try on a Sunday for lunch. We came at around 11:30am, and there is only one table inside. A staff called Shawn attended us, which turned a nightmare. He took us to a super dark dining section, which is extremely kids unfriendly! As I have two 3.5 year old girls with me. Then I asked if they have kids chair, which are extremely common in other restaurant, but he said their chairs are only for babies around 1 year old. I then said if it’s possible to sit us close to the window where is brighter, because I concerned my kids may hit themselves in such a dark table. He insisted that they can’t as the section is not open yet and they can’t best attend us. BUT seriously, the window seat is literally max 10 steps away the opened section and at the time only ONE table is dining! I said I concern safety over service so I can help myself and can go to them if I need help. Still rejecting us for a proper window seat, he offered a smaller table in the opened section and asked us to squeeze in.. it’s a hot pot so everyone knows we need a proper space for pots, dishes etc. He was impatient don’t offer help ( though he pretends he’s helping). Later I ask if I can speak to the manager, he replied that he is the manager… I said I want to speak to your manager and he said my manager is not in yet! Apparently he was trying to make it difficult for me… Through the beginning to the end, he was wearing this fake smile but totally not helpful. It also seems to me that he doesn’t care about the situation of the customers, and just feel free to leave if you are not happy.. for staff like Shawn, it’s NOT about how satisfy the customer is BUT really how convenient for Shawn himself!

Overall, it’s not toddler friendly and staff like Shawn is extremely ignorant with fake smile on all the time. It probably explained why the restaurant is quiet during rush hours… given staff like Shawn, people will walk away from the restaurant as there are so many friendly and tasty hot pot restaurants in Singapore! I would hope management of Coucou would pay attention to this and feel free to contact me so that I can share more details. I won’t be surprised that this Shawn would distort the truth and described me as a rude customer!

Attached three pictures… the first is the section Shawn assigned us. It’s a lot darker in real. The second and the third are pictures we are hoping to get seated which are easier for toddlers

*After wrote the review, I chatted with my friend who recommended this restaurant and she also agreed the service is pretty bad at Coucou SUNTEC….also by reading the Google review only ( which I should have done before coming), there are tons of comments about their bad services, which is no longer a...

Came during restaurant week and enjoyed their lunchtime promotion which was $28++ per pax. Considering that their soup base for half is already $24, this was extremely worth it.

The set for 2 pax ($56++) came with 2 soup base, 2 choices of meat, vege platter, condiments, drink and dessert. The soup choices by default was the mushroom and Taiwan style spicy soup. The former was full of mushroom flavor and was my preferred choice while the latter had bits of peppercorn, not quite mala but still can trigger a cough. The meat was some pretty good cuts in my opinion, only 5 slices each but 5 good slices of decent size. The veg platter was generous with various types of veg. The soup itself had some ingredients which is good to eat as well, not the kind that has been left inside for very long. While the description indicated that there was red bean bean curd as the dessert, when I requested for the dessert I was informed that that was unavailable today which was a letdown. Instead, they had icecream.

When it came to the condiments bar, what stood out was the Lu rou fan. This was extremely satisfying and I had 2 portions of it even before the soup was served. Everything else was similar to a famous hotpot chain in Singapore, although some of the condiments weren’t available such as fried garlic.

Service wise while it was good, it wasn’t outstanding. I would also go to say that they were slightly slower and less observant than that famous hotpot place. The interior was sophisticated with dry ice displays at the entrance but I wouldn’t say it was more comfortable. It also didn’t help that there was an event going on and it was pretty noisy for our experience.

All in all, a very interesting and new experience for those who wants to try a authentic Taiwan version of hotpot.

PS. I got a free milk tea after doing this review. Considered...

I personally do not think this place is worth the hype. Ambiance wise is not bad for gathering, but the side seats wall openings does not have any dividers, I could hardly hear what my family us saying with a group of people chitchatting behind us.

The special thing about cou cou I guess would be the soup base. We ordered the Taiwan Spicy soup and something something coconut soup. You can treat the TW spicy soup as just any other ordinary soup, it is NOT spicy at all. For someone like me who can’t take much spice, even the chili powder from the fried ribs are spicier. The coconut healthy soup is not of my tastebud, if you haven’t had before, it taste and smell just like boiling/burning the dry coconut shell, more to the sweeter side. My family thinks its good though but nobody really touch that side.

The lamb is tough somemore is recommended by the staff, the Japanese pork is not that tough passable. Meat slices are thin and big. Never had sotong paste before so we ordered and try, taste ok doesn’t have any chewy texture to it, like fish cake, still prefers prawn paste. The braised intestines and fried ribs are yummy. Lu rou fan is is okay, passable too. Note that their sauces station does not have sugar, but you can request for it.

We were notified that the dining time is 90mins, after we sat down in less than 10mins, we were approached 2x by the staffs asking if we’re ready to order, feels like we’re being hurried. That lady that comes after we are almost done is the nicest, asking us if we would like desserts. Desserts are good.

Overall I wouldn’t recommend this place, unless you wanna try something new. For the price I paid here, I can get better hotpot and more food with better service elsewhere. Light too dark, I couldn’t see if my food are cooked through.

Did not manage to try their bbt, maybe when we pass by...