Quote:
Originally Posted by KohOnly21
Any Bro tried the Whampoa Keng SteamBoat Restaurant (yellow signboard) behind Utama Hotel? I think is the franchise from SG one...?
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Whampoa Keng (Franchise from SG)
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Location : Behind Utama Hotel
Speciality : fish head steamboat
Remarks : Opened 5 months at time of this post
Food : --na-- (steamboat : food ingredients raw not marinated, and food texture depends on customers' cooking)
Value : 2/5 (batam standards), 3.5/5 (SG standards)
Conclusion :
a. The steamboat soup base is
really, really great. For die-hard steamboat lovers.
b. Due to its prices - if order zi-char - go Marine Live which is very nearby.
c. Beats the "show-you-how-fat-my-wallet-is" Duck King , Grand Duck nonsense. Caveat : it's a newly opened resto - so for sure quality is great. Later on, not sure.
Will not be detailed in this FR - bcs I can't recommend it in general - but yet the steamboat soup base is really great - and can recommend to die-hard steamboat lovers in SG who come to Batam. How great : the 4 of us drank 3 pots of it (perpetual replenishment).
There is a reason why steamboat dun take off in Batam. Locals think "so long as food is fresh (buy from wet market etc), can liao - so make it ourselves at home - cheaper, better, can wear anything we want, relax at home etc.
I agree with their thinking. But it's a big waste to buy a variety of ingredients to cook at home which is too much for only 2 ppl. So when my partner heard about this whampoa keng (from Koh21). We called friends to join us.
Went there for dinner at 1930hrs, and I saw china tourists patronising the place. Local friend remarked "its more crowded than Marine Live". My reply : "obviously (driver/tout) commission based"
Went thru the menu and ordered.
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Total RP414K : Small fish head steamboat, baby corn, raw sotong, fried baby squid, beancurd-skin, 3 x rice, 2 x Aqua
Summary :
FOOD
a. If go there, do order the fish-head steamboat
**BUT** tell them to
separate the soup and the fish parts/head (I asked after dinner and they said yes they can do that). Reason : (a) ours came with the garoupa parts in the soup - cooked too long - texture was rough and not tangy as garoupa should be. (b) so that one can see (how much) the fish portions and cook-to-control the fish parts by oneself.
b. To me, the most important thing in steamboat is the soup base - since all meats and vege are raw and not marinated. Their soup is really, really good.
Their signature dishes :
http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=21468795
PRICE
a. We can't decide if it's too expensive (for sure not cheap) - bcs the ingredients are fresh (but small portions) and the soup was wonderful (we drank 3 pots of it). So I leave it to you to decide :
Set Menu prices :
2 pax :
http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=21468803
3 pax onwards :
http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=21468796
Ala-carte prices :
http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=21468801
http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=21468802
http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=21468798
http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=21468799
http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=21468800
Overall, we left with mixed feelings - Would we pay RP180K (small portion fish steamboat) to dine just the steamboat fish head ? YES (unlimited soup). But you gonna be full with just the fish head steamboat ? NO. So means ordering others - and that becomes pricey.
But the taste of the soup (and mixed with rice) continues to linger on in my mind...
However, if you're the occasional tourist and you enjoy whampoa keng in SG - go for it. It's 50-65% cheaper than SG's (from Koh's input). I personally never tried SG's WKeng.
Edit : Fixed URL links.