Beauty in the pot has been around for a while now, and it is only recently that I decided to try. Super lagger I am.
Time limit
I called the Jewel outlet to make a booking for dinner at 6pm. Apparently, there have a time limit of 75 minutes for 2 pax, and 90 minutes for more than 2 pax. Is it really feasible to implement a time limit on a steamboat session which is not buffet style? But you will be glad to know that they did not chase us away or even remind us of the time. Of course, this is provided that you order enough food.
Weekday crowd
It was a Monday, and the restaurant was still quite filled with people. If the safe distancing rules were removed, the place would be livelier. As we were ushered to the table, I noticed that the condiment corner was closed off. This is probably for hygiene purpose in our fight against covid19.
For hygiene purpose as well, we were given Zappy food contact wipes to clean the surface of our utensils. There are also the ziploc bags for storing of our handphones, which I did not use, but cheapo-ly brought it back. The tablet was also given a wipe before we used it for ordering of the food.
The choice of soup
The selection of soup base here is pretty good.
Of course, we ought to try the soup that they are known for - Beauty Collagen Broth. More collagen, more beautiful. We also ordered the coconut soup, herbal drunken chicken and vegetarian mushroom. My two personally favorite are the collagen soup and the coconut broth.
Their collagen soup is creamy but not overwhelming. The coconut base is sweet and quite interesting as a hot soup. I actually prefer both of these at the beginning before all the ingredients changed its taste. And I only liked the mushroom soup after all the ingredients were added in.
The type of dishes
The food selection is great. The staff would state the amount of time needed to cook the dishes to perfection when they serve it to the table. Of course, you really must have a photographic memory to remember it all. Which reminds me, the staff have to memorize all those timings as part of their job. Wow.
I do not really know the difference among all the meat we ordered, I just eat. We did not really purchase the premium meats but they taste pretty delicious as well. Cook according to the seconds advised by the staff, and you will get a nice and tender piece.
One of the popular dish is the fried bean curd skin. Just 3 seconds and it is ready for consumption. The skin will absorb the soup, and maintain some of the crispiness. Dip it in a little longer and the beancurd skin will soak up more broth goodness. It really depends on your preference. I think it taste best with the collagen soup.
The noodle wise, we did not like the la mian. It does not absorb any of the soup's taste, which makes it rather plain tasting.
The sauces
At $4 per pax, you get your unlimited sauces and side dishes. With the condiment area closed, their sauces are pre-mixed and you may not like that certain combination. For example, usually we like the original peanut sauce, but their mixture has something else which makes it taste like dan dan mian sauce. Their spicy signature sauce and special thai mixture are not bad.
The drinks
I ordered a hot drink, their flower tea, which comes in a pot. It is a good option to whet the appetite. We also tried their luohanguo and plum juice, and I must say that both drinks taste more authentic than Haidilao's. Free flow too.
To end off the meal, we had a nice platter of fruits and iced pomelo dessert, which they reminded us it was inclusive when we wanted to reject. The service is generally quite good. They would come by every now and then to top up soup, drinks, help with cooking the noodles and etc.
The entire concept is similar to Haidilao. But if given a choice, I would pick Beauty in the pot over Haidilao simply because I have favourite soups here. And also for the more authentic drinks available.
Verdict: Worth the occasional indulgence.