Shi Li Fang 食立方 - A steamboat affair with free soft toys after every meal!

• Operating Days: Daily
• Operating Time: 10 AM to 10 PM
• Facebook Page
• Address: Multiple Locations
• Orchard central, 181 Orchard Road #07-10/11, S 238896
• Icon village, 12 Gopeng Street #01-41, S 078877
• Thomson plaza, 301 Upper Thomson Road #01-106, S 574408
• Chinatown point,133 New Bridge Road #B1-30, S 059413
• City square, 180 Kitchener Rd #02-53/54, S 208539
• J-cube, 2 Jurong East Central 1,#02- 08A, S 609731
• West Coast Plaza, 154 West Coast Road #02-24, S 127371
• Bedok Point, 799 New Upper Changi Road #03-38/39, S 467351
• Hougang 1, 1 Hougang Street 91 #01-23, S 538692

I’m pretty sure many Singaporeans are fans of steamboat, with many new pop up steamboat theme restaurants growing rapidly almost at every part of Singapore. It was 8:30pm when we visited Shi Li Fang at Chinatown point, and the number of people queuing to go in brought out our curiosity to give this place a try.

When we walked past the restaurant during weekday lunch time, the whole restaurant would be packed with people. We were surprised to see there were still quite a number of people that had just started eating despite we have past the usual timing for dinner.

We ordered a set for 2 pax with tomato soup and chicken soup. The portion came was huge! 

We think the set is easily enough for 3 pax. The set came with pork belly, pork collar, marinated pork and chicken slices. The vegetable platter consist with generous amount of china cabbage, xiao bai chye, crabstick, enoki mushroom, tang hoon and egg. Similar to Hai Di Lao, they have handmade ramen here as well, which is a popular choice for many. You might encounter difficulty in getting the waiter’s attention to prepare the noodle on the spot in front of you as they are always very busy running around. 

Prawn glue (which came in a tube) is something that we frequent order whenever we are here. The gluelike texture paste will become springy and delicious after cooked. The prawn they used for their prawn glue is very fresh too.

The best thing about dining at Shi Li Fang is they do not charge extra for their sauce! Though they do not have a huge variety of sauce like Hai Di Lao, the variety of sauce provided here is still acceptable. Most of the common sauce for steamboat can be found here.

Cooked shabu shabu pork belly in tomato soup! The pork was fresh and thin, which is perfect for steamboat. The tomato soup base is similar to Hai Di Lao’s as well, but of course it is not as flavourful, which we didn’t mind as it is still tangy and just right for our liking.

The marinated pork was a little salty to our liking, but the flavour is still on point and it goes well with rice or noodle.

Shi Li Fang may not be unfamiliar with many working adults and is a popular choice for lunch with colleagues as they serve nice and affordable steamboat set. Though you may not get the top service like what you receive at Hai Di Lao, it is still recommended for you to give Shi Li Fang a try. Other than dining, Shi Li Fang is generous in giving out soft toys as well. Every $15 spent will earn you a chop, and with just two chops, (which is easily obtainable after a meal) you can choose to bring home a small soft toy. Fear not if you fancy a particular soft toy without enough stamps. Chances are you will still be able to get it as long as you request from the staffs nicely. There is no reason for you to spend money catching soft toy at the claw machines when you can fill your stomach and get free toys at Shi Li Fang. 

MIA Fast Food Service - Cheapest meal I've in Orchard!

• Operating Hours: 8 AM - 3.30 PM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: Far East Shopping Centre, 545 Orchard Road #05-33, S(238882)

Working in Orchard and thinking what to have before your next pay check is in? Happy shopping at Orchard area and not having the extra cash on hand for lunch? Or are you a tourist visiting Singapore would like to try local cuisine in Orchard but friendly to the wallet?

At here, there is a food stall that does not even cost more than $5 with a proper meal plus a canned drink.

I was exploring around this building after I went to a famous game shop. Feeling hungry, I decided to just settle for a meal, thinking that I would end up eating at some venue serving local food with "touristy" price tag. 

I was tempted by so many types of dishes available to choose. I've chosen 1 vegetable, 1 meat, and an egg, and I went to take a canned drink. All these only cost me $4! I was of course happily surprised by the amount I paid. 

During lunch hours, there's a note stated No surfing of internet and reading newspaper as the seats were limited, so you are here just to have your meal and give up seats for others.

The meal was pretty decent, all the dishes were very similar to home cooked meal.

They do offer soup, noodle, and even desserts. What's pretty impressive is that they cook a different kind of desserts daily.

It's not that fantastic which you could get when you are out of town at the same price but I would definitely return here for lunch if I am within Orchard area. It's a place where can you get a proper meal with a drink without paying the usual "touristy" price.