Hai Tian Lao 海天撈自助火锅 - Yes! It's 天, not 底 steamboat buffet restaurant

• Operating Hours: 4.30 PM - 4 AM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: 27 Jalan Bestari 1/5, Taman Nusa Bestari, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
• Facebook Page

Singapore have Hai Di Lao 海底捞, and now across the custom in Johor Bahru they have 海天捞. Yes! 海天捞, but is it the same in terms their service, quality and variety of food?

20 minutes drive from custom, about 50 RM per pax, you could choose your choice of soup and free flow of all the food offers, what's different here is they offer barbeque items like Sotong, Lala clam, prawn and even Stingray! They have fried Chicken Wing and Man Tou ready to eat too! Last but not least, they do provide fruits and Ice cream!
You could purchase canned drinks from them but they do have other drinks for you included with the buffet, even real watermelon juice!

So for a start, you get to choose between 6 type of soups - Big Bone, Sichuan Mala, Mushroom, Thai Tom Yum, Taiwanese Mala and Tomato Soup. We chose Tom Yum and Tomato soup.

For those who have visited 海底捞, does this pot looks very similar? The soup is nice by itself, but not as tasteful as Hai Di Lao, but it was comparable with any other steamboat of the same price range, good amount of spices in each soup.

Even before we go and collect the items to cook, the Barbeque item came presented to us, first was the prawns, they were really fresh and easy to peel off the shell, I was expecting just prawns with simple sambal sauce but they used ladies finger and onions with sambal sauce to mix them up. Do not worry about getting your hands dirty, there were basin for you to wash your hands after you deshelled the prawns.

Next was stingray, they used normal chili sauce to cook this, the stingray they gave was really fleshly! It won't lose out to any barbeque shop outside.

Lots of variety of vegetables offered for you, they all were stocked up quite fast when they were empty.

They have beef, pork, chicken and lamb, all not marinated in a chiller. Sadly when we were there at 9PM+ they already out of stock for beef, but I managed to grab hold of a plate of beef!

Other ingredients at another chiller - hotdogs, meatballs, crabstick, luncheon meats and fishcakes.

Overall, I would not compare this to Hai Di Lao as they were of different standard, if compared to any other steamboat buffet restaurant at this price range, they were on a much higher standard in terms of the quality and variety of items. 

Total for the price of $198.85 for 4 pax. It was quite value for money. Do visit them if you are looking for some Steamboat buffet but please do visit them early to avoid disappointment of any out of stock item.

Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 - A Traditional Chinese Dessert Stall with Korean Bingsu inspired desserts?!

• Operating Hours: 10 AM - 8 PM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: People's Park Centre, #02-48/58, 101 Upper Cross Street, S 058357
• Webpage

The hot weather in Singapore gets even hotter these few weeks! Happened to chance upon Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 while we were running errands at People's Park Centre, so we decided to give this stall a try, as well as to seize the chance to enjoy the aircon in People's Park Centre.

A "mother-daughter" team established Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 in the year 2004 to share their passion in making Chinese traditional desserts with all the like-minded individuals. As time goes by, the owner has introduced new flavours and items to be added to their menu, to improvise their desserts and also to keep up with the market trends. 

There is another dessert stall right beside Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 that sell similar desserts, but you can't miss Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 as they have expanded their business space by buying over the area directly opposite their stall.

These are the hot and cold dessert they have.

We decided to go for their Oreo Kakigori (Shaved ice in Japanese), Milo Kakigori and Tau Suan.

The Oreo Kakigori came first and taking the first look at it, it is 90% similar to a bowl of Korean Oreo Bingsu! A good amount of crushed Oreo used, topping up with condensed milk; the only difference between the Oreo Kakigori and Korean Oreo Bingsu is probably the price. $4.80 for this bowl of goodness, seriously?

The amount of condensed milk used was just right for us. Though we all have sweet tooth, we can't really take desserts that are too sweet/rich, and very often we would stop eating halfway. The Oreo Kakigori here was what we are looking for - generous amount of Oreo powder used, topped up with the right amount of condensed milk on a bowl of snowflake ice that literally melts in your mouth. Perfect!

We were surprised to see a small piece of Oreo Cheesecake hidden in the middle of the bowl. To Oreo fans- this is a bowl of dessert you should go for. Highly recommended!

Next came was the Tau Suan. Priced slightly on a higher side ($2.20), the Tau Suan served here is actually a healthier version (as compared to the regular hawker stall), which is less sweet. 

The last item came was the Milo Kakigori. This was actually the additional order (as we really like the Oreo version) so we were having high expectation on this as well. Similar to Oreo Kakigori, a generous amount of Milo Powder was given, topped up with condensed milk and marshmallow bits. The condensed milk given in the bowl of ice was significantly lesser, not sure if it is due to the marshmallow bits are given - as it will definitely affect the overall sweetness level of this bowl of dessert. 

Instead of the Oreo cheesecake, a small piece of the brownie was given instead. The brownie was slightly dry but overall it does taste good as well when you pair it with the ice. Personally, we felt that the Milo Kakigori is a fusion dessert (Milo powder - Singapore, Kakigori ice - Japan and Bingsu look alike - Korea) whichyou can try if you are a fan of these three countries like us.

All in all, the dessert served at Dessert Hut 甜品小屋 are generally on a healthier side as it is not as sweet as compared to the desserts served at a regular dessert stall. Though we did not try many of their traditional desserts while we were there, we have seen many patrons ordering their hot desserts despite the hot weather. Being in the market for more than 15 years selling traditional Chinese desserts, we like how the owner improvised their menu to keep up with the current trend, opening up the new market with potential to attract a younger crowd to patronize their stall. Do give it a try and share with us how you feel after visiting!

Zhou Xing Xing 周星星經典燒味雲吞麵 - Hong Kong/ Indonesia Fusion Restaurant

• Operating Hours: 10 AM - 10 PM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: 3rd Floor, Aeon Bandar Dato Onn, Jalan Dato Onn Utama Kempas, Johor, Malaysia

Recently at Johor Bahru, another new Aeon shopping mall has just started its operation. Situated at Bandar Dato Onn, it is not difficult to find the new mall as it is just a 20 minutes drive from custom.

While we were hunting for a restaurant to rest out feet and to fill up our stomach, we came across a shop named "Zhou Xing Xing 周星星”.

What does the name "Zhou Xing Xing 周星星" remind you of? It reminds me of all the shows Stephen Chow 周星驰 has acted before, but we are not here to feature Stephen Chow today. A bright yellow restaurant Chinese themed Zhou Xing Xing 周星星 is actually a Hong Kong - Indonesian fusion style restaurant  which was definitely not owned by Stephen Chow.The mascot, however, is inspired by his character starred in the movie - 食神. 

We were there at 7PM and we have to wait for a while before we get a seat.

It was a full house though there were plenty of tables available inside. Within 10mins, we were assigned a table.

They have 3 signature combination with Mee Kia (type of noodle used in wanton noodle commonly), Indonesian curry with Crispy egg noodle, and scrambled egg with chicken oil rice.

To order their signature menu, you will have to choose the type of meat to go along with your  noodle/ rice.  The four meat choices are Roasted Duck, Roasted Pork, Char Siew, and Soy Sauce Chicken.

To our disappointment, they have sold out their Roasted Duck and Roasted Pork before dinner hours! So for this time, we only get to order scrambled egg with rice and Indonesia style curry crispy egg noodle with Char Siew and Soy Sauce Chicken.

After they took our order, we waited for about 10 minutes before they our order is served.

First came was the crispy noodle with Indonesia style curry along side with Char Siew and Soy Sauce Chicken.

The noodle was really crispy on the first bite, and I really love how the noodle can be so crispy - similar to eating noodle snack. After about 5 minutes with the noodle drenched in the bowl of curry gravy, the noodle turned slightly softer. If you prefer your noodle to be softer , you may wanf to wait a while before you eat. The Indonesian curry has a slight hint of taste from the vegetable and coconut, which was already great on its own. However, they have placed the chicken and char siew into the bowl of gravy as well, which the taste of the meat was not too impressive due to the overpowering curry taste that covered up the original taste of the meat. I would very much prefer to eat the Char Siew on its own.

We waited for another 5 minutes before they serve our next order - which was the oil rice topped with scrambled egg with Char Siew and Chicken. We got two free wantons (stated in their menu) as well. Though it was given free to us, the quality wasn't compromised as the skin was thin and it was filled with meat.

Time to try their Char Siew in their original state! Their Char Siew was half fatty, and that makes the overall texture really tender! You could even see the strend on the meat clearly. The skin from the Char Siew, with the thin layer of fats were all marinated fully with caramelised barbeque sauce. Every bite of it will make you want to have more. 

Normally, I would order the leaner char siew as I don't really fancy Char Siew with too much fats. However at Zhou Xing Xing, I really love the Char Siew as how it is, and I ate them all without stopping. Their Char Siew is highly recommended for sure.

For their Soy Sauce Chicken, it was tender but they did not remove the bone from the meat. We felt that the chicken did not taste better than the Char Siew. We will give it a miss when we return the next time.

All in all, it was quite affordable to have a decent meal for a meal for two at Zhou Xing Xing 周星星 including a drink. We will definitely be back soon to try out their highly raved Roasted Duck and Roasted Pork!