The magic of Chong Qing hotpot

En route to Tanglin shopping centre :)

Last year was Crystal Jade xlb hotpot buffet at Holland Village. This year she picked

this for me :)



First serving of a mixed standard set and an eight treasure tea :)

The yuan yang pot with a half of mala soup and another of herbal chicken that was an additional top up of $15. I've never tried the soup bases included in the dinner menu but this was thick and flavourful worth the money for the top up. :)

Bubble bubble toil and... devour! :)

Edamame peas were on the table for munching while waiting for the soup base to be served. There was an extensive choice of hotpot ingredients and everything was fresh. No item needed thawing nor was anything served in a haphazard fashion. Thinly sliced meats made for easy and quick cooking. Doesn't leave you hungry even for a moment. :)

Even the vegetables did not have signs of worm eaten holes as I often find at other hotpot establishments. The portions are small and allows you to order a wide variety without having to torture your stomach. Tha was a pretty important thing I feel at hotpot places. Especially if it was just two diners. We had four so we had no problem finishing up our orders.

There were also one-off servings of mock abalone, sashimi, cocktail sausage, xiaolongbao, pot stickers and dessert. These didn't need to be ordered, they would be brought to you in the midst of dinner. These weren't fantastic and didn't require a second order anyway.

And just after the last orders, they kindly shifted us to a new table so that we could have our cake in clean comfort. I really appreciated the effort, seeing as how they were already done cleaning up most of the tables and were preparing for closing. To my utter embarrassment, my friends started on a birthday song of which the restaurant manager (?) overheard and promptly joined in.

Strawberry shortcake from Rive Gauche. Too much cream but even then, the cream was light and easy on the stomach. Ample fresh strawberry fillings. It was a sinful treat! :)

And stitch chopsticks that are too cute. Thanks for starting and keeping at my collection of the monster. :) a soft toy, a key chain and now, chopsticks. I know you treat me like a ten year old. <3

Thanks for taking time off for a dinner treat for me. :)

A birthday's as big a deal as other people make it out to be. Loving the idea of growing up a little more with every celebration. :)