Tang Steamboat at 25 Keong Saik Road

photo courtesy of Tang

Happy lunar new year! Steamboat is a hot favourite for reunion dinners. As a kid, I never liked it much but these days, I can't get enough of it. Swishing your favourite ingredients around in a delicious hot broth, savouring the different dips and of course, the long and languid chats with fellow dining companions. Steamboat is very much a communal activity.

I've found one more place to add to my list of good steamboat places in Singapore. Tang Restaurant, Bar & Supperclub at 25 Keong Saik Road.



It specialises in Sichuan hot pot for dinner, but the highlight here really is the Translucent Sliced Fish ($22 for 12 slices) — the day's fresh catch expertly and thinly sliced up, you can almost see through it. When cooked just right, the fish has an amazing silken yet bouncy texture that is worth stopping all conversations for. It's a zen moment; just focus on the experience.

Head Chef Zou Bin mastered this skill of slicing fish this way over the 14 years when he was heading the kitchens of some of the best hotpot restaurants in Sichuan, China.



As a treat to guests who book the earlier seatings (seated at between 6:45pm - 7pm), Chef Zou will perform slicing the fish table-side and each guest will be invited to taste a piece of this freshly sliced fish.

The Authentic Sichuan Spicy Soup ($21) is made with a secret recipe featuring more than 40 herbs and spices that are said to impart to meat courses a fragrance that is essential from a good 'mala' (麻辣) soup base. In fact, the soup is more fragrant than it is spicy-hot. Although it looks deadly, the mala is very tolerable. Those who can't take spicy levels can indulge in this, but spiceheads can always request for EXTRA mala (we topped up twice).

photo courtesy of Tang

Now the House Special Soup ($19) is beautifully homey and comforting. It's a nourishing stock made from simmering pork bone, old hen with fish and fish bone for more than 6 hours. Before the steamboat starts, they set out a small tasting bowl for you to try what the broth is like, before it gets the other flavours of the ingredients afterwards.





The other nice thing here is - the friendly staff will help you cook your items to the best consistency. You can do it yourself too, but you know how we often lose or leave some items forgotten and it gets overcooked. Let them do the translucent fish for you!



Tang Restaurant also features premium meats like Japanese Miyazaki A5 Ribeye Cap Off Lip ($49 for 100g), Spanish Iberico Pork ($14 for 100g) and Japanese Momoiro Pork Belly ($15 for 100g).



The Iberico pork is yum. Don't miss this one. Somehow I found that pork works better than beef in the broth. Having said that, you can really taste the wagyu in the cubes.




There is a variety of homemade meat and fish balls ($10-$14 for 8 pcs). These are the homemade cilantro meatballs (S$12).



There's also a shrimp paste dome (S$14) that allows you to shape your own meatballs.



Of course, you must have your greens and tofu related items. I always go for the fried beancurd skin.




There are also signature cooked specials, such as the House Mapo Tofu 麻婆豆腐 ($12 serves 2) and Sichuan Spicy Chicken 辣子鸡 (above, $22 serves 4). The chicken is not that spicy actually; my kids would be able to eat this. But when I took home the leftovers and popped them into a soup the next day, the gorgeous aromatics made a really fiery hot base! Yum yum!



Dumplings in Sichuan sauce (S$5) - just lovely to snack on while you cook.

photo courtesy of Tang

Ambiance wise, the place is cosy but elegantly steeped in modern minimalism with Chinese accents.

photo courtesy of Tang

There are two private dining rooms which can be combined into one larger one.

photo courtesy of Tang

Upfront is an anteroom/bar that you can relax in before or after your meal; the bar was added when the owner noticed a lot of customers wanted to adjourn somewhere to chill.

Tang was previously just a few doors away on Keong Saik, occupying a three-storey unit, but relocated here in Nov 2015. The new layout is much more efficient and also provides more functions.

photo courtesy of Tang

Tang is also open for lunch serving elegant yet affordable box lunches. It's harder  for office workers to enjoy a full and leisurely steamboat meal at lunchtime, but you can still escape into the calm of the Tang dining room to enjoy dishes such as Specialty Mapo Tofu (above, $9) and Twice Cooked Pork ($16).

TANG RESTAURANT, BAR & SUPPERCLUB
25 Keong Saik Road
Singapore 089132
Tel: +65 6222 7708
Open daily except 2nd and last Sundays of the month.
Lunch - 12pm to 2:30pm (last order 2pm) and Dinner - 6pm to 11pm (last order 10:30pm)
Bar & Supper Club - 5pm to 2am (last order 1:30am)
Make reservations on Chope:
http://www.chope.co/singapore-restaurants/restaurant/tang-restaurant-bar-and-supper-club

photo courtesy of Tang




Many thanks to Tang for the steamboat experience.