Shi Li Fang Hotpot 食立方 @ Orchard Central

Located at Level 7 of Orchard Central. This casual hotpot restaurant is considered quite new in Singapore. However, the Shi Li Fang brand is not a stranger in Beijing F&B industry. Established in 2009 and it has grown to 20 outlets in Beijing since then!

store front

The vibe is very casual. Not a problem if you like your hotpot all for yourself as this place offers individual pot, as well as bigger pots for groups. Single pax diner would feel right at home here.

interior

menu

Really spoilt for choice with as many as 6 soup bases, and there's option for double, triple and quadruple-flavoured pots. Prices of soup bases are from $3.60++ (per pax) to $11.80++ (per pot).

The usual mala (麻辣) soup is available. Psst....it's not very spicy by default, so you could opt to notch-up the heat by requesting it to be spicier.

My choice was e a double-flavoured pot of fish soup and tonic chicken soup.

induction cooking

(from left) chicken soup and fish soup

If you had felt indignant over hotpot outlets that charges for dipping sauces, there's no such problem here as its dipping sauces are free of charge (免费调料自选).

take as much or as little as you need

Prices of drinks is less than a dollar per cup, and canned drinks starts from $1.50++.

90cents drinks: water chestnut, lemon tea, lime and barley

This restaurant serves up non-buffet style hotpot experience. Shi Li Fang also offers sets, which comes with vegetable platter and a choice of noodles. All sets are priced at less than $20. Plenty of choices, from crabmeat to beef/chicken/pork set, as well as mushroom/vegetable sets.

chopstick, wet tissue, ladle and spoon - all ready

sesame paste with oyster sauce and plenty of spring onions

Didn't get anything from the set items. Instead, went ala-carte. Got myself a plate of baby cabbage (or also known as nai-bai 奶白菜) The portion that came was actually quite a good for single-pax. Vegetables are priced at $3.50 for two items combo. Nice.

奶白菜 nai bai (baby cabbage)

Beancurd and fish skin are two items that I'd recommend. The fish skin here was best suited to be boiled in the soup. After boiling and absorbing some liquid, the skin became a delectable chewy collageny mass. Tofu, was so silky smooth and soft. Double yums.

beancurd (豆腐) and fish skin (鱼皮) @$3.50++

Very seldom one sees fresh eel offered as hotpot item, so ordered half portion to try. Tiny slices and once cooked, it retained some chewiness and slight crunch. Think I still liked grilled ones best!

 fresh eel 鲜鳝鱼 @$5.80++ half portion

Ordered a portion of premium beef, and it was actually quite a lot for one pax. Good for sharing.

premium beef @$16.80++

pork belly @$5.20++ per portion

Pork belly looked as though it was more suited for grilling, than in a hotpot. Much preferred the beef slices.

Had never thought that marinated meats could also be one of the hotpot items. A recommended-try here is the Shi Li Fang Specialty Chicken. Was pretty fascinated when the chicken remained tender even after boiling it in the soup, like forever. And its marinade/spices can still be tasted distinctly. Amazing.

Shi Li Fang Specialty Chicken @$5.80++

For carbs, we ordered its handmade noodles. What we got was two flattened strips of dough. 'Handmade' means diners will have to 'make' the noodles, themselves.

'handmade noodles' @$1.80++ (with plastic disposable gloves)

Simply take the disposable gloves out and wear it. Take the ends of the dough on each hand and start pulling in opposite direction while gently swing the wrist up and down.

pull and move wrist up and down

Then just slide the one long noodle into the pot. Tasted smooth and good, if it was pulled thin enough. Otherwise, can be eaten just like mee hoon kway (面粉粿).

cooked

some say the egg noodles was good

The chicken soup base was tastier but it was also pretty oily. Fish soup was light on the palate and suitable to cook all sorts of meats or vegetables in it.

Was extremely easy to go overboard when ordering ala-carte. One portion of vege and meat, was already enough to feed one pax.

For those who still like to share a pot, the option is still available.

with big pot with 4 soup bases

Something unique was also spotted in the restaurant. A traditional looking basin with handles. Hmm... It's actually a spouting basin, or also known as fish basin (鱼洗).

spouting basin

Quite fun. You may want to try it. Wet your hands first before rubbing on the handles. Here's a video of when water droplets starts to jump.

Thank you HGW for the invite and Shi Li Fang for hosting the dinner.

promo of 50% off all seafood and meat items, ends on 30 Sept 2014

For those in Orchard Central vicinity during lunch hour, you might want to drop by this place as set lunches are priced at $9.90++ only.

Click here for visit #2 in Nov 2014.

Shi Li Fang 食立方

Address: #07-10/11, Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Central Road
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shilifangsg
Contact: 62380800
Opening Hours: Daily: 10:30 - 22:00