It's been awhile since I stepped into Jaya One, and have not been there since the new phase, THE SCHOOL, opened. So like a displaced deer from the forest, (or rather, hippo) I wandered around to find Xiao Lao Wang Hotpot (hereinafter referred to as XLW), but really, it's rather huge and prominent, that even a hippo with half an eye should be able to spot it. Wow, there are certainly a LOT of F&B outlets in Jaya One.
Of course, Lammeeya is no stranger, they are well known for their interesting springy home made noodles, also owned by the same people who own XLW, and also within the same compound, Kwong San Yuen Coffee, so it's a three in one in more ways than one. It makes sense, as they told us, during lunch time, Lammeeya is more crowded, so tables extend into XLW and vice versa for dinner.
It's nice to see Chinese restaurants these days making a bit more effort to "decorate" their premises, with quaint items such as this traditional hotpot pot.
We started of the mini food crawl sampling some noodles from Lammeeya which suited me fine, as I am a real noodle fan. Rice I can live without, but it will be a sad day when I have to give up noodles. And also drinks and the signature Chicken Chop from Kwong San Yuen.
One of the specialities of these three places is there famous home made pickles, from limes, to cabbage.
Jars and jars of various types of pickle line the shelves, every pregnant woman's dream come true, probably.
And also their unique DIY sauce station, which is complimentary with the hotpot, but for non hot pot diners, from Lammeeya, a token sum of RM5 I think it was.
Of course, I was very privileged to be mentioned alongside so many illustrious bloggers and industry legends.
Being the first dish that was served, and I was ravenously hungry, I thought the Hainan Chicken Chop was excellent, a dish that would make any dead Hainanese Grandma proud. At RM14.90, it's pretty good value, and comes with a generous dollop of mash potatoes.
Springy yummy noodles, which make me want to rush to Jaya One now for lunch.
Handmade thin bamboo egg noodles, with lots of yummy bits of mince pork, tossed together for a delicious noodle meal.
Handmade Bamboo Egg Noodle With Sesame Sauce..Like the Japanese cold noodle, it is served cold, and has a rather refreshing dimension, because the noodles are even springier than the hot noodles.
We then moved over to a huge ass table on the XLW side for our hotpot, and what a feast awaited us. Platters of goodies to join the hot spa..
This special Hong Kong style bean curd skin (foo choke) requires you to only dip it for all of 2-5 seconds, to retain its crispiness.
So what distinguishes one hotpot from another, since basically, ingredients are raw, and the sky is the limit to any permutation of ingredients available? It is the stock of course, and they have their signature pickled cabbage soup which is very interesting.
The Sanbanto Berkshire Pork Belly is undoubtedly one of the main raw ingredient stars. RM16.90 for a small portion, and RM28.90 for large portion, these gorgeous slices of pork goodness only require a brief scald in the hot soup, and just melt in the mouth. Look at that marbling. It must be the pig equivalent of Wagyu. I wonder if the pigs are massaged and fed beer.
After so many years, it never fails to amuse me to see the blogger papparazi in action.
Another thing that sets apart one steamboat from another is the amount of processed ingredients and the degree of processed ingredients. While arguably the meat balls are "processed", at least it's still identifiable as meat, as opposed to some balls that can bounce off the wall.
Balls and stuff....
XLW has a variety of signature balls, such as these mushroom balls, and the pork tendon balls in preceding picture.
Whilst I liked the pickled cabbage soup, my heart resonated with joy as I saw the second pot of broth, containing a generous amount of pig offal. The peppery pig stomach soup is a must for me, It's actually Pork Stomach and Chicken. RM42.90 for this soup. Top up of soup is FOC, but top up of ingredients such as offal is obviously not free, but is priced reasonably. In any case, with so much other food, one would not be sticking to only the offal....or would one?
Live red snapper...I know it doesn't LOOK live, but what they do is, they deep fry the head for added flavour, while leaving the rest of the body raw. RM75 for a portion.
The fish head and fish flesh really do add a lot a lot of flavour into the broth.
The Chef showing us his combination for the DIY sauce. Excellent combination I have to say.
Sauce complete with garnishing...
That glorious slice of Sanbanto Pork....
The pork neck, although initially I thought was too lean, is actually very good and tender, and for the more health conscious, a good balance of lean and fat. RM13.90 for large portion.
Another item is their signature Cold Tofu, which has a very interesting texture. RM6.90
The non caffeine affected amongst us had the local coffee to end the meal. For me, no way jose.
In case it wasn't obvious, the ordering of dishes is ala carte, not like some steamboat places where you pay by per head and are stuck with undesired elements such as excessive balls. I prefer it this way actually, where you can pick and choose what you want. And bearing in mind the broth itself is a meal in itself, you can therefore pace your orders accordingly.
Xiao Lao Wang Hotpot 小捞王
100-G021, The School, Jaya One
No. 72A, Jalan Universiti,
46200 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Tel: +603 7496 0670
Mon to Sun | 5pm till 10pm
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