The first restaurant that comes to mind for most of us when we think of hot pot is Haidilao. After all, the notable hot pot spot serves up savoury tomato broth and springy dancing noodles, as well as provides top-notch customer service that makes you feel nothing short of royalty.
Still, the long waits make it difficult to get a spontaneous hot pot fix and the steep prices can also cause a strain on your wallet; they sometimes even leave you feeling unsatisfied at the end of the meal.
The good news is that there are many other hot pot places that you can visit to satisfy your cravings, either at lower prices or with a brand-new burst of full-bodied flavour… mm-hmm.
If you’re on the hunt for alternatives besides other popular spots like Beauty In The Pot or Shi Li Fang, we’ve got you covered. Here are 11 hearty hot pot spots to visit instead of Haidilao, including the best Chinese, Japanese, and Thai ones!
Chinese hot pots
Taikoo Lane Hotpot (太古里火锅)
If you love the tangy taste of Sichuan broths, then Taikoo Lane Hotpot is a hot pot spot that’s definitely worth visiting for its range of authentic and interesting soups.
Offering flavours that you can’t find at Haidilao, Taikoo Lane Hotpot has unique hot pots, from Spicy Frog and Fish Pot, which has tender chunks of frog leg and fish meat in the soup, to Green Peppers Soup Broth, peppered with zesty green chillis for piquant flavour.
In addition to hot pot ingredients, the restaurant serves a sumptuous menu of side dishes like their signature La La Clams in Spicy Sauce and Handmade Crispy Fried Meat. They’re a good way to break away from the hearty soup flavours while enjoying your hot pot meal with your loved ones.
Get 30% off at Taikoo Lane Hotpot when you purchase cash vouchers from Klook. You can also do so on Chope for 25% off.
City Hot Pot
Whilst it’s cosy for friends or family to gather around a broth and cook for one another, there are times when it can get too squeezy or reaching for the far-away soup will cause a strain on your back by the end of the meal.
What’s special about City Hot Pot is that each person gets to have their individual pot, which is placed on a slightly elevated wooden platform right in front of them.
With a total of 14 soup choices at this hot pot restaurant, you can slurp everything from staple Tomato Soup to more unique choices like Fish Maw or Teochew Fish Soup.
We’ve got to admit that we love the signature carbohydrate at Haidilao, the dancing noodle, but at City Hot Pot, the must-order carb is its Braised Pork Rice – pearly rice grains topped with fatty braised pork chunks. It’s oh-so-good.
The restaurant also offers sets for two, four, or six persons, where you can get a better deal alongside your besties.
Get up to 21% off City Hot Pot sets when you purchase on Klook.
Yanxi Dim Sum & Hotpot
Think of food that brings people closer than ever, and you certainly can’t leave out hot pot or dim sum.
Yanxi Dim Sum & Hotpot brings these two close-to-heart cuisines together, offering an exquisite menu that’s sure to warm you and your loved one’s heart and bellies.
The soups bases here are brewed from scratch each day, prepared by award-winning head Chef Chan Wai Keung and his team. Whether it’s umami Truffle Mushroom Soup or fan-favourite Buddha Jump Over the Wall, the broths, which are double-boiled and simmered with the freshest ingredients, are the burst of flavour you want to enjoy on rainy days.
Yanxi’s dim sum isn’t your typical one either. Prepared by experienced dim sum Chef Ben, the dishes are a delight to the taste buds and many of them are presented curiously too.
The Teochew Style Steamed Cod Fish, Tomato, Mushroom And Preserved Vegetable Dumpling, for one, peeks out from a mysterious blanket of fog and recalls the mountains of Yanxi.
Plus, if the service at Haidilao is a big reason why you have all your hot pot meals there, you won’t be disappointed at Yanxi Dim Sum & Hotpot either. Reviewers give this restaurant high praise because of the top-notch service!
Enjoy up to 30% off when you purchase cash vouchers on Chope.
You can also get 15% off at Yanxi Dim Sum & Hotpot when you purchase cash vouchers on Klook.
Upin
At Upin, you can choose between ordering ala carte ingredients and its lunch or dinner buffets that let you enjoy a free flow of meats, seafood, and vegetables on the menu for two hours.
Since we love a good variety of ingredients when it comes to hot pot, we recommend going for Upin’s buffets that lets you order from a fresh selection without having to worry about going over your budget. Plus, slurping up buffet-style hot pot is something that you can’t do at Haidilao.
You’ll have to pay additional for the soup bases, but it costs a flat fee of S$8, whether you pick one or three soups. Our favourite combination of soup is the Three Delicacy Pot, a hearty, flavourful broth, Signature Tomato Pot, for a sweet breakaway, and Sichuan Spicy Pot, a must-have for a mouth-numbing mala kick.
Unlike at Haidilao where you have to pay an additional S$4 for sauces, Upin’s buffets let you mix your own, free of charge. Besides typical hot pot sauces and condiments like sesame paste and chives, Upin also has other interesting ones like mushroom sauce and fermented bean paste.
Located at Clarke Quay, Orchard Gateway, and West Coast Plaza, Upin’s an easy option when you’re craving a hearty hot pot with your friends!
Xiao Long Kan Hotpot (小龙坎老火锅)
For an elegant restaurant ambience and authentic Chengdu flavours, Xiao Long Kan Hotpot certainly makes the cut.
Stepping into this hot pot restaurant is like entering a traditional Chinese inn in ancient China: there are glowing red and yellow lanterns that decorate the ceilings, heavy wooden tables and chairs. Some outlets even separate the tables with detailed wooden partitions for extra privacy.
The mala broth at Xiao Long Kan Hotpot isn’t just peppered with seasonings that’ll leave your mouth feeling dry afterwards either. Instead, this signature soup boasts 90 ingredients that are brewed in a rich beef tallow base for the heartiest explosion of flavours with every sip.
Besides meat slices, the hot pot restaurant also serves an array of other premium ingredients including Live Abalone, Tiger Prawn, and Handmade Prawn Mince.
From a luxurious dining setting to the freshest foods, Xiao Long Kan Hotpot lets you treat yourself to hot pot the right way, and it’s a more ideal location for families too.
Get 10% off Xiao Long Kan hot pot when you purchase cash vouchers on Chope. Get your Chope vouchers for Bedok, Bugis, Chinatown, and Orchard.
Xian De Lai
Should you be used to the sophisticated interior and exceptional service at Haidilao, then you might not warm quickly to Xian De Lai, a hot pot restaurant that’s nestled in a small, simple shophouse venue at Bugis.
But, if you appreciate delectable flavours at reasonable hot pot prices, then this Xian De Lai might be the restaurant to visit the next time you’re at Bugis’ bustling food street.
Xian De Lai offers an Eat-All-You-Can Hot Pot that lets you pick from regular meats, seafood, and vegetables, as well as side dishes like fried honey chicken, crispy pork fillet, and braised pork belly.
You can make your orders on a form and hand them over to the staff, instead of getting up to heap the ingredients onto your plate.
The unique hot pot base (which many reviewers praise) is the Special Duck Soup, which is a rich, flavourful broth that’s perfect for dipping your sliced meats in. The soup adds to the flavour of the meats, which you can also complement with any concoction of sauces and condiments from the bar.
Best of all, there’s no time limit on the buffets, so you can really savour not just the foods on the table, but the time spent with your friends or family!
Get 29% off Xian De Lai’s Premium Wagyu Beef Hotpot Buffet when you make a reservation on Chope.
Japanese hot pots
Suki-Ya
Suki-Ya, similar to Haidilao, is one of the names that many of us are familiar with when it comes to a scrumptious hot pot.
Still, there are exciting new flavours to discover, which have been introduced this July, when you step foot into this familiar restaurant!
The crowd-favourite Soy Miso and Butaniku soup bases, if you didn’t know, already contain collagen (great for skin and tasty too), but there’s also a new collagen broth that has appeared on the menu: the Mala Miso.
Spicy, mouth-numbing mala combined with rich miso broth, this collagen-rich soup is sure to send your taste buds straight to heaven.
For the uninitiated, Suki-Ya offers paper-thin sliced chilled beef, pork, and chicken in free flow at its affordable buffets. It also has a vegetable bar that serves an assortment of fresh vegetables to clean your palate for a refreshing end to a delicious meal.
Get up to 20% off Suki-Ya hot pot buffets when you purchase cash vouchers on Chope. Get your Chope vouchers for Bukit Panjang Plaza, Heartland Mall, Kallang Wave Mall, Marina Square, and VivoCity.
Yuzutei
If you’re going to spend about S$45 to S$55 at Haidilao anyways, why not switch up your hot pot experience with citrusy yuzu soup at the Japanese hot pot restaurant, Yuzutei?
Yes, if rich pork-bone soups tend to be too overpowering on your palate, then you’ll love the restaurant’s winning Yuzu Broth, which is a subtly sweet shabu shabu soup with a zesty yuzu twist.
Served in a small, shallow hot pot bowl, the yuzu soup should complement your choice of Signature Yuzu Shabu Set. Choose the Japan Shirobuta Pork set (S$26) to enjoy a succulent pork collar and pork belly shabu shabu, or Kaisen set (S$32.50) for the freshest servings of seafood.
To pamper your tastebuds even further, you’ll surely want to order the A5 Hokkaido Snow Wagyu set (S$58 per 100g) that lets you devour premium marbled beef that’s a perfect balance of meat and rich fat.
Tsukada Nojo
Famous for its chicken collagen soup – referred to on the menu as bijin nabe, which translates directly to beauty hot pot, Tsukada Nojo is a Japanese hot pot restaurant that serves rich and creamy collagen soup bases in an assortment of flavours.
The restaurant lets you choose from a mouthwatering selection of Original, Spicy, Sukiyaki, Tomato, Pumpkin, and Spinach collagen soup flavours.
The Bijin Nabe set (S$25 per person) is served with a sprinkling of fresh vegetables, succulent prawns, and tender chicken pieces – it’s hot pot galore.
You can also decide whether you want mochi mochi noodles, egg noodles, or rice noodles in your collagen soup.
Should you be craving a more decadent serving, you can also add on with platters such as the Meat Combo, which has beef, pork, and chicken, or Wagyu Beef for an all-beef indulgence.
Whatever it is, we’re going to vote Tsukada Nojo as the collagen hot pot that you absolutely have to try. The soups are creamy, full-bodied, and oh-so-divine – you’ll be laughing at the time you thought that Beauty in a Pot was the only place you could get your collagen fix.
Thai hot pots
COCA
Bangkok seems to be one of the most popular holiday destinations ever since the travel restrictions have ceased – rejoice! But even if you haven’t got a chance to go on vacation just yet, you can still enjoy a little taste of Thailand right here in Singapore.
With origins in Bangkok, COCA’s Thailand-Chinese style Hot Thai Grill Hotpot Buffet is the perfect combination for those looking to add a bit more punch to their meal. You’ll get to enjoy the satisfying sizzle of fragrant garlic butter and grilled meats alongside
Or, if you go for their Premium Seafood Buffet, you’ll also get to chow down on large bamboo lobsters, prawns, and more, all with the option to soak them in hearty soups or let them cook on a hot grill.
Try the Hua Diao Phoenix Pot for a powerful burst of flavour, or the Fragrant Laksa soup for a taste that’s closer to home.
Do note that prices vary on weekdays and weekends, as well as for lunch and dinner. There’s also a 100-minute time limit on the buffets, so we think it’s better worth the money for those with a big appetite.
Get 25% off COCA’s weekday buffets, and 15% off its weekend buffets when you book on Chope. Make your reservations at Kallang Leisure Park, Suntec, and Takashimaya.
Suki-Suki Thai Hot Pot
Hot pots might be a wonderful way for friends to gather but, unfortunately, it’s not easy to find ones that are halal.
Suki-Suki Thai Hot Pot is one of the few halal-certified hot pots in Singapore that lets everyone sit down together to slurp tangy Thai broths like the popular Red Tom Yum and Sweet Basil Chicken, plus chow down on yummy beef slices, fresh chicken, and much more.
There are Thai dipping sauces like Seafood, which is a spicy-sour fish sauce with fresh-cut chilli, and Spicy Yen Ta Fo, which has a rich sweet and sour taste.
You can even end your meal on a sweet (and sweetly Thai) note with desserts like Mango Sticky Rice and Momojaja, a Thai-version bur bur cha cha. These are part of the S$4.90 add-on for a free flow of drinks and desserts.
Get 20% off Suki-Suki Thai Hot Pot from Mondays to Thursdays when you purchase cash vouchers on Chope.
Related read: 12 delicious hotpot soup bases to satisfy your Hai Di Lao cravings at home
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